Dallas ISD – Page 8 – The Other Side Dallas

September 13, 2021September 16, 2021

Cash For Vaccinations

Dallas Independent School District is offering cash for vaccinations to students and staff who get the COVID19 vaccination.

DISD is believed to be the first district in Texas to offer students ages 12 and up cash incentives for voluntarily getting vaccinated. The district said they will give fully vaccinated students a $50 gift card that can be used the same as cash.

Teachers are eligible for a larger incentive of $500.

As of September 13, Dallas Independent School District reported 1,546 confirmed cases of COVID19 among students and 650 additional cases in staff.

The district is enforcing a mask mandate despite being forbidden by the governor and his executive order banning such mitigation efforts.

Dallas schools have more than 140,000 students and an infection rate of just over one percent.

Other large districts like Arlington and Frisco have less than half the student population of the Dallas ISD and are reporting hundreds of more infections among students leading to higher infection rates – both Arlington and Frisco are three times as much as Dallas. Neither Arlington or Frisco has a mask mandate.

Cash For Vaccinations Details

The announcement of the student vaccination incentive comes as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Dallas County Health officials have raised the COVID19 alert to level red and reported that hospitalizations are rising at the fastest rate since the pandemic began, among all age groups, including children.

Participation in the student vaccination incentive is entirely voluntary and based on the personal preferences of students and their families. The information provided will help the district determine how many students who are eligible have been fully vaccinated and facilitate the contact tracing and quarantine processes, which are different depending on vaccination status.

More information can be found here.

September 4, 2021September 5, 2021

Shocking Harry Stone COVID19 Numbers

There are shocking Harry Stone COVID19 numbers, but only if you did not read our reporting last week.

The numbers mirror our previous reporting and confirm what is now five parents’ complaints that the school does not do enough to keep surfaces clean or enforce mask requirements – particularly on younger children.

Not Really Shocking Harry Stone COVID19 Numbers

As we previously reported, COVID19 cases jumped by a factor of almost ten overnight after we reported on data we were able to collect from paents and sources in both Dallas Independent School District and the Dallas County Health Department.

It remains unclear why school officials chose to try to hide hard data on the pandemic within the school walls, but this continues previous behavior of hiding information about the assault of a teacher by a student and improper cash handling of student account fees.

August 31, 2021August 31, 2021

COVID19 Coverup At Harry Stone

It appears a COVID19 coverup at Harry Stone is not new, but ongoing. This follows our reporting earlier this summer about a teacher assaulted by a student and questions about financial misuse of student activity money at the Dallas Independent School District southern Montessori campus.

The Dallas ISD dashboard currently shows two staff cases of COVID19 at Harry Stone, but in written conversations with six school parents there are allegations the number may be as high as twenty-two with seventeen student cases.

In one instance a parent reports the school nurse asked the parent not to submit positive COVID19 case history so that the district dashboard would not reflect the case.

The parent said in a written email, “She told me just to let [the student] do course work online and the student would be fine. I pressed the issue because the student was lethargic and didn’t want the student to work while sick and also didn’t want the student to be counted absent. They didn’t want to have to document a case and I wonder how many parents they did that too.”

Another parent indicates their child was diagnosed COVID19 positive, but does not have any possibility of community transmission. They only go to and from Harry Stone and do not otherwise go out.

Four separate parents have stated in similar stories that personnel at Harry Stone Montessori Academy privately confirming multiple students and staff members testing positive, but that they are not sharing the information with parents. It is not clear if they are sharing the information with Dallas ISD administrators either.

COVID19 Coverup At Harry Stone Continues Bad History

Earlier this summer we reported on a large percentage of teachers leaving Dallas ISD’s South Dallas Montessori campus. That resulted in dozens of calls and emails that show teachers are leaving due to campus assaults by students of staff members.

Two Zoom meetings were held by Trustee Maxie Johnson who stated he thinks parents are racist for bringing up assaults against teachers. We have reached out to Mr. Johnson for comment repeatedly without success.

August 31, 2021August 31, 2021

Three Dallas ISD Students Assaulted By Fireworks

Three Dallas ISD students were assaulted by fireworks walking home from school on Monday afternoon, 30 August 2021.

