In the May election, candidates endorsed by the Southlake Families PAC won school board seats by a seventy-to-thirty margin. By signing up you agree to ourTerms of ServiceandPrivacy Policy, Its heartbreaking and devastating, Anya Kushwaha, a coalition founder who graduated in 2016, said Tuesday. Tarrant County - Current Election Information. Joanna Day, an incumbent whos competing with Barnard, Quintero and another candidate for two at-large seats on the Dripping Springs school board, said shes worried about the consequences of superimposing harsh national political divides onto local school board races. This landslide victory is from hundreds of volunteers and donors, thousands of hours and all of us having the spines to stand up to the rage mob, the group posted in an email blast. 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. Dallas-area critical race theory opponents win big in school board election So it's not going to be like this forever.". By Cody Thorn I don't have any words for them.". Many of these groups have raised tens of thousands of dollars to back conservative school board candidates and causes. Ashley McCombs, a parent of six and president of the Williamson County Republican Women club, was inspired to run for a seat on the Hutto Independent School District board of trustees, in a suburb outside Austin, in part because of the districts handling of Covid and the creation of a diversity and equity task force, which McCombs has criticized. Candidates who opposed a local school diversity plan took about 70 percent of the vote in the wealthy Dallas-Fort Worth suburb. 2:28 PM Apr 24, 2023 CDT Early voting began April 24 and runs through May 2 for area city and school board elections. (clicking this link will redirect you to a Tarrant County website), (clicking this link will redirect you to a Tarrant County website. He covers the local government, education, business, real estate development and nonprofits in Grapevine, Colleyville, Southlake, Westlake, Trophy Club, Keller, Roanoke and Fort Worth. "I don't think that this is time to be throwing a pity party. "Southlake, we did it!" Smith exclaimed at a victory party on Saturday night. Prominent Southlake attorney Hannah Smith won a seat on the Carroll school board, defeating business consultant Ed Hernandez. On one side, progressives argued that curriculum and disciplinary changes were needed to make all children feel safe and welcome in Carroll, a mostly white but quickly diversifying school district. 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. Place 5: A.J. Southlake's May 2021 Election Results Are In 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. Political observers, meanwhile, are watching these races as a test of whether battles over racism and LGBTQ issues will continue to drive turnout heading into the November midterms. Jason Miller. Code 11.061; Tex. Robby Soave is a senior editor at Reason. May 2025 - Place 3, Place 4, and Place 5 will be elected. | But conservatives in Southlake, a wealthy Dallas-Fort Worth suburb, blasted the school diversity plan as an effort to inculcate in students a far-left ideology that would institutionalize discrimination against white children and those with conservative Christian values, CBS News reported. According to Tarrant County Elections, Southlake's Town Hall saw the most early voters across the entire county by far with 7,000 ballots cast. Yeager and board members supported by Southlake Families PAC have argued that the only change needed to crack down on discriminatory bullying at Carroll is an improved process for reporting and investigating student harassment complaints something the district began working on this summer. After Yeager is sworn in, trustees aligned with Southlake Families PAC will hold a 4-3 majority on the Carroll school board, giving the group power to shape the . Yeager has support from the Southlake Families PAC, which raised close to $200,000. 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. In Fort Bend County, southwest of Houston, a conservative activist group posted a video last month accusing Orjanel Lewis, a Black woman running for school board, of wanting to teach that some kids are oppressors because she told a local newspaper that she believes the school district hasnt done enough to treat all students with equal respect, dignity, and educational opportunities.. Lawmakers say House bills will help improve Colleyville Crime Control and Prevention District. Mike Hixenbaugh is a senior investigativereporter for NBC News, based in Houston. A website for KISD Family Alliance PAC, one of the groups supporting a slate of anti-critical race theory candidates in the Fort Worth suburb of Keller, described the organizations core values this way: We believe that the Districts curriculum framework should be void of political partisanship and in keeping with conservative values.. The last day to register to vote was Thursday, April 6. However, voters stood behind a slate of school board and City Council candidates who were against the plan. Texas parents who were fed up with their local school's "diversity" plan fought back on Tuesday by electing a third straight school board member on promises to reject the plan and fight Critical Race Theory-inspired doctrine in the school system. 