The new Dallas ISD Calendar is here. As a follow up to the previous story on Wednesday. The Board of Trustees has finally spoken on its propositions. The Dallas ISD calendar does have a late June finish, among other things.
Although not explicitly stated, it’s suggested that the first few weeks of school will be online. As explained by the speaker, the main purpose expressed for the late start is to refine and polish online education.
“So its not about health, its not about safety, its not about getting the schools ready for a more safe environment, its about perfecting virtual instruction.” noted Trustee, Dustin Marshall.
The board also discussed eliminating breaks in order to finish the Dallas ISD calendar as usual. However, the board opted to extend to a June 18 finish rather than to shorten breaks. The only break that was cut was Fair days, due to the State Fair being cancelled.
On the contrary one new holiday was added, November 3, also known as election day. Schools act as a place to vote on that day. And in order to keep students and teachers away from potentially infected voters, election day will now be a holiday.
Others things to note:
Administrators will get 14 hours of professional development for virtual learning
Teachers will get 15-18 hours of training for virtual learning
Up to 8 of the first few weeks might be online learning only
Grading periods last 9 weeks instead of 6
5 professional development days for will be replaced for instructional time.
There are currently multiple accounts of what happened on the bridge from Chief Hall’s statements at the time, City Council Members who have backed her account, and citizen protestors who suffered the attack. A question exists about decision making and who had authority to make decisions. This includes why Lt. Brian Payne, an officer previously arrested in Ft. Worth for a road rage incident, was in charge of arrests on the bridge that night.
Another, bigger, question though is why is does this poor decision making continue to pervade the City of Dallas and its police department. Example? Lieutenant Brian William Deininger.
Deininger is currently assigned to teach the Standard Field Sobriety Testing program at the Dallas Police Department Academy. The problem with that is he was found unresponsive in his vehicle less than a year ago with multiple open containers of beer, not remembering how he got there, and denying medical any relevant medical history.
Granted mistakes happen to all of us and persons are innocent until convicted, but aren’t officers supposed to be held to a higher standard given the position they are placed in daily?
According to one police officer we spoke with, Deininger is an example of the problems with DPD right now.
DPD requires you, as a Dallas Police Officer, to be cooperative in any investigation by any other agency, especially if you’re a suspect. While Irving Police Department may have been doing him a favor or “helping him out” as this commander suggests by charging him with Public Intoxication and not Driving While Intoxicated, it is clear Deininger was not fully cooperative.
The officer continues “Brian is most certainly asking for preferential treatment when they’re asking him to preform SFST’s. Since he refused and it’s on camera that he refused he should have been terminated.” It is unclear why the Internal Affairs Division did not take further action, but both officers and suspects have complained about the IAD complaint process.
After watching the video, it seems clear Deininger is asking for preferential treatment saying he would handle it any way the officer wanted to handle it. He knows the procedure that should be followed – though he may have been too intoxicated to follow it.
DPD Lt. Brian Deininger
This was not Deininger’s first brush with other law enforcement though. In 2011 he was a suspect in a domestic violence case. It is unclear if Dallas’ thin blue line assisted in the choking case in the 2800 block of McKinney Avenue, but charges were dropped when the victim chose not to press charges – common in domestic violence cases.
The Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge incident may seem like an isolated case, but it appears DPD has an ongoing problem both recruiting officers and maintaining their understanding of laws and regulations that apply to them. They clearly can pass tests administered by the state, but can they follow common sense and make good decisions while on the beat?
The George Floyd Protests are exposing issues not only in May and June 2020, but a longer record of problems within the department that go beyond a singular event or police chief. The question is will Reneé Hall stay defensive about her command tenure or will she work to correct these problems that are evident for everyone to see.
Dallas Police Department discipline is clearly lacking.
A leaked copy of the After Action Report made its way to Central Track this morning. While it is a draft, it represents an ongoing lack of discipline in the City of Dallas and the Police Department.
