Dallas College wraps up board elections, fills seat of late trustee

The final Dallas School board election aimed to fill within the seat of the longtime trustee who died final yr.

Dr. Catalina Garcia and Lynn Davenport confronted off in a runoff on Saturday for the District 1 seat, which encompasses North Dallas and Lake Highlands. Garcia, 84, is a retired doctor, and Davenport, 50, is a former skilled recruiter.

Garcia — who received greater than 63% of the votes — will serve for 2 years, filling in for the late J.L. “Sonny” Williams, whose time period expires in 2024. Garcia might want to run once more in 2024 if she desires to be reelected for six extra years, the same old time period size.

Former incumbent Gretchen Minyard Williams, 65, took over the seat after the loss of life of her husband, J.L. Williams — a Minyard Meals Shops president and minority proprietor of the Dallas Mavericks. Gretchen Willams, a realtor who has served as co-chairman of Minyard Meals Shops, didn’t make it into the runoff after falling behind opponents in Might.

Garcia beforehand mentioned that she desires to extend the school’s involvement with excessive colleges to nurture and fortify a scholar pipeline, focusing particularly on college students who will not be contemplating pursuing a level due to related prices.

Noting that the school has uncared for its English proficiency curriculum, Garcia mentioned she desires to reprioritize such research with a purpose to not have an “ignorant” workforce.

The Dallas School system initially consisted of seven schools — every a person establishment a part of the Dallas County Group School District — earlier than directors merged them in 2020.

Trustees should navigate bouncing again from pandemic-related losses and setbacks, work with a brand new chancellor and maneuver the consolidation.

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