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. An NBC News review of school board elections in 20 suburban Texas school districts revealed more than 40 candidates running campaigns focused, at least in part, on culture war issues that have monopolized national politics. Meet The 2021 School Board Place 7 Candidates - Southlake Style Landslide! Candidates against 'critical race theory' SWEEP Texas school Texas school board elections, 2022 - Ballotpedia This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Summer Session IONLY: Registration beginsMonday, May 1stand ends onFriday,May 5th. The plan has been on hold since December, after a parents lawsuit, filed with financial support from Southlake Families PAC, led a judge to issue a temporary restraining order blocking the district from taking any action on the proposal. Carroll ISD - Andrew Yeager and Alex Sexton (both endorsed) Grapevine/Colleyville ISD - Tammy Nakamura (endorsed) and Kathy Spradley. Voters in Southlake will fill a vacant school . To burden them with enforcing a new system of tracking microaggressions and implementing an ever-changing standard of diversity and inclusion, at this moment, seems very insensitive to the job they are facing in the fall.. This Texas Town Has Been at the Center of Controversy Over Teaching 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. Southlake is a suburb of Dallas-Fort Worth. And Im concerned about not only not addressing the needs of those kids, but perhaps even going backward.". Candidates in Saturday's Southlake City Council and school board elections are being called out for their previous support of O'Rourke, a Democratic presidential candidate and former U.S.. The elections in. By James SamsonNovember 5, 2021. The PAC, known as Back to School Pa, spent more than $600,000 to back 208 school board candidates in 54 communities across the state.They promoted a platform of keeping schools open for in-person . In an interview, Barnard said she was running a campaign focused on our taxpayers, the budget, the expenditures and the curriculum., My campaign is nonpartisan, Barnard said, drawing a distinction between her run for school board and her personal political views. Carroll ISD Announces Unofficial 2021 Trustee Election Results At the Cambria Hotel, where pro-diversity plan candidates and their supporters gathered Saturday, the election results party turned somber shortly after 7 p.m. as news of the outcome swept through the room. May 2024 - Mayor and Place 2 will be elected. A Valparaiso Community Schools . Supporters of Stephanie Williams gather outside Southlake Town Hall. 2005-2023 Community Impact Newspaper Co. All rights reserved. NOTICE The Drawing for Place on the Ballot was conducted Friday, February 24, 2023 at 8:30 a.m. in the Carroll ISD Board room. An Atlanta based band that was in North Texas for a show said their equipment was stolen from their hotel Friday night. Thats not something thats ever been in the curriculum at Carroll ISD schools. Voters across much of the Austin area are heading to the polls to vote for school board members and school bond propositions. SOUTHLAKE, Texas - Voters in Southlake sent another message to the Carroll ISD school district about their stance on a controversial issue. Jennifer Hough, a white mother of two Carroll students who campaigned in support of the diversity proposal, said she was angry and heartbroken. They handily chose a candidate who ran against a diversity plan that the district's been developing since 2018. Several parents said the plan would infringe on their Christian values by teaching children about issues affecting gay and transgender classmates. Visit our Summer School web page for more information! Distancing requirements are a core issue in discussions around the world on reopening schools, with many claiming the six-foot requirement makes it difficult to resume classes without adding portable classrooms or shortening the school day, Stay up to date with our daily newsletter, Biden Calls 'Systemic Racism' A 'Stain On Our Nation's Soul', Videos Pile Pressure On US Police Over Racism, Killings, Mercedes-Benz CEO Reportedly Thinks China Decoupling 'An Illusion', Popular TikToker Tortured By Russian Police To Donate Drones To Ukraine, EU Imposes New Sanctions On Iran Over Protest Crackdown, 8-Year-Old Diamond Heiress Denounces Wealth To Become A Nun Seeking Alms, Candidates in favor of diversity plan "not surprised by the outcome", Southlake grabbed national headlines in 2018 over a racist video. "They may not agree with me but that theres dialogue.". PAC members also have spoken out against mental health services in schools and fought to get books about racism and LGBTQ issues removed from Carroll classrooms and school libraries. Joe Lancaster In the Southlake City Council Place 5 election, Amy Torres-Lepp received 69.94% of the vote, or 6,515 votes. Click on a question below for more information. I have always believed that an educated citizenry is critical to the success of a democracy, said Craig Allen, an incumbent running for re-election