School safety, teacher retention and student success are the key focuses of candidates as two seats on the Dallas school board are up for grabs.

The new trustees will join veteran representatives in working with Superintendent Stephanie Elizalde to steer the second-largest district in Texas as it works to boost academic performance and manage a roughly $1.9 billion budget.

Trustees set DISD priorities for serving the district’s roughly 140,000 students, pass legislative agendas and evaluate the superintendent’s effectiveness. Election day is May 4; early voting runs now through April 30.

District 1 trustee Edwin Flores is stepping down to pursue a seat on the Dallas College board. District 9 trustee Justin Henry – who is currently board president – also is not seeking reelection. Both have endorsed candidates who they want to succeed them.

Dan Micciche, who represents the District 3 area that includes Northeast Dallas, is running unopposed for reelection.

District 1

Three people are seeking the Northwest Dallas District 1 seat.

Flores is endorsing Lance Currie, a law firm partner with two kids in DISD. Currie has worked with multiple organizations supporting public education, including Reading Partners and EducateDallas. Currie said it’s vital to have a parent’s perspective on the board.

Currie has worked alongside Flores for years to understand the district’s direction and priorities, including as the trustee’s appointee on a racial equity advisory council.

“He has the right experience, the right demeanor, the right understanding,” Flores said of Currie.

Currie said he wants the district doing additional work to figure out what happens to students after they graduate and set goals based on their success. He’s supportive of one of the district’s key reforms: the Teacher Excellence Initiative, a pay-for-performance compensation model.

“If you’re gonna have to live with some turnover, I’d rather keep the really effective [teachers] and have the other ones find the places that they need to be so that our kids can continue to learn,” Currie said.

He’s running against nonprofit field director Maureen Milligan and Chris Roberts, who works in information technology.

Milligan wants school leaders to pause and determine what is succeeding – and what isn’t – as the district grapples with budget challenges and declining enrollment.

“We really need this comprehensive assessment of what programs have been working – how our facilities and our investments, staff and the rest of the system can really be strategically designed,” she said.

Milligan acknowledged that could mean fewer schools in the future. DISD’s enrollment has decreased by more than 15,000 students since 2018-19.

She is involved in many civic organizations, including the City of Dallas 2024 bond taskforce. As trustee, she said she would increase the number of parents and community members who participate in campus-level decision making.

Prior to Roberts’ career in technology, he was a middle and high school band director. He’s an advocate for additional music education, more restrictive technology policies and stronger discipline.

“If we have strong discipline, it would actually be a recruiting tool,” Roberts said. He added that he wants DISD known as a place where “we’re good with discipline. We have a tight ship.”

He said his ideas would likely be met with a lot of “noise” initially but would be in the best interest of the district.

DISD overhauled its discipline practices in recent years, aiming to keep more kids on campus and solve underlying behavior issues. The district wanted to tackle the negative impact of exclusionary discipline, which removes students from class and disproportionately affects students of color.

District 9

Four candidates are seeking to represent District 9, which includes South Dallas along with parts of downtown, Pleasant Grove, Deep Ellum, Uptown and East Dallas.

Henry supports Ed Turner, an insurance broker and longtime DISD volunteer who previously sought the same seat.

Henry said Turner will keep his focus on what’s best for kids and can build relationships even with those he disagrees with. Turner is the only candidate with a significant campaign finance balance. The latest reports online showed he had roughly $16,000 cash on hand.

Student safety is top of mind for candidates. A DISD student wounded a classmate in a shooting at Wilmer-Hutchins High School earlier this month, raising concerns about how a teenager brought a gun onto campus despite the use of metal detectors and clear backpacks.

Turner – whose daughter attends a DISD school – said he wants to see more focus on keeping students safe from fentanyl.

“Every teacher, everyone in the building, should be trained on identifying overdoses,” he said, adding that there should be easy access to medication that rapidly reverses opioid overdoses.

One of his opponents, Oralia Alonso, a parent instructor/liaison at Ann Richards STEAM Academy, said she’s in favor of more mental health resources.

“The district has programs available,” she said. “But are they reachable to every school? Do the parents have that information?”

The candidates have various ideas on tackling teacher retention.

Da’On Boulanger-Chatman, a fine arts teacher in Garland ISD, said that while he supports the overall idea of the Teacher Excellence Initiative, he wants to make changes to the system so educators don’t feel in competition with each other.

“This is not to say that the TEI program is not effective in many ways. It is,” he said. “However, the verbiage and the selection criteria that is presented to the teachers is not a morale booster.”

He also wants educators who win “Teacher of the Year” awards to get a seat at the boardroom table for trustee meetings.

Community organizer LaKashia Wallace suggested moving to a four-day school week to attract successful teachers. Fridays could be used for academic remediation for students who need it, she said. A few smaller area districts have moved to shortened weeks, including Anna, but large urban districts have stayed away from this model.

“Since we’re in a budget crisis, what can we do to look and see incentives for teachers and staff?” she said. “Get what we need done and give teachers an opportunity to rest.”

The DMN Education Lab deepens the coverage and conversation about urgent education issues critical to the future of North Texas.

The DMN Education Lab is a community-funded journalism initiative, with support from Bobby and Lottye Lyle, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, Garrett and Cecilia Boone, The Meadows Foundation, The Murrell Foundation, Solutions Journalism Network, Southern Methodist University, Sydney Smith Hicks and the University of Texas at Dallas. The Dallas Morning News retains full editorial control of the Education Lab’s journalism.