In a statement to Central Track from City Manager TC Broadnax and Police Chief Renee Hall they said, “The City Manager’s Office and DPD will continue to be transparent and thorough to avoid misinformation.“
The statement itself is concerning because they do not reflect on the fact that Chief Hall states no tear gas (CS) was used on the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge. She lied to City Council previously and the City Manager stood with his employee in a contentious City Council meeting in June.
The lies from that night were amplified by Council Member Omar Narvaez.
We think DMagazine misspelled “lie.”It appears “progressive” stalwart Omar Narvaez stands with Dallas Police Department over peaceful protestors. Why?
Dallas Police Department Discipline Issues Ongoing
Several issues exist with this report. One major issue from the “draft” report is why was a lieutenant was running the scene? Remember, Chief Hall was “kicking back” during police operations and did not take command of the incident in any way.
Chief Hall’s lack of involvement left a lieutenant in charge of the operation.
Lieutenant Brian Payne is listed as the person running the arrest operation on the bridge. What isn’t listed is a report from two Dallas Police employees that this is the same Brian Payne who was arrested in the Fort Worth area approximately a decade ago after a road rage incident over a Walmart parking space. Was this the right person to run this operation given his history of poor anger management?
Congratulations to Central Track. Like our frequent reports on Dallas Police here and here among others, we are hoping shining a little light on an otherwise toxic department might help clean it out.
Dallas Police Department’s Public Information Officers have not responded to emails requesting comment.
The 20-21 school year is about to get longer per reports. The Dallas Independent School District (DISD) school board will vote Thursday on a new Dallas ISD calendar that could push the end of the school year to mid-June.
Under the proposal, classes would begin three weeks later than scheduled on September 8. And the last day of school would move back three weeks as well — from May 28 to June 18.
The DISD plans to release a detailed back-to-school plan this week. It will include the precautions the district plans to take when students return to campus, but that may not be enough for some campus educators.
“I have kidney disease and I have a breathing condition, asthma…” said educator Ronny Swank.
A military veteran who teaches middle school, Swank said his dream is to be back in the classroom. “But, I’m so scared, sir, to go back under bad conditions,” he said. “I made my wife a promise that when I walk in that classroom, if I don’t feel safe, I am simply going to walk out.”
20-21 School Year
The current calendar has school opening August 17, but a Dallas ISD Trustees meeting Thursday will decide if the open will be moved back past Labor Day, September 8.
News reports have Superintendent Michael Hinojosa anticipating all campuses re-opened on that date with teachers on campus “unless the situation keeps getting worse.” Given Texas Education Agency statements funding for pupil attendance this may be related to both annual school funding and the push for the 2020 bond package.
Michael Hinojosa Plans For On Campus Learning At Start Of 20-21 School Year
He was one of the primary voices that kept schools from closing in the spring until the middle of Spring Break which resulted in a handful of COVID19 infections being passed at the school level.
Dallas is a medical hot zone. That is per a White House report obtained by Center for Public Integrity which says Texas should continue to mandate masks, keep bars closed, decrease indoor dining to 25% capacity and limit social gatherings to 10 people or fewer in counties with rising COVID-19 positivity rates.
The report dated July 14 shows eighteen states currently in what the task force calls the “red zone” for cases. This means there were more than 100 new COVID-19 cases for every 100,000 people in a given state during the second week in July.
Eleven states are in that same “red zone” for test positivity, the level a state reaches when higher than 10% of those getting tested are testing positive. Texas is in both.
Ten total states across the country are in both “red zones,” mainly across the south. They include:
Alabama
Arizona
Florida
Georgia
Idaho
Louisiana
Mississippi
Nevada
South Carolina
Texas
In the week before July 14, Texas was reporting nearly double the number of new cases compared to the national average, at 206 new cases to the U.S.’s 119 per 100,000 people. The state’s positivity rate for the same week was 20.6%, according to the report. Additionally, cases were starting in child care settings.
Over the course of the three weeks before July 14, Harris, Dallas and Bexar counties had the highest number of new cases out of the state’s 254 counties, with the three accounting for 35% of the total new cases in Texas, the report shows.
