A quick Harry Stone update from the news yesterday that a teacher is reported to have been assaulted on campus by the child of another district employee. A post about the topic in a Harry Stone Montessori Facebook group says Tes Blackburn was not contacted.
This information came via a post by her husband Lew Blackburn Jr.
However, his wife seems to not check her email.
We understand that not everyone wants to answer questions about incidents and issues in areas they have oversight, but we are developing information on a series of incidents at Harry Stone Montessori going back a decade.
Other Harry Stone Update Information
Lew Blackburn Jr. also states he is an alumni of Skyline High School, not Townview. A former parent had told us they thought he was connected to Townview, but we will take Lew Blackburn Jr’s word for it. Apparently we got the spelling of his wife’s name incorrect also.
We are disappointed though that he has been removing content from the Facebook group repeatedly rather than deal with the underlying issues.
Since we reported on the Harry Stone Zoom meeting last week we have learned that some of the staff changes occurred because of an assault against a staff member.
Additionally, we have learned that the student involved is a family member of another Dallas ISD employee in a district leadership position.
Harry Stone Zoom – DISD Quick Fix or Real Response
We are waiting for more information, but now have multiple reports of an assault against a staff member. Additionally, one former staff member has told us that teachers are afraid of the principal, Ms. Jones.
They describe an inquisition style investigation about who is leaking details including why another district staff member is not being protected.
Another party to events states “Ms. Jones is running staff off to fill her school staff slots with unqualified personal friends.”
Harry Stone Zoom Information
Other Side Dallas will always take anonymous tips via our Contact page. Additionally, we are awaiting comment back from District 5 Trustee Maxie Johnson, Principal Nikki Jones, or the Harry Stone PTA leadership including Tess Blackburn, spouse to Lew Blackburn Jr..
Blackburn Jr. is the son of former Dallas ISD Trustee Lew Blackburn and a former candidate for the post Johnson holds now. He was a student in the Townview Magnet complex.
Parents at Harry Stone Montessori Academy (HSMA) held a Zoom last week with Dallas ISD staff to discuss significant changes to school staff over the past two years.
As Dallas ISD prepares for the 2021-2022 school year eleven staff members are not returning to Harry Stone, including two moving to Eduardo Mata Montessori, and the entire foreign language department.
This follows on ten staff members who did not return for the 2020-2021 school year.
Stone has previously been described as a hidden gem, but current parents are not sure that is the case with the rash of departures the past two years.
One parent who requested anonymity said, “if this was just teachers leaving because of COVID19 that would be one thing, but these are wholesale changes and the campus has lost it’s meager credibility with no Montessori trained teachers.”
Harry Stone Background
Harry Stone Montessori sits off Ledbetter Drive in South Dallas between Whitney M. Young Elementary and Sarah Zumwalt Middle School. The school website says “as a top school in Dallas, we prepare students for lifelong learning through the Montessori and International Baccalaureate philosophies.”
Students throughout Dallas ISD have had difficulty in the pandemic year, but it is unclear how the pandemic or other issues are effecting staff morale on campus.
Other Side Dallas is hoping to hear from teachers about these issues.
There were no answers from Dallas County College for a high school student at Dallas ISD‘s Trinidad Garza Early College High School. A Dallas ISD senior who was part of the dual enrollment plan went went without faculty supervision.
The Dallas ISD senior says his college professor did not hold any virtual classes, and doesn’t returned his emails. Two weeks ago he says his grade abruptly changed from a ‘B’ to an ‘F’ and he’s yet to receive an explanation.
No Answers From Dallas County College or Dallas ISD
Per Fox4, Eric Miranda is a senior in Dallas ISD. Earlier this year, he expressed concern about the early college class he took online where the teacher never provided his or her name and was not conducting lectures by Zoom or webinar.
Miranda’s father, Dr. Gregory Powell said, “There is no feedback, no way to speak to the professor, no idea what their name is.”
“I would hope they would at least require Zoom classes so students can talk and learn face to face,” Miranda said.
