Richardson ISD has released a draft map showing proposed voting districts for school board trustees following the settlement of a lawsuit that accused the district of discriminatory election practices. Trustees will have an opportunity to provide feedback on the proposed map at a public hearing Tuesday, Jan. 29. The school board is scheduled to vote on the boundaries at its Feb. 4 meeting. If the new map is approved, the district will need to seek approval from a federal court judge to move its school board election from May to November. Trustees currently reside in three of the five proposed districts, according to court documents. The seats for trustees Eron Linn, Karen Clardy and Katie Patterson are up for election this year. It's unclear which board seats will be assigned to which voting districts.

The lawsuit filed last year by a former school board member claimed that the current process of having all school board members represent the district as a whole was unfair and created obstacles for minority candidates seeking those elected positions.

As part of the settlement, the district has agreed that five board members will represent certain geographic areas within RISD while two board members will represent the district as a whole. The school board's public hearing on the proposed majority single-member district plan starts at 6 p.m. Jan. 29 at the RISD Administration Building Auditorium.