“Hot Zone” counties
Nearly half of Texas’ counties are in both of the “red zones”— 123 out of Texas’ 254.
The top 12 counties in the “red zone,” ranked by the highest number of cases in the past three weeks, were:
The former Dallas Independent School District Trustee candidate wrote:
When I read the DMN editorial last Thursday More charter school opposition in southern Dallas I wanted to call the paper and ask, “Does DMN even read the press releases from the Texas Charter Schools Association before printing them in the editorial page?”
The Dallas Morning News editorial appears to be the latest in a multiprong approach to divide Black voters prior to the Bond 2020 vote which loses financial support through expansion of another unsuccessful KIPP charter school down the street from a more successful Dallas ISD program.
It is becoming clear that officials are concerned about the local economy and are attempting to make sure they are successful with issuing bonds after this November Bond 2020 election. Original estimates were for a $7B bond package that has been pared down to $3.1B, but that may still be high will unclear state funding and a possible mass exodus of students.
Lori Kirkpatrick
Lori Kirkpatrick was a candidate for District 2 representative on the Dallas Independent School District school board in Texas. Kirkpatrick was defeated in the runoff election on June 10, 2017.
The school election coming up for the Dallas ISD bond is sure to be a major issue on the November ballot. Dallas ISD leadership is sparing no expense to make sure they come out on top of a shaky financial vote.
Dallas ISD’s Racial Equity Office (REO) recently tweeted and put up a page saying they want to “ensure the district’s Bond 2020 plan includes help for neighborhoods most impacted by poverty and economic disinvestment.” If this sounds familiar, it should. It is the same old tune they play every time they come to taxpayers for money.
Dallas ISD’s Racial Equity Office team is conducting a series of community conversations to collect input from neighborhood residents on the design of four student and family resource centers, i.e. they are selling a product that voters are not even funding yet in hopes of getting your credit card number in the November election.
If voters approve, the resource centers will be constructed with a portion of the district’s proposed Bond 2020 funds. They would be located in neighborhoods served by H. Grady Spruce, Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt and L.G. Pinkston high schools–four areas of the city long affected by historical redlining, segregation and economic disinvestment.
Residents are urged to attend the meetings to suggest ideas and offer input about the resource centers. They are also asked to discuss potential social services that might be offered.
Dallas ISD claims their goal is to improve student academic achievement and increase opportunities for student success – but that would seem to start in the classroom which is getting short changed by this bond. Additionally, Dallas ISD has previously not fulfilled its previous bond packages in the same way advertised.
As we wrote last week, Dallas ISD is full speed ahead on Bond 2020 and a financial package that may be very hard to support with unknown state resources and a local impact of COVID19 not fully realized. There are also no clear answers to questions raised by the former Dallas ISD Chief Internal Auditor about previous bond questions.
School Election
The Dallas ISD Calendar includes a call for the local election on November 3, 2020. It was originally scheduled for May 22, but was delayed due to COVID19.
Voters will have the chance to vote on Trustees in Districts 2, 6, and 8.
Citizens can register to vote or check their registration status through Dallas County Elections.
A Bond 2020 virtual Town Hall will be held July 21st at 6:00 PM for citizens to hear about the Dallas ISD Bond proposal.
Dallas ISD Superintendent Michael Hinojosa will lead the virtual community meeting to provide updates about projects included in the district’s Bond 2020 proposal.
Underlying Bond 2020 Issues
Given rising cases of childcare facility infected children and a ping pong strategy from the Texas Education Agency on the COVID19 response, it is unclear how full Dallas ISD budget coffers will be for next year’s budget and bond support.
Additionally, no public announcements have occured on reports about the Auditor scandal from late in last year’s school year. Some citizens may have forgotten the scandal from the fall of 2019 into February 2020, but without answers, the bond package may face an uphill climb to voter approval.
