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Three Dallas ISD trustees asked separately in February that school board President Miguel Solis schedule a meeting for the board to discuss Superintendent Mike Miles’ performance. Dallas ISD board policy required that Solis honor such a request by placing the item on an agenda within 60 days.
Solis interpreted that to mean he had to place the Miles performance review on an agenda within 60 days, but that the actual meeting could be held more than 60 days after the request. He scheduled the Miles meeting for May 14, which just happens to be five days after the May 9 school board election.
Joyce Foreman, Bernadette Nutall and Elizabeth Jones — the trustees who requested the review — want it scheduled for before the election, so they’ve sued Solis and the district to force the issue.
“President Solis has repeatedly abused his position as President of the Board by refusing to comply with Board Policy and Operating Procedures. President Solis failed to add the discussion of Superintendent Miles’ performance to the agenda of a Board meeting occurring within 60 days of the request by three Board members,” Foreman, Nutall and Jones’ suit says.
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As Dallas ISD early voting began Monday, Foreman, Nutall and Jones say that Solis’ decision has “already deprived some voters of information relevant to their decisions.”
The three trustees want Dallas’ 193rd District Court order Solis to set a meeting to review Miles’ performance for 4 p.m. May 1.
We’ve reached out to Solis and Bickel & Brewer — the law firm representing the trustees — and will update this space as soon as we hear something.
Update 3:44 p.m.: Bill Brewer, the lead attorney for the trustees, questions Solis’ interpretation of board rules.
“I’ve never met Mr. Solis, so this isn’t a personal comment but [his argument] is absurd. It’s absurd. Could you set it out two years from now?,” Brewer said.
Brewer said he expects that his clients will prevail tomorrow at an 11 a.m. hearing, and that Miles performance review meeting will be scheduled for Friday afternoon.
