ILLEGAL MOVE?

Jason Whitely reports

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DALLAS – After overseeing a financial train wreck inside the district recently, the Dallas Independent School District's Board of Trustees now want to stay in office longer and will vote Thursday to extend their terms in office from three to four years.

"They've been asleep at the wheel," said Dale Kaiser, president of NEA-Dallas, which represents teachers and district employees. "And it's time for us to get some folks in the trustees seats starting this spring who are going to be there, going to do their job and are going to be asking the questions each and every day,"

Longer terms mean fewer elections, DISD said. But how much money can the district save? A spokesman said DISD had not calculated any potential savings because it would depend on how many candidates run for each seat.

"This is the wrong thing to do at the wrong time," said Trustee Carla Ranger. "We definitely need to do everything we can to build confidence with the public."

Mrs. Ranger is the only one to criticize the measure as illegal.

But, others DISD board members disagree. The board's attorney points to a 2003 law - Texas Education Code Sec. 11.065, which gives board members specific authority to extend trustees' terms any time.

However, last year, a newer law - Texas Education Code Sec. 11.059 - said while districts can extend their trustees' terms, they must do so by December 31, 2007.

And when two laws conflict, Ranger and Kaiser said, the Texas Government Code Sec. 311.026, which is the Texas Code Construction, mandates that the latest law prevails.

Former trustee Don Venable said he now plans to file a petition to remove any board member who votes to extend their term.

"[The board] really doesn't care about oversight by the state or the people,” Venable said. “It's simply a rogue district and has been that way for two decades."

DISD Trustees Ron Price, Edwin Flores and Leigh Ann Ellis are up for reelection next year. It's uncertain what will happen if the measure passes. But legal or not, it's doubtful to restore public confidence in the board's recent performance.

The district said it had no comment since it's a board decision.

DISD did say it has not checked with the Attorney General's Office on whether board members can still legally extend their terms in office.

The issue will be voted on during their regularly scheduled board meeting at 5:30 p.m. Thursday.

E-mail jwhitely@wfaa.com