The assault happened when an unidentified vehicle drove past and threw several fireworks at the three students in front of Royal Lane Baptist Church.

Dallas ISD has been back in operation going into its third week.

Dallas Police have been reeling from reports that twenty plus terrabytes of information were inappropriately lost that had a direct connection to ongoing cases.

Assaulted By Fireworks – No Response From Dallas Police

Dallas Police did not send out an officer to investigate or take a report at either the location of the assault, the residents home, or the treating facility for burns suffered from the explosion.

Dallas Police Department has yet to respond, echoing the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge incident last year and resulting After Action Report which brought about no discipinary action.

Dallas Fire Rescue did return an email within minutes stating they would not normally be involved with a case of this nature.

August 9, 2021August 9, 2021

BREAKING: Dallas ISD Says Masks Back On

Dallas ISD just sent an email to parents saying masks back on as of August 10, 2021 confirming our story that Superintendent Michael Hinojosa may defy Governor Abbott and the Texas Education Agency on mask requirements.

“Masks Back On” Statement

The full statement from Dallas ISD:

Due to CDC recommendations and the red level alert issued by Dallas County based on the rise of hospitalizations among all age groups, including children, Dallas ISD will temporarily require all staff, students and visitors to wear masks while on district schools and other facilities effective Tuesday, Aug. 10. Dallas ISD is committed to maintaining the safety and well-being of students and staff and will continue to provide masks and other protective equipment to schools, conduct contact tracing and sanitize facilities regularly. If you have any questions about this requirement, please contact your child’s school directly. To look at other safety COVID measures implemented by the district, please visit www.dallasisd.org/covidsafety.

August 7, 2021August 7, 2021

Hinojosa May Defy TEA

Dallas ISD‘s Superintendent Michael Hinojosa May Defy TEA on virtual learning.

Classes have resume in several local ISDs including five campuses on an alternative Dallas ISD Calendar to make up for learning losses, but students are not showing up.

“We only got half the kids at our five schools from our projected enrollment, that’s telling me people aren’t coming back,” Hinojosa told local news.

“Next Monday we’ll have 41 more cases. By next Wednesday I’ll know a whole lot more on how serious we’ll have to be on standing up that virtual program.”

“The way this disease appears to be affecting children, people are just concerned about sending their kids to school,” Frisco ISD Superintendent Mike Waldrip said this past Thursday.

The COVID19 Delta Variant has caused a four fold increase in hospitalizations as Governor Abbott denies emergency staffing resources to Dallas area hospitals and the TEA doubles down on its mask policy.

Hinojosa May Defy TEA

Frisco ISD announced it would offer a virtual option and Austin ISD came out with a strongly worded tweet editing TEA’s guidance.

Hinojosa and the leaders of other school districts are trying to figure out how to pay for virtual programs since the TEA has said it won’t give districts money for virtual programs.

A Back To School registration event is scheduled at the Townview Magnet Complex this morning.

August 6, 2021August 6, 2021

TEA COVID19 Guidance

TEA COVID19 guidance to local school districts is out and it is flies in the face of Centers for Disease Control guidance. The Texas Education Agency has issued the following information.

The new guidance from TEA comes shortly after Governor Abbott denied emergency healthcare staffing for area hospitals experiencing a four fold increase in COVID19 hospitalizations in just a month’s time.

TEA COVID19 Guidance: COVID19 Vaccines

The coronavirus vaccine is not available for children younger than twelve, but for those students twelve or older, the vaccine will not be required despite other vaccines being necessary.

Statewide, Texas students in kindergarten-12th grade are required to be vaccinated against:

Diphtheria/Tetanus/Pertussis
Polio
Measles/mMumps/Rubella (MMR)
Hepatitis A and B and
Varicella
After a student turns eleven, they are required to be vaccinated against meningococcal meningitis.

TEA COVID19 Guidance: Parent Information

TEA guidance also says local ISDs do not have to inform parents of positive cases at their children’s school. They are required to report that information to state and local health departments.

