Word from the Texas Attorney General is that DISD made a mistake when its board voted late last year to cancel May elections and instead put all trustees on a four-year election cycle, according to a DMN story. As a result, it’s possible the canceled May election could be rescheduled for November, forcing three trustees — Leigh Ann Ellis, Ron Price and Edwin Flores — to run again if they want to remain on the board.

Everything is still up in the air, and Flores correctly told the DMN that just because the AG has issued an opinion contradicting DISD’s attorneys doesn’t mean the AG is right; it’s just one set of attorneys reading the law one way and another disagreeing.

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But the crux of the matter is a Texas law that allowed DISD and other school districts until Dec. 31, 2007, to change board terms; DISD’s move came in November 2008. Board member Carla Ranger, who I tend to believe is wrong about almost everything else, has always made sense on this one, and she led the ultimately losing charge to get the board to see things her way. She and trustee Adam Medrano were the lone board members voting against the switch.

It looks like DISD will consult with the attorneys who originally said the election delay was legal and then decide what to do. It seems likely a court will eventually be asked to weigh-in on the decision, so it’s certainly possible that things could be drawn out until around next May, when the rescheduled election is planned anyway.

Let’s hope it doesn’t go that far, though; the move to reschedule the election was suspect in the first place, and it would be better PR-wise for the DISD board to just take its medicine on this one and schedule a vote.