In a suburban Austin school board race thats emblematic of many contests across Texas, two conservative candidates, Tricia Quintero and Olivia Barnard, are running on a joint platform for a pair of at-large seats on the Dripping Springs Independent School Districts board of trustees, with a shared social media hashtag, #TheTwoForYou. There is widespread disagreement on what counts as a microaggression, including among the minority groups the proposal would supposedly protect. Jennifer Hough, a white mother of two Carroll students who campaigned in support of the diversity proposal, said she was angry and heartbroken. A student holds up a sign against banning CRT holds up a sign as members of the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School Board meet in Placentia on Wednesday, March 23, 2022. (clicking this link will redirect you to a Tarrant County website), (clicking this link will redirect you to a Tarrant County website. A fun fact about Hannah is she has previously broken both of her arms both times from falling off monkey bars. Many Southlake residents viewed Tuesdays election as the final decision on whether the school board would ever revisit the diversity plan. Tarrant County Plaza Building, 201 Burnett Street, Fort Worth. While candidates run for specific places, they do not represent specific geographical areas; rather, each represents CarrollISD at large. Two trustees who support the plan, Carroll ISD board president Michelle Moore and vice president Todd Carlton, were indicted last month on charges of violating the Texas Open Meetings Act. Shes also turned down endorsements from Democratic groups and declined invitations to speak at partisan events hosted by both Republicans and Democrats. | The City of Southlake City Council is composed of a Mayor and six Council members. Bryan, an aviation executive, won the Place 4 seat on the Carroll ISD board with 68% of the vote over Lynda Warner, a community volunteer. Daily Wire reported that Andrew Yeager, a regional ad sales . I want every child to be loved for, cared for and given every opportunity., Barnard also attended the Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, in February in Orlando, Florida, where she posted a photo on her campaign Instagram page with mothers from Loudoun County, Virginia. Both incidents sparked tense school board meetings. KISD Family Alliance spent almost. In the Sentinel 's coverage area, voters will elect candidates vying for various federal, state, county, judicial and school board seats on Nov. 8. The election made Southlake one of the first places in the country where candidates running on an anti-critical race theory platform have taken a school board majority. 2023 Election Information. Area districts have proposed hundreds of . "I don't want to think about that right now, because it's really, really hard for me. Code 11.061; Tex. The rapid politicization of school board politics across Texas has led to an infusion of money in local races that are ostensibly nonpartisan, according to a review of financial disclosures. | However, voters stood behind a slate of school board and City Council candidates who were against the plan. Its startling, the amount of money and political organizing thats moving into local elections right now, said Deen, the political science professor, noting that at least 10 local PACs have been established in the Dallas-Fort Worth region alone in the past year. It has become a target of conservatives, with Texas lawmakers working to advance a bill that would ensure social studies teachers focus on traditional history and refrain from discussing certain concepts related to race and racism. Candidates backed by the conservative Southlake Families PAC, which has raised more than $200,000 since last summer, won every race by anywhere from 70% to 30%, including two school board positions, two City Council seats and mayor. Prominent Southlake attorney Hannah Smith won a seat on the Carroll school board, defeating business consultant Ed Hernandez. Barnard, a parent who works in real estate, started speaking up at school board meetings last year to voice opposition to the districts mask policies. This is baked in to the system, since it's specifically noted that microaggressions can be unintentional. In the months since, conservative parents and activists have worked to replicate Southlake Families PACs success in nonpartisan school board races across the country from Douglas County, Colorado, to Guilford, Connecticut. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism, Digital and Print from the University of North Texas and began her journalism career at the North Texas Daily. But Tuesday night, Andrew Yeager, an outspoken critic of that diversity plan, handily won a school board seat, beating his opponent, a former teacher, by more than 30 percentage points.. They handily chose a candidate who ran against a diversity plan that the district's been developing since 2018. 2:28 PM Apr 24, 2023 CDT, Early voting began April 24 and runs through May 2 for the May 6 general election in Tarrant County. "This was about protecting students," Willams said. In the Southlake City Council Place 5 election, Amy Torres-Lepp received 69.94% of the vote, or 6,515 votes. A Texas school board has scored an overwhelming election victory to stop "critical race theory" and a new "cultural competence action plan . Early voting begins Monday, April 24, and ends Tuesday, May 2. Candidates backed by the conservative Southlake Families PAC, which has raised more than $200,000 since last summer, won every race by about 70 percent to 30 percent, including those for two school board positions, two City Council seats and mayor. Hernandez and other candidates running in support of new diversity and inclusion programs said they were not particularly surprised by the outcome in a historically conservative city where about two-thirds of voters backed President Donald Trump last year, but they were dismayed by the margin of their defeat. Sign up and stay up to date with our daily newsletter. The last day to register to vote was Thursday, April 