Dallas ISD considering making Election Day a student holiday

DALLAS — The Dallas Independent School District board is considering making Election Day — Nov. 8, 2022 — a student holiday and a digital workday for lecturers.

According to a district agenda item, the change is into consideration “due to safety concerns of campuses being used as polling sites and individuals having open access to more than half of district campuses.”

At a board assembly on Thursday, the superintendent and trustees mentioned the proposal to vary to the 2022-23 college calendar.

“The only way we would be able to not have students at a school on Election Day this year, which we all know is going to be an extremely… well, rumor is that there’ll be a lot of people showing up to vote, we could have that as a virtual professional development day,” Superintendent Dr. Stephanie Elizalde stated on the assembly.

Elizalde added that the change might preserve college students at dwelling for security causes and would permit lecturers and employees to take the chance to vote.

At least three different North Texas college districts, Garland, Keller and Richardson, have already made Nov. 8 a student holiday.

Dallas ISD trustee Dustin Marshall informed the board he helps the concept of the student holiday but additionally raised some additional considerations about early voting procedures.

“Although this does address my biggest concern of actual election day, it does not address early voting, which is also a concern from an access-to-the-building perspective,” Marshall stated.

Marshall introduced up the concept of presumably eradicating colleges from the checklist of early voting websites as a result of security considerations, whereas on the identical time not disenfranchising residents. 

“We have to be very careful with disenfranchising voters for our own political reasons,” trustee Joyce Foreman stated.

Foreman additionally requested why discussions have surrounded the Nov. 8 election and never additionally on different elections such because the one in May.

Elizalde responded by saying the concerns for Nov. 8 should do with the turnout that is anticipated.

“We want to be mindful of the immediate safety. We do know we need to talk about the long-term,” Elizalde stated.

“The only reason we started with November was I was a little more concerned because the turnout being so large,” the superintendent added. “My concern is are we going to be able to manage in making sure, especially at some of the schools that don’t have secure vestibules where the voting is taking place… how do we ensure we don’t have adults roaming some of our buildings.”

The change to the 2022-23 college calendar could possibly be voted on by the board as early as Aug. 25.

Dallas ISD’s first day of college is Monday, Aug. 15.