| First hearing on remapping in DISD draws few people 05/15/2001 By Mike Jackson / The Dallas Morning News
The first hearing on plans to redraw Dallas school voting districts drew
little public interest Monday night, and officials said they hope for
larger turnouts at upcoming hearings.
"Must be the Mavericks," joked school board President Roxan Staff,
referring to Monday night's basketball playoff game between Dallas and
the San Antonio Spurs.
About 20 people were at the meeting, which officials hoped would spur
suggestions on redrawing districts. Mostly administrators, schools
trustees and news reporters attended the hearing at school district
headquarters. No one offered alternatives to the preliminary map.
Other meetings will be held at four high schools throughout the city.
"I am hoping that when we get out into the district people will come,"
said Myra McDaniel, an Austin attorney who is a consultant to the school
board on restructuring the voting districts.
A preliminary map was released last month. That map shifts boundaries
slightly but does not add districts where Hispanics or blacks are the
majority.
Trustees have invited their constituents to offer suggestions or submit
plans for consideration. The preliminary plan, based on 2000 census
figures, calls for some boundary changes to distribute the population
more evenly.
The board plans to approve a new map by Sept. 1 and schedule an election
on all nine board seats for May 2002. The U.S. Justice Department must
give final approval to the plan.
Here is a schedule of other planned meetings:
• Thursday, 7 p.m., Spruce High School auditorium, 9733 Old Seagoville
Road.
• May 21, 7 p.m., Jefferson High School auditorium, 4001 Walnut Hill
Lane.
• May 22, 7 p.m., Bryan Adams High School auditorium, 2101 Millmar Drive.
• May 23, 7 p.m., South Oak Cliff High School auditorium, 3601 S
Marsalis Ave.
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