CITY & SCHOOLS
News from Dallas, Dallas ISD & Richardson ISD
Dallas City Council will meet May 24 and June 14 at 9 a.m. at 1500 Marilla St., Dallas. www.dallascityhall.com Dallas ISD board of trustees will meet May 25 and June 8 at 6 p.m. at 5151 Samuell Blvd., Dallas. www.dallasisd.org Richardson ISD board of trustees will meet on May 18 and June 8 at 6 p.m. at the RISD Administrative Building, 400 S. Greenville Ave., Richardson. www.risd.org MEETINGS WE COVER HIGHLIGHTS DALLAS In anticipation of the 2024 capital bond program, the Dallas O ce of Bond and Construction Management is hosting a virtual open house series to hear what residents want the bond funds used for and allow them to ask questions. The 2024 capital bond program would allocate about $1 billion to infrastructure and public safety priorities, such as streets, transportation, housing, stormwater, city facilities, cultural arts and economic development. A bond election is expected to be held in May 2024. The open house dates are May 18, June 15, July 20, Aug. 17, Sept. 21 and Oct. 19.
RISD eyeing expansion of its enrollment
Program aims to raise worker skills
Local school board elections bring new, returning leaders RICHARDSON ISD &DALLAS ISD Incumbents Debbie Rentería and Eric Eager will serve new terms on the Richardson ISD board of trustees. In Dallas, Jimmy Tran and Sarah Weinberg are set for a runo June 10 for the District 2 seat on the Dallas ISD board of trustees. In RISD’s single-member District 3, incumbent Rentería faced chal- lenger Bonnie Abadie, while in the at-large Place 6 election Blake Sawyer challenged incumbent Eager. Rentería received 64.69% of the total votes. In the Place 6 race, Eager received 56.72% of the votes cast. In DISD, Tran received 39.62% of the vote, and Weinberg received 37.1%. Opponent Kevin Malonson received 23.27%. In both school districts, members serve three-year staggered terms. BY CECILIA LENZEN & KEVIN CUMMINGS
Blackmon, Stewart, Ridley win elections
VOTE COUNTS
In Dallas County 8.84% of registered voters cast ballots in the May 6 election.
DISTRICT 9
BY CECILIA LENZEN
BY CECILIA LENZEN
*Paula Blackmon: 3,720
DALLAS Paula Blackmon, Kathy Stewart and Paul Ridley have won the races for Dallas City Council districts 9, 10 and 14, respectively. This will be Blackmon’s third term representing District 9, which includes Lakewood and parts of Lake Highlands. She was rst elected in 2019. In District 10, newcomer Stewart will replace Adam McGough, repre- senting much of Lake Highlands. Ridley, the incumbent, will serve a second term representing District 14, which includes parts of East Dallas, after rst being elected in 2021. Mayor Eric Johnson also won re-election after being challenged by write-in candidate Kendal Richardson. The mayor is elected to a four-year term, while council members serve two-year terms.
DALLAS The city plans to o er job training to residents who have been disproportionately a ected by COVID-19 through a new initiative called the Upskilling Dallas Program. The program, which City Council approved during its April 26 meeting, aims to support employment oppor- tunities and cultivate a quali ed workforce. It will target residents impacted by the pandemic and those who are members of low- or moder- ate-income households, according to council documents. The program has $500,000 in fund- ing from the city’s American Rescue Plan Act funds, which were issued by the Department of Treasury to provide relief during the pandemic. Dallas College and Metrocare Services will carry out the program by providing participants with “opportunities to attain new skills in targeted industries.”
Kendra Madison: 947
BY JACKSON KING
RICHARDSON ISD O cials are looking to increase the district’s enrollment by allowing more students to enroll from outside the district starting in the 2023-24 school year. The RISD board of trustees discussed creating a potential open-enrollment program during a March 30 work session. The pro- posed program, known as the Open Enrollment Inter-District Transfer program, would allow students who live outside the district’s boundaries the opportunity to apply for enroll- ment at an RISD school. No decision or vote on the program was taken by the board. District o cials said the open-en- rollment program would help allevi- ate a $23.7 million budgetary de cit
DISTRICT 10
Kathy Stewart: 3,879
Brian Hasenbauer: 1,102
Richardson ISD is looking to enroll students from outside the district to help with a budget shortfall. (Courtesy Richardson ISD)
Chris Carter: 641
caused by reduced enrollment, in ation and a lack of new funding from the state since before the pandemic, RISD Superintendent Tabitha Branum said. RISD has almost 10,000 elementary seats available at its schools. Branum said while open enroll- ment would not be a standalone solution to the budgetary short- fall, she has heard an appetite from the board to expand the district’s school choice programs,
both strengthening RISD’s magnet program and providing more options to students. If the plan is approved, the district would utilize it in a limited capacity during the 2023-24 school year with additional programs considered for the 2024-25 school year. Open-enrollment transfer applications would be for students in kindergarten through 12th grade based on campus availability.
Sirrano Keith Baldeo: 93
DISTRICT 14
*Paul Ridley: 3,488
Amanda Schulz: 1,841
Joseph F. Miller: 250
*INCUMBENT SOURCE: DALLAS COUNTY ELECTIONS DEPARTMENT COMMUNITY IMPACT
DALLAS 9500 N Central Expressway (214) 369-2800
PRESTON CENTER 8123 Preston Road (214) 361-6697
MARSH LANE 9972 Marsh Lane (214) 353-2701
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