Schools also don’t have to contact trace, but if they choose to do so, parents can still choose to send their kid to school if they are a “close contact” of a positive coronavirus case.

July 29, 2021July 29, 2021

DISD Welcome Back 2021

DISD Welcome Back 2021 will happen Saturday, August 7, 2021 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Yvonne A. Ewell Townview Center, located at 1201 E. Eighth Street at their We’re Ready Back to School Enrollment Fair.

Dallas Independent School District says it is ready for in-person instruction and to serve our families in a safe learning environment. Thousands of cases of COVID19 did hit staff and students across DISD last school year, including the Townview Magnet campus.

COVID19 numbers were manageable when school started in October 2020, but quickly shot up. Last year Dallas was considered a COVID19 medical hot zone and despite recent CDC guidance that all school staff and students should mask up regardless of vaccination status, Governor Abbott has denied localities the ability to mandate masks.

DISD Welcome Back 2021 Details

As DISD welcomes back staff and students, it is important to remember several standards that will be in place.

Currently, Dallas ISD will be back to in-person learning, districtwide, with the exception of hybird learners at the Dallas Hybrid Preparatory at Stephen J. Hay.

Additionally, the ISD will keep the nine-week grading periods this school year 2021-2022, the same as last. It is not clear if this will promote better learning or not.

Finally, there are three different school calendars which are campus specific. The base calendar is below.

Dallas ISD Calendar - DISD Welcome Back 2021

There are three different Dallas ISD 2021-2022 school year calendars.

A large majority of school campuses will have the base calendar. Forty-one schools will have an Intersession calendar, and five schools will have a School Day Redesign Calendar.

The alternative calendars are one part of a comprehensive effort the district is taking to help ensure the pandemic doesn’t have a long-lasting negative impact on student learning.

July 28, 2021July 28, 2021

K-12 CDC Mask Recommendation Ignored By Greg Abbott

The recent K-12 CDC Mask recommendation is being ignored by Governor Greg Abbott per statements reinforcing his May Executive Order.

The CDC has recommended everyone in the K-12 setting wear a mask indoors, regardless of vaccination status. Children under 12 are not yet eligible for FDA authorized vaccinations.

When asked by a KXAN reporter about whether Texas would be allowed to enforce mask wearing his press secretary responded: “the time for government mandating of masks is over…”

The spokesperson goes on, “vaccines are the most effective defense against contracting COVID and becoming seriously ill, and we continue to urge all eligible Texans to get the vaccine. The COVID vaccine will always remain voluntary and never forced in Texas.”

K-12 CDC Mask Recommendation or Donald Trump?

It is not clear if the current course of action is due to the election calendar.

Governor Abbott is in a fierce primary contest for the Republican nomination for Governor. One of his opponents, Don Huffines, has already hit out at Abbott over the rolling blackouts and freezeout earlier in the year.

Abbott has soought the support of former President Donald Trump – despite a clear move away from Trump in many suburbs, including Dallas – over the infiltration of the Republican Party by QAnon.

July 7, 2021July 7, 2021

Old School New Group at Harry Stone?

Old school new group action at Dallas ISD‘s Harry Stone Montessori?

Last week we reported on a large percentage of teachers leaving Dallas ISD’s South Dallas Montessori campus. That resulted in dozens of calls and emails that show teachers are leaving due to campus assaults by students of staff members.

A second Zoom was held last night where Trustee Maxie Johnson stated he thinks parents are racist for bringing up assaults against teachers. We have reached out to Mr. Johnson for comment repeatedly without success.

To date, he has not spoken substantively about the campus assaults, teachers leaving, or other relevant issues, but he has now accused a parent of racism for wanting his child to be in a safe school environment.

Old School New Group Cliques Continue

One source says the school continues to be run by the Blackburn family who delete posts out of the Facebook group that brings any negative attention. Lew Blackburn is on the school Site Based Decision Making Committee and Tes Blackburn is the President of the PTA.

The Blackburns were also accused of deleting all posts, but Facebook archived older posts.

We have run through three years of posts and do not find any post about current events or past topics such as misappropriation of bus funds which led to parents creating a Trust so that student fundraising dollars could not be misappropriated.