3rd Quarter Report

The Clippers and the Mavericks have shown up to the matchup, but their offenses sure haven’t. Sitting on a score of 66-65, the Clippers have looked like the better team, but there’s still one more quarter to play.

If the Clippers keep playing like this, they’ll bump their record up to 2-0 in no time. On the other hand, the Mavericks will have to make due with an 0-2 record unless they turn things around (and fast).

Who’s Playing

Dallas Mavericks @ Los Angeles Clippers

Regular Season Records: Dallas 50-32, Los Angeles 51-31

Current Series Standings: Dallas 0, Los Angeles 1

How To Watch

• When: Tuesday, April 23, 2024 at 10 p.m. ET
• Where: Crypto.com Arena — Los Angeles, California
• TV: TNT
• Follow: CBS Sports App
• Ticket Cost: $49.00

What to Know

On Tuesday, the Dallas Mavericks will fight it out against the Los Angeles Clippers in a Western Conference playoff contest at 10:00 p.m. ET at Crypto.com Arena. Despite being away, the Mavericks are looking at a two-point advantage in the spread.

The Mavericks are headed into this one after the oddsmakers set last week’s over/under low at 221.5, but even that wound up being too high. They fell 109-97 to the Clippers on Sunday. Dallas didn’t live up to their potential and found themselves falling short of the advantage oddsmakers thought they had coming into the game.

The Mavericks’ loss shouldn’t obscure the performances of Kyrie Irving, who scored 31 points along with seven rebounds and two steals, and Luka Doncic, who dropped a double-double on 33 points and 13 rebounds. Doncic’s afternoon made it 11 games in a row in which he has scored at least 30 points.

The Mavericks have some ground to make up, as the Clippers currently lead the series 1-0. Check back here after the game to see if the Mavericks can even up the series or if the Clippers can really take the lead.

Odds

Dallas is a slight 2-point favorite against Los Angeles, according to the latest NBA odds.

The line on this game has moved quite a bit since it opened, as it started out with the Clippers as a 1-point favorite.

The over/under is 215.5 points.

See NBA picks for every single game, including this one, from SportsLine’s advanced computer model. Get picks now.

Series History

Los Angeles has won 6 out of their last 10 games against Dallas.

• Apr 21, 2024 – Los Angeles 109 vs. Dallas 97
• Dec 20, 2023 – Los Angeles 120 vs. Dallas 111
• Nov 25, 2023 – Los Angeles 107 vs. Dallas 88
• Nov 10, 2023 – Dallas 144 vs. Los Angeles 126
• Feb 08, 2023 – Dallas 110 vs. Los Angeles 104
• Jan 22, 2023 – Los Angeles 112 vs. Dallas 98
• Jan 10, 2023 – Los Angeles 113 vs. Dallas 101
• Nov 15, 2022 – Dallas 103 vs. Los Angeles 101
• Feb 12, 2022 – Los Angeles 99 vs. Dallas 97
• Feb 10, 2022 – Dallas 112 vs. Los Angeles 105

DALLAS – The Dallas Wings could be a step closer to playing games in the city of Dallas. 

Wednesday, Dallas city leaders could vote on a resolution to bring the WNBA team to Dallas. The team currently plays in Arlington at UTA.

With Caitlin Clark and other big names joining the WNBA, women’s basketball is at its peak in popularity. 

Now, the city of Dallas is trying to make the Wings call Dallas its home in a newly renovated arena. 

Women’s basketball has been talked about nonstop this year. 

More than 18 million people watched the college national championship game between South Carolina and Iowa, topping viewership for the men’s final. 

Dorothy Gentry is a WNBA writer. Her stories are published in The Athletic, Slam and D Magazine. 

“These women are balling from high school to college and then into the league. So the product is awesome,” she said. “And then of course the accessibility. They’re on television now; not just locally, national outlets.”

This week, the Dallas Wings announced for the first time in franchise history a sellout of season tickets. Other WNBA teams did the same.

The latest draft class has a lot to do with that. Players like Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese have become household names.

Clark was the first pick overall for the Indiana Fever, a team the Wings host next week for a preseason game. 

“The Wings selling out for the first time in their history. That is amazing. I think it’s just part of the growth that we’re seeing,” Gentry said. “It’s like, again, the accessibility, the fans, the followers. And the natural progression is to start selling out these arenas and getting that revenue that these women deserve.”

The city of Dallas wants a piece of the action.

City Council has a vote scheduled Wednesday to bring a professional sports team to Dallas Memorial Auditorium next to the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center. 

The resolution does not name the Wings, but the team announced over the weekend it is in talks with the Dallas mayor. 

The Wings currently play on the UT Arlington campus. 

If approved, the Wings would move to a newly renovated arena, part of the new convention center master plan. 

Voters already approved the funding for the project. 

In a statement, the Wings president and CEO said, “The city of Arlington, the University of Texas at Arlington and College Park Center continue to be wonderful partners, and we look forward to continuing that relationship during the 2024 and 2025 seasons. The city of Dallas’s proposal offers a fitting, world-class stage for our remarkable athletes and devoted fans, and we look forward to commenting further at the appropriate time.” 

“The fans are still coming to Arlington to see the Dallas Wings,” Gentry said. “But you have to say that being Dallas downtown, same area as The Star, same area as the Mavs, same area, you know, there. And that centralized location could only be a good thing for them as well.”

The terms of the contract the team would agree to obtain occupancy on March 1, 2026.