Dallas ISD – Page 10 – The Other Side Dallas

November 15, 2020November 15, 2020

#BREAKING: Dallas ISD Considering Return To Virtual Only Instruction

Virtual only instruction may be returning to Dallas ISD after the Thanksgiving Break per two sources in Dallas ISD administration meaning another major change to the Dallas ISD calendar.

Dallas ISD has shut down Caillet Elementary, a 586-student campus located in Northwest Dallas, this week over concerns about the coronavirus spreading among the school’s staff and students.

Virtual only instruction, or online classes, were mandated after five positive cases among staff and students within the span of a week.

The campus is the second school in Dallas ISD to be temporarily closed because of COVID19 concerns. Hotchkiss Elemenyary was closed in mid-October for three days, allowing school administrators and central staff to track down those who might have been in contact with positive cases, and perform a deep clean of the school.

Caillet will be closed until Nov. 17 when in-person instruction is expected to resume. On Nov. 16, rapid COVID tests will be provided to teachers and staff in the morning, and students in the afternoon.

According to the DISD’s tracker, there have been close to 900 cases of COVID19 among staff, teachers and students since the district started reporting data October 5, 2020. Almost a third of those cases have happened since the start of November, reflecting a larger trend of cases in Dallas County and Texas.

The state is closing in on one million confirmed cases of COVID-19, and Dallas County hit a single-day record on Tuesday, with 1,401 cases.

Jennifer Finley, the district’s director of health services, said that county health officials have indicated that there’s likely a wave of cases on the way.

With the holiday season — and flu season — right around the corner, and a general level of “COVID fatigue” in the community, Finley said she could potentially see a rise in cases within the school system.

COVID response teams have been created on each campus, and the district has been “trying to ramp up” its staff for contact tracing, Finley said, “as to not exceed our bandwidth” if cases at schools do start to climb.

At the beginning of the month, Dallas County officials reported 1500 new cases per day. Dallas County has clearly returned as a hot zone for infection rate well beyond our July numbers.

What Does A Return To Virtual Only Instruction Mean?

Dallas ISD’s Board of Trustees had already planned to take up lowering educational goals due to COVID19 at their Thursday, November 19 Board of Trustees meeting. Now it appears they will also consider a return to virtual only instruction predicting lowered standards will become the norm.

It is not clear if teachers whose pay is based on student success will enjoy this same standard on goal changes with a move back to virtual only instruction.

It should be noted that two Trustees have already gone on record saying if possible students should be learning virtually.

November 12, 2020November 15, 2020

Students in Dallas ISD Failing

Dallas ISD failing to educate black and brown students is the headline in new reports showing students can not read on grade level. At the upcoming Dallas ISD Board of Trustees meeting staff plans to ask trustees to lower goal standards for students in the district.

Administrators recommended that trustees reduce goals to be “more realistic” for the current academic year after new testing data showed significant drops.

Tests results from Dallas ISD’s Measurement of Academic Progress, or MAP, test, have had all the hallmarks of a district failing its students.

Current goals for the 2020-2021 school year expected four out of every nine third grade students would meet standards for third grade math. That is less than fifty percent of third graders would meet third grade math standards.

Currently just over ten percent of third graders could meet standards for third grade math. The staff requested goal is to double that number by end of year to roughly one in four students meeting minimum math standards.

On the reading side, the benchmark was for 42% of third grade students to be able to read at level. Only one third of students are able to hit this goal currently.

Dallas ISD Administration wants to revise both of these goal numbers down while simultaneously talking about the need for an educated workforce to attact international companies ot bring jobs to Dallas.

Additionally, it is unclear what the real assessment is as several students never returned to campus so it is unclear what the level would be if full attendance had been achieved.

Students in Dallas ISD Failing…Again

The board also discussed goals for Superintendent Michael Hinojosa at Thursday’s board briefing. Part of the superintendent’s contract allows trustees to set seven performance incentive goals, with a potential reward of $20,000 for meeting each goal.

Since Hinojosa rejoined the district as its leader in 2015, he has not achieved his incentive goals, Micciche said. The board has until Nov. 30 to set these incentives, but Hinojosa said he’d be willing to waive that timeline if trustees wanted more time to deliberate on the matter.

November 11, 2020November 11, 2020

November COVID19

The November COVID19 numbers continue to be a headache for both local politicians, businesses, and residents as cases are rising quicker than expected. On Tuesday Dallas County health officials reported 1400 more COVID19 cases — all presumed new and the highest single-day total of the pandemic.

