The Panther

In an impromptu meeting of Prairie View students and Waller County community leaders, Tuesday night, Judge Dwayne Charleston called on students to organize to protest the inequalities in the recent Waller County bond election.

Continuing the message from the other rallies related to the bond, Charleston urged students to organize themselves to make their voices known to Waller County officials.

To protest Jones Elementary School being denied its fair share from a recent $49.3 million bond election, some students said they plan to show their outrage in a protest next Wednesday in Waller.

The students are scheduled to meet again next Tuesday, Nov. 13, in the Memorial Student Center at 8 p.m. to work out the details of the rally.

Charleston, a native of Prairie View, informed students at the meeting that the $49 million allocated in the bond has been frozen and the bond will not go into effect for another year, delaying a tax increase which will come with the implementation of the bond.

Mayor Frank Jackson was present at the meeting to show his support, and encourage students to continue being involved in politics.

"It's always students who have made the change," said Jackson, "We're in a struggle and we're still fighting to be treated equally in society."

According to Charleston, the desired result of the protest would be to bring together representatives from Waller and Prairie View to negotiate a compromise for the bond election issue.

Students have organized on the Web as well.

Crystal Divorne, one of the Prairie View students who has been involved with the protest, has created a Web site, savejones.com, to bring more attention to the issue.

"I am appalled about how Judge Charleston has been treated and that is what motivated me to create the Web site," said Divorne.

"I believe Waller ISD held covert, secretive meetings to manipulate the allocation of the Waller bond funds during the time that Prairie View A&M University was closed, effectively disenfranchising the voting rights of the students and community of Prairie View."

The Waller ISD school board recently filed a complaint with the Texas Commission of Judicial Misconduct against Charleston for abusing his power in connection with this incident.

Charleston claims he has received several death threats as a result of this controversy, but is determined to persevere in the face of the potential danger.

U.S. Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee has also shown her support for Charleston and the community leaders and has pressured the Justice Department to investigate Waller ISD.

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