A recent Dallas Morning News released a poll showing that Joe Biden had a 5-point lead over Donald Trump in Texas. Soon after #TurnTexasBlue began to trend on Twitter again and many people began cheering on the idea Biden could flip Texas blue. Austin Democrats are fundraising off the idea Biden will Flip Texas Blue.
Bias exists in all polls. Whether it be that the polls in 2016 couldn’t reach Trumps non-college educated base, or simply that people don’t always vote how they say they will or may deliberately mislead pollsters. Its possible these sources of error are still present in the 1,887 person DMN/UT-Tyler poll.
Secondly, Joe Biden’s potential plan for expanding into Texas is risky. The Biden campaign told Politico that they were actively trying to expand into traditionally red states like Texas and Georgia.
As Dallas Represenative Colin Allred said, a move in Texas is a “chance to go on the offensive”. The idea is that if Biden spends resources campaigning in Texas, then Trump will have to spend money on keeping Texas. This could then distract Trump from campaigning in swing states. However, as Republicans, and even some Democrats point out, if Biden tries to attack in Texas, he himself loses resources in those swing states.
“That was the problem with the Clinton campaign, their eyes got big,” says Democratic strategist Pete Giangreco. “I don’t want to hear about expansion plans or this other bullshit. Eyes like a laser beam. What they need to focus on is 270 [electoral votes].”
Flip Texas Blue Is Harder Mathmatically Than It Sounds
Suppose Texas votes the same as they did in 2016. Now suppose Dallas and Travis (Austin) county voters who voted for Trump previously, vote for Biden in 2020 instead. Biden would still need to make up another 417,025 votes.
If Biden were then to flip all of Bexar County (San Antonio) to no red votes – all blue. He would still need 176,692 votes. Joe could try and get these votes from Harris County (Houston), but he would have to convince 32.36% of the people who previously voted for Trump, to now vote for him. He could also try Tarrant County (Fort Worth), but he would need to convince 51.07% of Trump supporters to now vote for him.
Winning over enough urban votes to counter the rural and sub-urbans votes is a hard task. Its definitely possible, but perhaps not probable this year.
If Biden hopes to seriously snatch Texas, he may also consider going after the hearts and minds of suburban Texan voters.
Rural voters would be extremely more difficult to get than the urban Texan vote.
Another factor beyond 2020 though is the census. It is clear people are working to leave California and many other states. Texas continues to attract large employers out of California, Michigan, and New York.
A Black social worker is suing American Airlines, alleging airline employees suspected her of kidnapping a white toddler whom she was accompanying during a flight last fall.
Shannon Murphy, a social worker with Riverside County, California, said her civil rights were violated when she was pulled off a plane in October and airline employees took the baby she was caring for. The suit alleges violations of Murphy’s civil rights, false imprisonment, and negligence. It seeks unspecified punitive and exemplary damages, as well as compensation for past and future medical expenses. Murphy said she had been seeing a therapist since the incident and has suffered from insomnia and nightmares.
According to the lawsuit, which was filed in late June and first reported by The Mercury News, Murphy was escorting the toddler back from a court-mandated two-week visit with his father in Arkansas. While a passenger was waiting for the second leg of a flight to depart from Dallas-Fort Worth for Ontario International Airport near Los Angeles, they told a flight attendant that they suspected Murphy of holding a kidnap victim, the lawsuit alleges.
Per reports American Airline employees asked Murphy for her boarding pass, told her she needed to leave the plane with them, and took the child from her, she said.
Murphy said she had paperwork with her, including her work ID, the child’s birth certificate, and a signed copy of the court order for the trip. She tried to show it to the airline employees on the plane, but they insisted she come with them, she said. They eventually checked the paperwork and said there had been a mistake, according to Murphy.
In 2017, the NAACP issued a travel advisory against American Airlines based on other similar behavior.
American Airlines: More Bad News
This is the second recent issue for the Dallas based airline. Last week, American was hit by complaints by a sitting US Senator that they were not protecting passengers appropriaely from COVID19. They then seemed to violate their own standards allowing Sen. Ted Cruz to fly without a mask.