to the school board in Keller. School board. Yeager ran against diversity training and curriculum changes that were developed after students were seen on video using racist language. Terms Of Use, (Monkey Business Images | Dreamstime.com), Rivian Continues To Hemorrhage Money Despite $1.5 Billion in State Incentives, Minnesota Is Poised To Join 22 Other States in Legalizing Recreational Marijuana, Oren Cass Notices One of Industrial Policy's Fatal Flaws, Regulators Seize First Republic Bank and Sell It to JPMorgan Chase, Pro-Lifers Pushed Too Far and Doomed 2 Abortion Bans. Southlake Style reported on Sunday that Hannah Smith and Cameron "Cam" Bryan, both of whom vocally opposed CRT, received nearly 70% of the vote in their respective races in the Dallas-area. I am livid and terrified, but mostly heartbroken that everything we experienced as students of color in @Carrollisd continues to have been in vain. And I feel like, you know, weve got to quit sleeping here.. At a school board meeting in Southlake, Texas on Monday night, former student Jake Berman took the mic and uttered these powerful, and unfortunately necessary . Tarrant County Plaza Building, 201 Burnett Street, Fort Worth. To be elected to a school board, an individual must be a qualified voter: 18 years of age or older, a U.S. citizen, a Texas resident, a registered voter, not determined to be totally or partially mentally incapacitated by an appropriate court, and not finally convicted of a felony. SOUTHLAKE, Texas Nine months after officials in the affluent Carroll Independent School District introduced a proposal to combat racial and cultural intolerance in schools, voters delivered a. Stephanie Williams . There is widespread disagreement on what counts as a microaggression, including among the minority groups the proposal would supposedly protect. 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.. School board elections in Texas are non-partisan. Physical Address for filing an application in person or by mailfor a place on the ballot: Southlake Families PAC and KISD Family Alliance PAC have also raised tens of thousands of dollars to push anti-CRT candidates in their school board races. Hannah Smith, an attorney and mother of four, defeated Ed Hernandez. Candidates backed by conservative PAC sweep Tarrant County school board And Im just so grateful to hear of parents who are doing something.. 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. Volunteers campaign for Andrew Yeager on Election Day, including one dressed as a dragon, imitating Carroll's school mascot. "This is happening everywhere," Fox News host Tucker Carlson said during a segment Tuesday about Carroll's diversity plan and the resulting blowback. "Like I said, we'll get mad, and then we'll regroup and we'll figure out where we go now. 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. She was the founding editor of the websites PureWow Dallas and Racked Dallas. School board elections: Covid controversies bring in new candidates Early voting underway for city and school district elections in Tarrant The acrimony landed the city in the national spotlight ahead of Election Day, with a flurry of stories appearing on right-wing news sites describing the contest as a test for a bigger national fight over anti-racism programs in schools. Southlake, a historically conservative city where about two-thirds of voters supported President Donald Trump last year, grabbed national headlines in 2018 when a clip of some white Carroll high school students chanting the N-word went viral. He won the seat on his first time running for office. Southlake's population has tripled to more than 31,000 over the past three decades, driven in part by immigrants from South Asia drawn to the area by high-paying jobs and highly ranked schools. "What's most important to me is that we have dialogue," said Rudman, whose children attend private school. Residents in Northwest ISD will also be able to vote on the district's $1.9 billion bond package. But in an August 2020 Facebook post, Huffman said the only reasonable path forward for the plan was to significantly amend it, citing the challenges the district faced during the pandemic. The unofficial election results showed the winners as Alex Sexton in Place 6 and Andrew Yeager in Place 7, each winning with over 70 percent of the vote. The employee was referencing a bill passed over the summer requiring teachers to include multiple perspectives when teaching social events in history. 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. My concern is, when you use this kind of language, when you equate your political opponents to pedophiles, you are not only distracting from real and important issues, you are putting us in danger, she said. Daily Wire reported that Andrew Yeager, a regional ad sales . Williams and her supporters came up short Tuesday evening but is remaining hopeful. 