Budget – The Other Side Dallas

September 24, 2020September 24, 2020

City Budget Choices Leaves Everybody Unhappy

The Dallas City Council budget choices appear to have everyone mad after a 9-6 vote which cuts $7M from the police overtime budget, but adds another $8M in year over year spending.

The council passed the new budget late Wednesday that increases overall police funding despite promises from progressive members of the council to to slash it. In the backdrop were a crowd of marchers who assembled outside City Hall to protest police violence.

Budget Choices

The budget places an emphasis on ending historical inequities by injecting more money into disadvantaged southern Dallas neighborhoods. There are millions of dollars in federal coronavirus relief for programs like rental assistance filling some of those gaps, but Dallas’ own program ended up sending money to North Dallas.

Local activists did try to cut nearly forty percent from the Dallas Police Department budget – but their proposal for a $200M cut – won no votes. The $200M cut is well over the $77M cut previously rumored for Defund DPD 2.0.

City Council members also did not support Mayor Eric Johnson’s plan to defund the bureaucracy or mention the pending departure of the City’s Economic Development Director Courtney Pogue.

September 15, 2020September 15, 2020

Dallas ISD Enrollment To Deep Six Bond 2020?

Dallas ISD enrollment is down by 15,000 students from its lowered projections as school starts its second week. This is roughly ten percent of the entire school population compared to the spring.

Texas school funding is largely based on how many students attend daily with additional funding factors for Special Education and English as a Second Language students. Dallas ISD operates with a $1.64B annual budget.

In addition to the enrollment issues, Dallas ISD officials admitted nearly ten percent of their student population who are enrolled do not have a district-issued electronic laptop or tablet despite mandatory online learning and a Title I population of nearly 90% of all students.

Despite these enrollment issues, Dallas ISD is moving forward with their MAP testing program. MAP stands for Measures of Academic Progress.

Dallas ISD Enrollment

Dallas ISD enrollment has been dropping by 1000 – 2000 students per year since a high of 160,000 students in the school year ending in 2015.

The lower enrollment numbers means the district may not have the revenue needed to support the $3.7B Bond 2020 package. Lower enrollment numbers on top of an auditor scandal which has still gone unanswered may leave Dallas ISD’s Bond 2020 program in a precarious position financially.

July 19, 2020June 12, 2021

Bond 2020 Virtual Town Hall

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.

Bond 2020 Virtual Meeting Scheduled for July 21

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.

June 18, 2020June 12, 2021

Failing Governor Plans To Fail Students…Again

Governor COVID19 strikes again. State legislators were informed Thursday morning in a conference call that Texas students will be returning to public schools in person this fall.

Per a Texas Tribune article: “It will be safe for Texas public school students, teachers, and staff to return to school campuses for in-person instruction this fall. But there will also be flexibility for families with health concerns so that their children can be educated remotely, if the parent so chooses,” said Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath.

The TEA is expected to release additional guidance for school districts next Tuesday, but the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) standards are clear.

This is another poor decision by a Governor and his team that is seeing massive growth in COVID19 numbers as he mangles the response to the disease.

Centers for Disease Control COVID19 Standards

Governor Abbott Plans To ReOpen Despite COVID19

The more people a student or staff member interacts with, and the longer that interaction, the higher the risk of COVID-19 spread. The risk of COVID-19 spread increases in school settings as follows:

Lowest Risk: Students and teachers engage in virtual-only classes, activities, and events.
More Risk: Small, in-person classes, activities, and events. Groups of students stay together and with the same teacher throughout/across school days and groups do not mix. Students remain at least 6 feet apart and do not share objects (e.g., hybrid virtual and in-person class structures, or staggered/rotated scheduling to accommodate smaller class sizes).
Highest Risk: Full sized, in-person classes, activities, and events. Students are not spaced apart, share classroom materials or supplies, and mix between classes and activities.

COVID-19 is mostly spread by respiratory droplets released when people talk, cough, or sneeze. It is thought that the virus may spread to hands from a contaminated surface and then to the nose or mouth, causing infection. Therefore, personal prevention practices (such as handwashing, staying home when sick) and environmental cleaning and disinfection are important principles that are covered in this document. Fortunately, there are a number of actions school administrators can take to help lower the risk of COVID-19 exposure and spread during school sessions and activities.

June 10, 2020June 10, 2020

Budget Memo May Bottom Dollar Police

A budget memo released Tuesday may reorganize next year’s budget for the Dallas Police Department. In the memo Council Member Adam Bazaldua said “We hear many of our constituents’ calls to ‘defund’ the Dallas Police Department.”

The memo asks City Manager T.C. Broadnax to redirect dollars from the police department. It states: “We ask you to present options that reallocate public safety funding…”.

The city is scheduled to hold a budget workshop next week on June 17, during which the council members say they want to hear new ideas.

The memo was signed by all but four council members. In perhaps another sign of the political divide between north and south Dallas, all four represent more affluent north Dallas. Those who did not sign include Adam McGough, Cara Mendelsohn, Jennifer Staubach Gates, and David Blewett.

Budget Memo Preface

Beyond the upcoming budget memo for the next fiscal year though is a discussion taking place at today’s meeting on expanding the Police budget by an additional $6.5M.

Budget Memo Increases Police Budget By $6.5M

Police budget issues have become a hot point since Dallas Police have been found to be assaulting innocent bystanders at George Floyd protests and also caught lying about police activity at those events.