Spring Break Still On For Dallas ISD Transportation – A Continuing Issue
Other Side Dallas has previously reported on several times when buses were not running on time immediately following a holiday.
In November 2021 after Thanksgiving and again in January 2022, transportation services was unable to ensure buses arrived in time to get students to campus on time.
Two sources on school staff and two unrelated parents told Other Side Dallas that the school and staff were aware of the issues and that weapons on campus are a regular occurrence that gets ignored by senior administration and Dallas ISD Police.
Despite multiple issues with academics and attitude, the team kept the player on the team due to athletic ability and kept issues quiet in pursuit of state accolades.
Dallas Schools have had multiple incidents and violations of Code of Conduct where the Dallas ISD did not follow their own policy on discipline. Recently an assault victim was made to stay in the same class as her assaulter who served no penalty at WT White.
One parent blames Trustee Maxie Johnson who has led efforts to eliminate discipline from the school system at large.
“They talk about a prison pipeline, but what about the pipeline to the hospital of assaults that don’t get attention,” one parent said.
Kimball Basketball
The Kimball basketball squad was allowed to stay in San Antonio and continue to compete despite the arrest of one of their team mates and the injury to a student who trainer who required surgery.
A high school trainer was shot by Kimball High School student from Dallas Schools in San Antonio while the team was there ahead of the UIL Boys State Basketball Tournament today.
The firearm was in a player’s bag when it accidentally discharged. The unnamed player has been arrested and the student trainer was rushed to a local hospital for surgery.
Accidentally Shot By Kimball High School Student
This is not the first firearms incident in Dallas this year.
The current concern is a parent report that another staff member was assaulted on campus by a student and is allowed to stay on campus.
There are reports this same student then commited a student on student attack, but is being allowed to not only stay on campus in violation of the Dallas Schools’ Code of Coduct, but is being kept in the same classroom as the student victimized.
We know of previous situations where Wing not only poorly communicated with staff and families, but also would not respond to parent complaints and outright ignored them. There are at least four complaints making their way through the Dallas ISD complaint process without resolution all dealing with Ms. Wing and her time at Dealey Montessori.
Beth Wing’s Lack of Leadership History
Wing was criticized by parents for her failures in handling Lauren Davis’ attacks on Dealey Montessori at the start of the school year and again in December when Dallas Police Department actively worked to protect white “no mask” protestors over the safety of children at the school.
Wing was transferred to WT White in which many called a promotion despite widespread complaints from parents about her failures in communicating and responding to a situation she helped escalate.
DISD busses missing at multiple stops again this morning. Studnets were waiting upwards of half an hour at some stops as DISD could not field calls under fifteen minutes.
Many students arrive at their bus stop as early as fifteen minutes prior meaning they were waiting forty-five minutes for a bus that never showed.
This comes just days after it is announced that schools superintendent Michael Hinojosa will seek the mayor’s office in 2023. Given his tenure at Dallas ISD, it is unclear if his intent will be to keep fire trucks from arriving on time or simply slow down pot hole fixes.
News this afternoon as two sources confirm Beth Wing out at Dallas Schools‘ Dealey Montessori after repeated parent complaints about her campus management and communication and in her ability to resolve ongoing campus protests causing distractions to the student population.
Beth Wing Out At Dealey
Wing is being assigned to the WT White campus. That school has no principal and it is not clear what reception she will get there.
Official word has not come from Dallas Schools so an interim prinipal has not been named.
The Superintendent’s statements remind some of the caution Dallas ISD had during Spring Break 2020 when they could not make a definitive decision about return to school despite overwhelming cases of coronavirus in Dallas and in Texas.
Dallas Schools have announced mask mandates will remain in place. It is unclear if non parental community activists will continue harassing local schools or not.
Mandatory masks stay in Dallas ISD after a Sunday night email to parents.
Dallas County like much of America is in a coronavirus Hot Zone as the Omicron variant is causing a rapid rise in COVID infections. Beyond Dallas ISD it is unclear on what steps state or federal government can take in light of the pandemic.
Masks Stay Thru Spring Break – At Least
The full statement to Dallas Schools’ parents is here:
Dallas ISD Parents,
Happy New Year. As we prepare for classes to resume this week, we continue to monitor COVID19 data and prepare for a safe return. Dallas County recently returned to level Red as the new Omicron variant has proven to be more easily transmitted than previous strains. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) anticipates the number of positive cases will increase over the next few weeks.
Dallas ISD’s mask requirement, along with other safety measures, has helped keep the number of positive cases down across the district. As staff return to work and classes resume, adhering to the mask protocol will be critical to controlling the spread and keeping students in classrooms. We will continue our mask and quarantine protocols and reassess at spring break. In-person classes will resume Wednesday January 5, as scheduled.
We remain committed to following established safety measures:
requiring masks
encouraging vaccinations
practicing social distancing
continuing cleaning and hygiene efforts, and
frequent testing.
Campus nurses will be available to test campus staff and students. We will also have a central testing site at the William H. Cotton Service Center, 3701 S. Lamar, from 8AM – 1PM on Monday, January 3 and Tuesday, January 4.
Those who have been fully vaccinated and are deemed a close contact will not be required to quarantine if they are not displaying symptoms. As always, anyone who displays symptoms of COVID19 should stay home and contact their health care provider.
The safety and well-being of our students and staff continues to be our top priority. Thank you for your support and commitment to helping keep everyone safe.
Mask Debate Continues
The ongoing discussion of masks in schools will likely continue a debate about students wearing masks beyond just NextDoor groups.
Most notably a group of upper middle class white individuals have been pushing back against the mask mandate at Dealey Montessori. The protests were pushed by Lauren Davis who has worn masks regularly in public spaces. They also come despite President Trump stating he has taken both the vaccine and booster leading some of the Alex Jones style sycophants to describe him as a “sell out.”
Dallas Independent School District is moving forward with a program to expand pre-kindergarten education from the prenatal period through to toddlers, i.e. educate in utero to eighteen.
The program was previously announced in April 2021, but is gaining traction with recent reports in Dallas Morning News and Fox4 News.
Educate In Utero, But Not After Born?
The initiative, called Start Strong Dallas, is in its early stages.
The school district said most of a child’s brain develops before they turn five years old and children have learning gaps before they arrive to Dallas public school programming in the areas of language and social skills.
Dallas ISD also hopes to develop educational programming for parents, but Dallas ISD’s record on education is poor at best.
In 2020, Dallas ISD Trustees noted students were failing throughout the district in basic areas such as reading and math. At the time a number of suggestions were made to close the gap including extending the school year – which a handful of campuses did – but there was no focus on innovative education and DISD remained with a top down central market style educational system.
Additionally, while there have been numerous examples of financial mismanagement, many Dallas ISD parents and taxpayers are concerned by the district’s handling of basic school management functions.