5.1.2023 9:31 AM, J.D. "It's a great town," a woman shouted over her shoulder after declining to speak to reporters. In a statement to NBC News on Sunday, Smith, who is white, said the election "was a referendum on those who put personal politics and divisive philosophies ahead of Carroll ISD students and families, and their common American heritage and Texas values. I have accepted no money, no gifts in lieu of anything from any group or political party.. Candidates for school board election - The Marquee You know the old saying, All politics is local. That increasingly is not so true, said Rebecca Deen, a political science professor at the University of Texas at Arlington. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. Local elections often come down to hundreds of votes but often have a lot more All candidates answered a Marquee candidate survey. The victory caps a yearlong campaign by Southlake Families PAC, a group formed by local Republican Party leaders in response to the districts diversity efforts. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. Educators are worried the legislation would have a chilling effect on classrooms and hamper efforts to encourage students to be effective citizens. A racist video sparked change in a wealthy Texas suburb. Andrew Yeager easily defeats Stephanie Williams for seat on Carroll ISD (Hannah Johnson/Community Impact), Reporter, Grapevine, Colleyville and Southlake & Keller, Roanoke and Northeast Fort Worth. This is a problem that has to stop. In the race for mayor, conservative John Huffman won 71 percent of the vote to defeat Debra Edmondson. Carroll ISD addresses Holocaust controversy at latest school board meeting. Kushwaha, the founder of the anti-racism coalition, said she hopes that despite the results of the election, Carroll ISDs students will continue to have a voice. . Southlake Mayor John Huffman issued a statement suggesting that the federal investigation might have been launched to retaliate against the city for electing three school board members who opposed . (Cody Thorn/Community Impact), Editor, Grapevine-Colleyville-Southlake, Keller-Roanoke-Northeast Fort Worth. "I don't feel like we're at a place right now where either side is talking to the other side. In the end, the contest was not close. Yeager opposed it as well. Area districts have proposed hundreds of . It has to end somewhere.. Staff writer Talia Richman contributed to this report. Throughout the campaign, Yeager, a father of three, warned that the proposal and a list of additional demands published by a student activist group would ruin Carrolls tradition of excellence. The majority-white but quickly diversifying school system is one of the top performing districts in Texas. In total, thats seven times more than what candidates raised the last time these two seats were up for election, three years ago. Southlake Student Who Spoke Out Against 'Two-Sides' Holocaust Law 2023 Election Information - Utah Voter Information Restoration of Our Republic, Southlake Texas Shows the Way - Organized "I don't want to think about that right now, because it's really, really hard for me. The complete results can be found online at mhsmarquee.com. The City of Southlake City Council is composed of a Mayor and six Council members. Lewis, a first-time candidate, said this isnt what she imagined when she signed up to run for a school board seat. By a landslide vote, they dont want racially divisive critical race theory taught to their children or forced on their teachers. "I'm so grateful to the voters for their confidence in me. St. Clair Shores Sentinel | Published October 12, 2022. Porter County Election Board balks at last-minute change "Unfortunately, it's going to take outside forces to make change," Jones said. School board races show mixed results for critical race theory - USA Today If you are voting by mail, your application to vote by mail must be received . "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. Deep down, Maryland told The Dallas Morning News in October, I said to myself, This is something I need to do. Worth Heights Community Center, 3551 New York . 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. A school district tried to address racism, a group of parents fought Sign up and stay up to date with our daily newsletter. Candidate Stephanie Williams stands with supporters near Southlake Town Hall. 301 talking about this. The draw order was as follows: Questions regarding the election may be directed to elections@southlakecarroll.edu. Yeager didn't respond to a message requesting an interview. To demonstrate the need for change, members of the student-led Southlake Anti-Racism Coalition collected more than 300 accounts from current and former Carroll students last year who said they had been mistreated because of their race, religion or sexual orientation. The contest was one-sided. New groups have emerged nationwide backing candidates opposed to history lessons, library books and school programs centered on racism, LGBTQ rights and other issues that conservatives have misbranded under the umbrella of critical race theory, an academic study of how racism is embedded in modern institutions. Anti-Critical Race Theory Candidates Win Big in Texas Town - Breitbart Over 9,000 people voted on Saturday, three times as many as in similar contests in the past, NBC News reported. School board candidate Andrew Yeager stands with supporters outside Southlake Town Hall on Nov. 2, 2021.