In July, Dallas was considered a “hot zone” because we were averaging more than two hundred cases per day. Dallas is now running between five and seven times that number. This may cause local hospitals to move to a surge capacity model.

Currently, the county is running out of available hospital beds. Per county data, the inventory of adult ICU beds was 52 as of Tuesday — one of its lowest points since the virus’s peak in July. The figure does not include beds that hospitals can add if needed. Each hospital has its own surge plan, which could include doubling up beds in rooms and converting surgical centers, but COVID19 is not the only user of bed space.

Every fall and winter elderly patients suffering from influenza use ICU space. Additionally, victims of car wrecks, heart attacks, and strokes all need these beds also.

“We are 7-10 days away from reaching our highest COVID hospitalization census to date if we do not immediately renew our resolve and change our behaviors,” County Judge Clay Jenkins said in a written statement.

According to Jenkins’ chief of staff, Lauren Trimble, Dallas County epidemiologists have recently spent less time sorting through which cases came from the state’s reporting system, since there have been so few older or backlogged cases.

Health officials use hospitalizations, ICU admissions, and emergency room visits as COVID19 tracking metrics to evaluate impact in Dallas. In the 24-hour period that ended Monday, 479 COVID-19 patients were in acute care in hospitals in the county. During the same period, 431 ER visits were for symptoms of the disease.

Dallas ISD November COVID19 Numbers

The cases in Dallas ISD are no better.

Between the first day back, October 5, 2020, and November 9, 2020, Dallas ISD is reporting an eighteen fold increase in COVID19 cases. This rise is occuring in all areas: central staff, school staff, and students. These numbers seem to match Dallas County at large which recently reported 1500 cases in a single day.

November 10, 2020November 11, 2020

No Air: Dallas ISD HVAC Broken

No air as HVAC systems broke down at schools in Dallas ISD less than a week after voters provided the district with $3.7B in new bond money.

School officials did not receive a response from administration on when fixes might occur, but teachers were asking parents for assistance via fan donations and other equipment. It was not clear when repairs would occur, but this is an ongoing issue at numerous campuses across Dallas ISD.

No Air By Phone Or Microphone Either

Dallas ISD did not return phone calls, but earlier this month did publish an agenda item intent on limiting future public participation. It appears some in administration want to take the air out of the opposition.

November 5, 2020November 5, 2020

Dallas ISD Moves To Limit Public Participation

Public participation is being limited per a proposal on the Dallas ISD Board of Trustees Agenda for November 17, 2020. You can see the document below.

DISD Public Participation Download

It is not clear why public participation is being proposed to be limited to two minutes from three, but it had an immediate reaction from both current trustee Joyce Foreman and trustee candidate Nancy Rodriguez who garnered the most votes for District 2 in the November 3 election.

Trustee Foreman said “DallasISD is trying to limit members of the community speaking at Board Meetings. They want to reduce the time from three minutes to two minutes with only an hour for agenda items and 40 minutes for non agenda items. If you signup for agenda item and speak on something else during that time they can cut your [mic] off. They also can remove you and keep you from speaking on an agenda item if they remove that item from the agenda.The voters just granted the District over 3 billion dollars in Bond funds and now they don’t want to hear from you. I will not be supporting this. My constituents have the right to speak.We meet twice a month which is once during the day and once in the afternoon. There is no reason for this.”

Rodriguez posted on Facebook: “If the speaker portion is taking two or three hours it’s because the public is likely dissatisfied or concerned about an issue or multiple issues. That should tell the Board and the administration something. In typical DISD fashion, rather than address the problem, they want to silence the voices of the community.”

Public Participation Changes Again

Rules for public participation in Dallas ISD Board of Trustees meetings were changed in September 2019.

October 20, 2020October 20, 2020

To Learn Virtually Or Not?

Should Dallas ISD Students Learn Virtually

Should students learn virtually or not? As first reported by a Townview group, statements from Dan Micciche and former Townview Principal Ben Mackey indicate your Dallas ISD students should be at home learning – particularly while Dallas County is in the Red danger area for COVID19.

COVID19 numbers are racing higher at a surprising rate given the preparation prior to students returning to campus, but the focus appears heavily focused in favor of Texas Education Agency funding over student safety.