6. Voters agreed with my positive vision of our community and its future.. Robert Penn Vice-President 2017 - 2028 rpenn@solake.org. The teachers are facing this educational pressure as well, his post read. The result of the school diversity committees work, a 34-page document called the Cultural Competence Action Plan, was released in August 2020. If you are voting by mail, your application to vote by mail must be received . Mainstream reporting on the school board elections for Carroll Independent School Districta total rout for candidates who supported the planwas extremely negative in tone, all but accusing Southlake voters of endorsing racism. Southlake Families PAC, meanwhile, sent out mailers accusing the pro-diversity plan candidates of pushing for "radical socialism" in Southlake. | A Fort Worth man and his family say they are terrified and angry after the FBI originally posted his photo and identified him as the suspected shooter that killed five people near Houston Friday night. Day said shes worked to run a nonpartisan campaign by focusing on issues that she believes matter to most residents, like finding ways to better support teachers and managing the districts rapid growth. By clicking Sign Up, I confirmthat I have read and agreeto the Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. conservative PAC sweep Tarrant County school board elections . In the aftermath, school leaders hosted listening sessions with students and parents and appointed a committee of 63 community volunteers to come up with a plan to make Carroll more welcoming for students from diverse backgrounds. Patriot Mobile Action, which has ties to Southlake Families PAC, paid workers to go door to door and sent political mailers to thousands of homes across the Dallas region, including the one blaming a school shooting at Timberview High School last fall on woke disciplinary policies. And Im concerned about not only not addressing the needs of those kids, but perhaps even going backward.". | Reacting to the election outcome, Hernandez and other candidates, who were in favor of the diversity plan, said they were not "surprised" with the outcome in the city but were disappointed by the margin of their defeat. In one extreme example, a conservative school board candidate running in the affluent Eanes Independent School District in Austin has raised more than $160,000 for his campaign on par with what some candidates spend to win seats in the Texas Legislature. And I'm just so grateful to hear of parents who are doing something. Keller ISD - Micah Young, Joni Shaw Smith, Sandi Walker. Grapevine-Colleyville ISD and Carroll ISD will each have three spots on the board of trustees that expire this spring and will be up for election. More and more, you see these national partisan issues showing up in races down ballot, and thats especially true of school boards.. Don't let the media lie to you. Yeager has been representing Place 7 for Carroll ISD since winning a special election for the seat in November. Yeagers also openly campaigned against the so-called critical race theory. The plan is in limbo after a mother in the district filed a lawsuit last year claiming that the board violated the Texas Open Meetings Act, and a Tarrant County judge granted a temporary restraining order barring the district from moving ahead with it. The election Tuesday made Southlake one of the first places in the country where candidates running on an anti-critical race theory platform have flipped control of a school board. "Unfortunately, my opponent and the PAC are willing to put false information out and willing to twist narrative and use fear-mongering and use division," she said. I have accepted no money, no gifts in lieu of anything from any group or political party.. This comes as a setback amid calls for change in the country and a broader national reckoning over racism following the murder of George Floyd by a white police officer in Minneapolis. Candidates backed by the conservative Southlake Families PAC, which has raised more than $200,000 since last summer, won every race by about 70 percent to 30 percent, including those for two school board positions, two City Council seats and mayor. I believe ALL our Dragons have the potential. Southlake Families PAC leaders did not respond to messages requesting an interview. The Order of Election is posted in accordance with Section 3.004 and Section 3.005of the Texas Election Code and Carroll ISD Board Policy BBBA(LEGAL). The plan called for mandatory cultural sensitivity training for all Carroll students and teachers, a formal process to report and track incidents of racist bullying and changes to the code of conduct to hold students accountable for acts of discrimination. I dont want to see any child taught to believe that they are a villain or a victim, she said when asked whether she was concerned with the way race and racism is addressed in Dripping Springs schools. VALPARAISO The Porter County Election Board voted Thursday against approving a a last-minute change to a polling site at Flint Lake Elementary School. elections@southlakecarroll.edu. In Southlake, Texas, where parents have been feuding for more than a year over a school districts proposal to address racism, candidates supported by a conservative political action committee won majority control of the school board Tuesday, clearing the way for the board to officially kill the polarizing diversity plan. Candidates backed by the conservative Southlake Families PAC, which has raised more than $200,000 since last summer, won every race by about 70 percent to 30 percent, including those for two school board positions, two City Council seats and mayor. Visit our Summer School web page for more information! For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. The Carroll ISD Administration Building is open Monday through Friday 8:00 am to 4:30 pm. The winning candidates received nearly 70% of the vote, as Cameron Bryan received 68.47% against opponent Lynda Warner's 31.53%, and Hannah Smith got 69.04% of the vote against opponent Ed Hernandez, who saw 30.96%, Southlake Style reported.