“One of the questions we would like answered is who is the instructor,” Miranda said.
Powell tried going thru the principal at Trinidad Garza, only to be met by two weeks of silence.
Dallas ISD said professors work for Mountain View and are not required to give lectures.
Mountain View was asked by local news if its professors are allowed to remain anonymous to students.
The college responded: “Because this is a personal matter involving student information, we are not legally allowed to comment.”
In the email she said “We cannot effectively serve our students if our students, or the public at large, believes Dallas College is an institution at which online courses are run on autopilot; where grades are seldom provided in a timely fashion (if at all); and where students are unable to get any response from their instructor.”
It is not known what discipline, if any, was faced by the college professor whose class Eric Miranda was assigned.
The report that a Dallas ISD dual enrollment student was not meeting with his assigned college faculty comes as similar reports were told about other high schools in Dallas including Woodrow Wilson High School. The report also comes on the heels of a fall report saying Dallas students were failing as a group.
The Dallas Independent School District Molina Baseball Jaguars may be repeating bad local sports history on the baseball diamond. The program head coach was ejected in the first inning of a contest against the Sunset Bisons this past Saturday. Reports Sunday, say the game was forfeit when the Molina Head Coach Henry Smith refused to leave the field.
The initial issue is not clear, but three sources at the game said umpires declared the game a forfeit. Per high school rules, played under the National Federation of High Schools, a game may be forfeit when a team “delays more than a reasonable amount of time in resuming play, or in obeying the umpire’s order…”.
The Dallas Baseball Umpires Association did not answer questions about the incident or provide background on their umpire crew, but a Dallas ISD Athletics representative on background said “we don’t want adult actions to interfere with kid’s games.” Principals from both Moises Molina and Sunset High Schools did not respond to emails seeking comment.
Dallas ISD Molina Coach Henry Smith also teaches for US Baseball Academy, a program claiming a “commitment to quality instruction at an affordable price. Each location promises the same proven itinerary of drills, a low player-coach ratio, and a teaching staff of top high school and/or college coaches from your local area.”
Playoff Ejections Not A First For Molina Baseball
In 2017, Molina had similar issues when every player on the team was ejected for leaving the dugout during a bench clearing incident. Other Dallas ISD incidents have tended to focus in other sports.
It is not clear if or how UIL will take action on this local sports news, but Other Side Dallas is waiting on responses from several official sources associated with Dallas ISD and Molina baseball.
Two parents complained that Dallas ISD is protecting Molina players despite bench jockeying before, during, and after the game including taunting a disabled spectator.
As reported on Townview Magnet‘s news page, Dallas Independent School District is holding a Learning Loss Town Hall this Thursday night, January 21, 2021 to discuss district efforts to mitigate the loss of learning by students hit hard by the pandemic.
After engaging with more than 10,000 stakeholders and getting feedback from teachers and campus leaders through multiple virtual community meetings, Dallas ISD is proposing three calendar models that would provide more learning time for the students that need it the most.
Dallas ISD started exploring the possibility of potentially adding learning time for certain students after data showed the devastating impact the pandemic could have on students. Earlier this year, Dallas ISD Trustees voted to lower academic standards for passing. It appears they are not reversing course.
Dallas ISD officials wrote more than 10,000 parents, teachers and community members responded to a survey asking for input, and numerous virtual forums solicited input from campus staff, district leaders and community stakeholders.
In addition to COVID19, district officials are hampered by Austin directives contrary to local needs.
Learning Loss Town Hall Registration
Do you have questions about Dallas ISD’s plans to mitigate learning loss?
Dallas ISD leadership will be on the call at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, January 21, in a TeleTown Hall meeting to discuss the district’s efforts to mitigate learning loss by adding learning time for students who have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID19 pandemic.
Dallas ISD families will receive a call to participate, but if you want to make sure you are on the call list, register here.
NOTE: Registration ends three hours before the start of the meeting.
