<\/p>\n
These racial inequities did The school board\u2014whether Richardson was not alone
\nnot go unnoticed by the Black and Latino voters of Richardson. And yet,
\nRichardson\u2019s school board remained persistently white for one reason: the
\ndistrict\u2019s voting practices. While white students constituted a minority in the
\ndistrict\u2019s schools, white voters still comprised a majority of the district\u2019s
\npopulation. These demographics, combined with an at-large, district-wide voting
\nscheme where every voter in the district voted in every school board election, meant that minority voters would never succeed in electing a candidate of their
\nchoice. The minority vote would always be diluted against the white vote.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
\nunder the threat of ongoing litigation or by a genuine change of heart\u2014agreed
\nto end this pernicious status quo. In 2019, Richardson Independent School
\nDistrict settled. As part of the settlement, the district moved toward a <\/span>single-member district voting
\nmodel<\/a>. Specifically, it instituted an electoral
\nscheme that allows voters within a predefined border to elect a board member to
\nrepresent them\u2014similar to congressional districting. Two of the five
\nsingle-member districts in Richardson were drawn to ensure that Black and
\nLatino voters were the majority. Voters from these districts later elected Regina
\nHarris, the first Black woman, and Debbie Renter\u00eda, the first Hispanic person,
\nto serve on the school board.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nin making this kind of change. In response to immigration and changing racial
\ndemographics, the late 2010s saw a <\/span>spate of
\nlawsuits<\/a> across school boards in North Texas alleging
\nviolations of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Many of these districts
\nsettled and moved to electoral systems that gave voters of color greater voice
\nin their representation. Grand Prairie Independent School District, which has a
\nmajority-Hispanic student population, gained two Hispanic seats on its
\npreviously all-white school board following one of these lawsuits. Likewise, Carrollton-Farmers
\nBranch, a majority-Latino district, secured its first Hispanic board member in
\nover 20 years.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n