Dallas, Texas…April 12, 2022 – Brewer Storefront filed suit in federal court on behalf of plaintiff Paige Dixon against the Lewisville Independent School District (LISD) and its trustees, alleging that the school district’s election system violates the Voting Rights Act of 1965 because it denies fair representation to voters of color.
Filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Sherman Division, the lawsuit claims that the school district’s at-large voting system denies Hispanic, African American and Asian voters a fair opportunity to elect school board representatives of their choice. The Storefront is the community service legal affiliate of Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors.
The lawsuit alleges that, based on the district’s demographics, one would expect that a Latino, African American or Asian school board member could be elected. Yet, all seven school board members, as they have been for years, are white.
“Our client represents a large number who believe the at-large election system used by Lewisville ISD illegally denies citizens of color a fair opportunity to elect candidates of their choosing – trustees that represent their interests, schools and communities,” says William A. Brewer III, partner at Brewer Storefront and lead counsel for plaintiff Paige Dixon. “Clearly, the school board should adopt an electoral process which allows minority voters and community members to fairly participate in this vibrant, multiracial school district.”
LISD is a richly diverse school district. As of the 2020-21 school year, the student population was 37.6% white, 30.5% Hispanic, 15.5% Asian, and 11.6% African American, and 4.4% Two or More Races.
However, in addition to the all-white seven-member school board, LISD’s 16-member administrative “District Leadership Team” (including the interim superintendent) has only one person of color serving on it, a team comprised of 15 white members and one African American woman, and no Hispanic or Asian administrators.
Under the current electoral system, school board members are elected at large. Candidates run for “places” but do not represent any specific geographic area. The lawsuit claims the at-large system rewards white voters for voting as a bloc and denies political opportunity to non-white voters.
The lawsuit refers to LISD’s at-large election system and the importance of school board trustees and states that, “Unfortunately, when the electoral process by which officials are chosen ‘stacks the deck’ against people of color such bodies cease to be ‘representative.’”
The lawsuit alleges that, “The at-large system discourages minority-preferred candidates from seeking office because it effectively functions as a white-controlled referendum on all candidates where white voters control all seven Trustee positions.”
According to the lawsuit, the numbers of Hispanic, African American and Asian voters are sufficiently large and geographically compact such that at least one single-member electoral district could be created in which voters of color are a majority.
The lawsuit describes the significant “achievement gap” which exists between the lowest performing elementary schools in the district that are majority minority in enrollment and higher achieving schools situated in the neighborhoods in which the all-white members of the LISD board of trustees reside.
Dixon, who is African American, is an active member of her community, a U.S. Army combat veteran, and a mother of two children who have attended LISD schools. She previously served as PTA President at Rockbrook Elementary School in Lewisville ISD from 2017 to 2021. She ran for Place 1 on the LISD school board in May 2021 and lost.
Ms. Dixon’s community involvement is extensive; in addition to her work as PTA President, she has been a member of the LISD Academic Calendar and Superintendent Parental Advisory committees; she chaired the LISD Council of the PTA’s Advocacy Committee; served as a volunteer coordinator of the LISD High School Band Booster Club; volunteered for Denton County Meals on Wheels; and is a member of the Concerned Citizens & African-American Parents (CCAAP).
Brewer Storefront previously brought a voting rights lawsuit against LISD in 2019 on behalf of plaintiff Frank Vaughan. The Court concluded that Mr. Vaughan, who is white, did not meet the definition of an “aggrieved person” under the VRA because his right to vote was not infringed “on account of his race.”
The Storefront has successfully challenged violations of the Voting Rights Act on behalf of other communities of interest in previous actions.
The Storefront successfully resolved Voting Rights Act cases with the Richardson Independent School District in January 2019, the Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School District in 2015, and the Grand Prairie Independent School District in 2014. All districts now utilize remodeled voting systems. The Storefront also secured trial victories in Voting Rights Act cases against the Irving Independent School District in 2014, the City of Farmers Branch in 2012, and the City of Irving in 2009. Those lawsuits paved the way for the formation of new voting systems and the election of minority candidates.