Mansfield ISD trustees eye single-member districts

By Amanda Rogers

Mansfield Record

Mansfield ISD trustees took a step to explore moving to single-member districts to elect board members at Tuesday night’s meeting.

Board members voted 4-3 to approve a resolution to explore moving from at-large elections to single-member elections.

In the current at-large election, trustees represent the entire district. In single-member districts, the school district is divided into geographic areas and trustees represent the area where they reside. The district could be divided into five, six or seven districts. The remaining seats would be at-large, which would mean those seats would be filled by someone who lives anywhere in the district. The board is composed of seven members.

The next steps will be meetings with the community and looking at drawing district maps based on population, according to Christine Badillo and Bola Ibidalpo, attorneys from Walsh Gallegos Kyle Robinson & De Los Santos P.C. In order to go into effect for the next school board election on May 1, 2027, the school board would need to complete the process, including drawing the maps, by December in order to go into effect Jan. 1, 2027, the attorneys said.

Trustees seemed divided on the issue.

“Why would we spend money when I feel like our biggest concern is money?” asked trustee Michelle Newsom. “We have a deficit budget. It feels like something that would break this community apart. I don’t understand why this is necessary.”

The cost to move to a single-member district could run $10,000-$20,000, Badillo said.

Trustee Benita Reed said she wanted to serve everyone in the district, not just one area.

Trustees Jason Thomas and Ana-Alicia Horn said that some people in the district do not feel like they are being represented, which was revealed in a district-wide survey this summer that drew more than 1,000 responses.

“I think this action is coming from a community that feels like they aren’t being heard,” Thomas said.

Horn agreed.

“If I have an option to help every person in the community be heard, I want to explore that option,” she said.

School board president Jandel Crutchfield explained that a committee was formed to review the survey responses and felt like this was an action that could address citizens who don’t feel represented.

Trustees Michele Gooch, Crutchfield, Horn and Thomas voted for the resolution, while trustees Jesse Cannon, Reed and Newsom voted against.

The resolution reads, in part, “the Board desires to work with Walsh Gallegos Kyle Robinson & De Los Santos P.C. under the District’s retainer agreement for legal services for evaluation, development and adoption of a single-member election system.

“NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Board has determined that it is in the best interest of the District and its residents to initiate the process of transitioning its current election system to a system in which trustees are elected from single-member trustee districts;

“BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, The Board, in consultation with District legal counsel, shall consider one or more proposed single-member trustee district plans for consideration. Any proposed plan shall be developed in accordance with applicable law and shall be subject to further action and approval by the Board.”

Mansfield ISD school board members serve three-year terms. Newsom and Crutchfield will both be up for re-election in May.

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