Dallas ISD election rematch comes as trustees prepare to hire a new schools superintendent

One spot on Dallas ISD’s nine-person school board is up for election next month, in advance of this summer’s selection of a new superintendent. Incumbent Karla Garcia and challenger Camile White will square off for the District 4 seat, which covers parts of Southeast Dallas, Pleasant Grove, Balch Springs and Seagoville. The race is the only contested election among Dallas trustees this year, with Oak Cliff’s Maxie Johnson and North Oak Cliff’s Ben Mackey, the current board president, running unopposed. The dynamics on DISD’s board are unlikely to change, regardless of District 4?s outcome. Even so, the election could serve as a bellwether on how voters view the district – which, like nearly all school systems, is facing the strain of learning losses brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as political strife around how schools deal with issues of race, sex and gender.

Many of the district’s backers attribute recent successes to the school board’s relative stability, after years of political infighting and controversies. Critics, however, counter that the board’s current makeup lacks critical debate, allowing for rash decisions and poor policies. Garcia, 25, called the board’s stability one of the district’s key strengths, both during the pandemic and in moving forward. The nimbleness of district policies, she said, was “because we have trustees that put student outcomes first.” “I think you start meddling when paying attention to other things … beyond our actual purpose.” When asked about her priorities, Garcia – a senior associate for College Access and Success at Dallas-based education non-profit Commit – highlighted several areas of emphasis, including addressing COVID-19 learning losses through “high-quality, high-dosage tutoring,” and bolstering college and career readiness for the district’s students. [The family foundation for Commit’s founder, Todd Williams, is a supporter of the DMN’s Education Lab.]