Ben Mackey Says Learn Virtually If Possible

One insider said this was due to the need for state funding to support the $3.7B bond package the administration has been pushing for new school facilities as enrollment drops annually.

There are also concerns about current and former Trustees who may have been implicated in recent reports about corrupt Dallas ISD contractors.

You Can Learn Virtually Today

Students have the option of moving from on campus instruction to virtual learning immediately, but can not move from virtual learning back into the classroom until a nine week grading period ends.

October 16, 2020October 16, 2020

College Testing Continuing Despite COVID19 Explosion

College testing will go on in Dallas ISD next week as planned despite COVID19 cases in multiple Dallas ISD high school campuses and many colleges making test scores optional for college admissions.

COVID19 cases forced County Judge Clay Jenkins to raise the threat level to Red this week and Dallas ISD COVID19 cases tripled in one week and are currently at more than six times the original number after less than two weeks.

College Testing

College tests such as the ACT or SAT have been used for years to assist with admissions decisions, but this year, numerous colleges and universities are making tests optional for admission due to COVID19.

The ACT and SAT entrance exams are the proverbial Coke and Pepsi of college admissions. Both exams are widely accepted by U.S. colleges, which often prompts the question: Which test should I take?

The answer to that question lies in understanding the differences between the two tests.

Both college admissions exams are wildly popular. In the class of 2019, a reported 2.2 million test-takers completed the SAT while 1.8 million students took the ACT. It is unclear how many students took both, but some experts say it has become more common for test-takers to complete both college testing batteries.

The SAT takes three hours, though with an optional 50-minute essay, the time adds up to almost four hours total. The ACT lasts two hours and 55 minutes, though a 40-minute optional writing test stretches it to a little more than three-and-a-half hours.

The SAT features 154 questions vs. 215 for the ACT. Broken down by test components, the SAT has a reading test that takes 65 minutes, a 35-minute writing and language test and an 80-minute math section. The ACT is comprised of a 35-minute reading test, 45-minute English test, 60-minute math section and 35-minute science test.

The SAT does not include an independent science section but incorporates science questions throughout the exam.

The scoring for each test also differs. For the SAT, total scores range from 400-1600; for the ACT, the composite score runs from 1-36. Those ranges do not include the optional essays, which are scored separately from each exam

October 12, 2020October 12, 2020

COVID19 Cases Triple In A Week

Dallas ISD‘s COVID19 cases triple. One week after return to campus for hybrid learners Dallas ISD is reporting three times the case load as last week’s numbers.

Initial numbers had Dallas ISD cases at 42 including students, school staff, and central office employees.

October 5, 2020October 5, 2020

Sudie Williams COVID19 Super Spreader?

Parents of Sudie Williams TAG Magnet school students were informed their child may have been exposed to COVID19 less than nine hours after re-opening for Hybrid Learning.

Dallas Independent School District (Dallas ISD) staff promised a thorough action plan to keep students safe, but in today’s notice note it is a staff member who was infected and will “no longer be on campus.”

District officials then went on to downplay the danger of infection despite it not being clear who the staff member was exposed to, how they passed health screenings, etc. Students attend the school from across Dallas ISD – so this event has the potential to spread the virus to multiple other neighborhoods.

Sudie Williams TAG

Sudie L. Williams Talented and Gifted Academy opened its doors to students in August 2018. It currently includes grades four through eight. The curriculum for the TAG magnet academy is patterned after William B. Travis Academy/Vanguard for the Academically Talented and Gifted. At the school, the teachers strive to encourage students to pursue their curiosity and creativity. District public relations work states students at Sudie Williams work individually as well as collaboratively in small groups. In addition to academics, students at Sudie Williams TAG focus on character development.

October 5, 2020October 5, 2020

Back To School COVID19 Numbers

Today is Back to School for the almost 50% of Dallas ISD students who chose to learn in person and we are tracking Dallas ISD’s self reported COVID19 numbers.

Dallas ISD has had several meetings and video series on returning students to campus safely. We know COVID19 has been transmitted to newborns and Dallas was referred to as a summer Hot Zone for COVID19. Given college campus spikes in COVID19 cases it will be interesting to see how Dallas responds.

Back To School Day 1 Data

Current numbers across Dallas ISD are minimal with 42 cases being reported this morning. We plan to update these numbers at least weekly, but will also alert parents if we see a spike in the district.