Two newcomers join board after Nov. 5 election
Voters living in the Dilley Independent School District in southern Frio and a portion of northern La Salle County cast ballots on Tuesday, November 5, to pick four trustees for the school board.
On the ballot this year were seats 2, 5, 6 and 7 on the DISD board. Three incumbents ran for new terms in their seats. One newcomer was elected to fill a vacant seat, and one school board member has been unseated in the election by a challenger.
In Place 7, long-serving Trustee Frank Torres Jr. was defeated in his bid for a new term by challenger Curt McClain, who earned 436 votes to Torres’ 341.
In Place 2, Trustee Kay Smith defeated challenger Blanca Paloma Hale for a new term, prevailing with 603 votes to 157.
In Place 5, Melody Carroll has been elected for the first time, defeating fellow candidates Gracy Silva and Jeremiah Hale for the seat. Carroll earned 436 votes, Silva 283, and Hale 55.
Carroll takes the seat vacated in February last year when the school board adopted a resolution issuing a public censure of Trustee JD Rodriguez III, finding him in violation of board policy. Trustees ousted Rodriguez when the trustee left his primary residence in DISD, failed to attend five board meetings and failed to respond to communication from the board, according to the censure.
Place 6 Trustee Russell Furnace was re-elected without a challenger, taking 543 votes.
The new and returning members of the board will take their oaths of office this month.