Per a local school site, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) is interfering in local direction again. COVID19 response plans have been shot down by Commissioner Mike Morath. He has rejected a proposal submitted by dozens of South Texas superintendents earlier this week that would have given districts the ability to continue a mostly remote instruction curriculum should COVID19 numbers surge over the winter break. While this decision does not impact Dallas now, it could if COVID19 numbers continue to rise.
South Texas and the Rio Grande Valley has faced a disproportionate number of COVID19 numbers. The Rio Grande Valley is just 4.7% of the entire Texas population, but accounts for 17% of deaths throughout Texas.
At a press conference Tuesday, Cortez and McAllen Superintendent J.A. Gonzalez outlined the plan, which would have included a waiver allowing districts to continue online instruction for 100% of families in areas with a hospitalization rate greater than 15% without having district funding affected. It also requested rapid COVID-19 tests be made available for priority students who do choose to attend on campus, with Cortez and Gonzalez citing potential superspreader events over the holidays as a chief motivator for the proposal.
TEA COVID19 Response and Funding
TEA has a long standing problem on the COVID19 question.
Dallas ISD Trustees Mackey and Michiche have previously both publicly stated it is better if students stay home and learn virtually. COVID19 continues to hit school after school including shutting down two campuses and numerous classrooms.
Other Side Dallas appreciates its readers, but we want you to continue to help us inform the larger Dallas community about problems within our borders.
We all know Dallas can be a culture of backroom handshakes and certain neighborhoods making policy for their neighbors less well off. Our goal remains to have a debate about these issues and require accountability and transparency from local city, county, and school officials. These issues may be about the Dallas City Council, Dallas Police, or Dallas Independent School District.
Contact Other Side Dallas’ Writing Team
Our writing team uses ProtonMail for secure messaging with those providing information to OSD. Email us at OtherSideDallas [at] protonmail.com. We will get back in touch as soon as we can.
You can provide details about issues you are aware of without fear we will make whistleblowers public. We intend to write about corruption in city hall and force local officials to be accountable to their citizens.
The Laura Bush Foundation gave Dallas ISD families a little more to be thankful for. The foundation granted $500,000 to the school district for library materials.
The pre-Thanksgiving break grant allows Dallas ISD to both serve schools hit hard by last year’s tornado and also support schools in South Dallas also.
The donation is meant to help respond to last year’s major disaster. Meanwhile Dallas County and Dallas ISD are still responding to this year’s COVID19 pandemic. The most recent numbers show almost 1700 cases across Dallas ISD.
Laura Bush – Continuing To Lead At Home
The former First Lady has been a regular supporter of Dallas ISD, despite former colleagues at the Texas Education Agency withholding dollars from federal CARES Act funds for local school districts.
This weekend there was more school board election gaslighting. Jim Schutze who is writing for D Magazine disclosed a website: www.choosedisd.org is directing to his D Magazine author page.
This would be innocuous enough, but earlier in the week Schutze had accused Nancy Rodriguez of hurting black and brown children’s ability to find equity because another website (www.choosedallasisd.com) redirected to her page. He said at that time that Rodriguez would not return his messages, but Rodroguez offers different facts.
From her Facebook page: “I cannot tell you on what date I acquired it because I never acquired it. You had your facts wrong on the story about my party affiliation and you appear to have your facts wrong here as well.”
Schutze who has made known his affinity for Rodriguez’s opponent appearsa to be working not as opinion writer, but PR person for the pro-reform movement. Like, the Dallas Morning News, which launched its own attacks againsts against Rodriguez following Schutze’s lead has done scant coverage of the auditor report issues from February or why Marshall avoids responding to questions about his federal referral on the matter.
School Board Election
The school board runoff election is Tuesday, December 8, 2020. The race pits Dustin Marshall – the incumbent – behind Rodriguez who only raised $27000 going into the general election, but who took nearly 28,000 votes to marshall’s 24,775.
While the races are officially nonpartisan, Marshall has received large support from Empower Texans and other hard right interests. The campaign season has been noticably bereft of any serious discussion as to why students are failing in Dallas despite a decade of pro-business reform movement policies.
