A federal judge on Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit brought against Frisco ISD, which alleged the district's system for electing its seven-member school board discriminates against the city's non-white population.
The suit, filed in April 2019, alleged the district’s election system makes it tough for school board candidates of color to win seats. The suit brings up eight past minority candidates who have lost in at-large school board elections.
The plaintiff's lawyers argued in favor of a system that ties board seats to a geographic area, or a cumulative voting system which allows voters to cast as many votes as there are open seats.
But Tuesday, Judge Amos L. Mazzant of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas found the at-large school boards were not discriminatory.
"Under the totality of the circumstances, FISD's electoral system does not deny African American, Hispanic, or Asian minority voting populations an equal opportunity to participate in the electoral process or to elect representatives of their choice," Mazzant wrote.
Frisco ISD's school board president, Chad Rudy, issued the following statement Tuesday.
"Frisco ISD is glad the Court recognized that the District's at-large election system does not result in discrimination against our minority community members," said Chad Rudy, president of the Frisco ISD Board of Trustees. "The District's mission is to know every student by name and need and the at-large system ensures our Board members represent every family in the community.
"As the Court said, 'Invidious discrimination must be stomped out in this Nation,' but the Plaintiff failed to prove any such discrimination as a result of the Frisco ISD election system. We will continue to work hard to serve the needs of every single family in our district, including the members of our minority communities."
Two places on the Frisco ISD school board are on the ballot in November's general election.
