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.
Across the nation police departments and school districts are warning about school shooting threats happening after a Tik Tok challenge has gone viral. Dallas Independent School District is noticably quiet despite numerous recent issues with violance in the area and district.
Local School Shooting Threats And Situations
Within Dallas ISD proper a firearm was recently found on an elemetary student en route to Marshall Prep Academy. That situation became known when a letter went home to Chapel Hill parents.
Also, within Dallas, there have been ongoing protests at Dealey Montessori which started in September in response to mask mandates. Prior to an October protest organized by the Chief Culture Officer at The Gents Place a blog post went up on a male hair salon’s website asking which is better: the AK47 or M16.
Issues at Dealey have continued to escalate while staff at Dealey have normalizedthe protestors behavior and Dallas Police Department officers have gone out of their way to protect white protestors in ways they did not during the George Floyd protests.
White protestors at Dealey Montessori are being protected by Dallas Police Officers despite blocking walking paths of parents picking up their children and repeatedly wandering onto school property. Dallas Police are also not responding to calls for assault against children at Dealey.
Dealey had been COVID19 free until the mask mandate lifted and then it shot to seven cases once the protesting students were allowed to attend class unmasked. They have since been withdrawn.
Dealey Montessori has now had four protests this semester starting in September and again in October due to districtwide mask mandates. Prior to the second event, The Gents Place corporate blog asked which is more appropriate the AK47 or M16 in a blog post that seemed to threaten students and staff. The parent leading the protests at the time was the Chief Culture Officer for The Gents Place.
At the time, Adam McGough was the only member of Dallas City Council to request Dallas Police assistance. Requests to Gay Donnel Willis and Jaynie Schultz went unanswered.
More concerning now is the lack of response from Dallas ISD to parent concerns. Four separate families report Dealey Montessori staff and principal Beth Wing do not respond to calls, emails, and do not communicate in a timely manner about these events.
These familes say in addition to no answers from Beth Wing or Ryan Zysk, there is no communication at all and the district is shutting down conversation with the very people who support the school.
“Dallas ISD Board Services will not even allow speakers against the management of the school,” said another parent who continued, “they want emails, but then they do not respond.”
One parent noted she had found what appeared to be a recent threat on her son’s social media accounts about a shooting and their was no response from school staff.
“What is the use in a see something, say something policy if the people you say it to ignore you?,” the parent asked.
Wing also disappointed school families for her late cancellation of a school play that had run for years.
City Officials With Two Responses
The furstration is mounting though for parents.
Today’s protest included Lynn Strawn Daenport – a local education gadfly – who is known to be a QAnon afficionado. QAnon has been growing in local political power among Republicans. Earlier this year Gen. Mike Flynn suggested a coup at the Dallas Convention Center.
Davenport’s husband works for Dallas based Top Golf and a small group of parents are considering a counter protest at both The Gents Place and Top Golf to respond to what they describe as ongoing harassment.
“If they continue to harrass and threaten our children, we will hit them in the pocketbook,” said one parent.
While Dallas Police do not have time to deal with threats against children, local city officials are harrassing local homeowners over other First Amendment issues.
White Protestors At Dealey Montessori v Black Protestors at Dealey Plaza
In a statement by Public Information Officer Melinda Gutierrez “the Dallas Police Department will not interfere with a lawful and peaceful assembly of any individuals or groups expressing their first amendment rights.”
She would not respond to follow up questions about why white COVID19 protestors are being handled so differently from black protestors during the George Floyd protest.
The SOC Bears headed to State Championship after the biggest victory in the program’s career in decades.
South Oak Cliff led Lubbock-Cooper in the 5A-II state semifinal on Friday all night.
At halftime they had a four touchdown lead that was called inspiration by Superintendent Michael Hinojosa.
“It’s just very inspiring,” Dallas ISD superintendent Michael Hinojosa said, as he watched a celebration continue on in front of him at Abilene’s Shotwell Stadium on Friday night.
SOC Bears Headed To State For First Time In Decades
Trustee Maxie Johnson said,”this is what happens when you get equity,” but Johnson’s involvement in the team may lead to future issues as he has been previously accused of trying to recruit players from outside the district into South Oak Cliff High School.
Dallas ISD has had a history of recruiting scandals mostly involving basketball, but has had some issues with baseball also.
A similar program for students 12 and older had a November 15 deadline.
School Vaccine Incentive Update
The new program move follows an earlier program that paid students age 12 – 17 for proof of vaccination status.
Per a Dallas schools website, high demand for the $50 incentive, paid through gift cards, along with shipping delays during the holiday season have created an unforeseen delay in the distribution of the vaccine incentive gift cards.
Those students who submitted documentation by the November 15 deadline will still get their incentive.
The current event is not the first at Harry Stone Montessori. Approximately ten years ago another victim came forward to District and school administration with a report of sexual assault in the school’s bathrooms.
Other Side Dallas will be following and updating this story as details emerge.
An unsealed letter went home to parents a Chapel Hill Preparatory School was found in possession of a student at their bus stop. The student had a gun At Marshall Prep, but there was “no danger” to students at Chapel Hill Prep. The letter came from Dallas Independent School District’s principal, Zenaida Martinez.
The letter above was circulated on social media and was verified by multiple parents who expressed concern that it was in a “tend home” folder, usually reserved for PTA fundraising literature or class assignment notices.
One parent called it a “casual letter. Normalizing it.” Other Side Dallas has been unable to locate a similar letter to Marsh Preparatory Academy parents and Dallas schools staff does not respond to requests for comment.
Gun At Marshall Prep
The latest incident is one of a growing number. Earlier in the year, multiple reports stated there were individuals on campus at Dealey Montessori with firearms during a COVID9 mask mandate protest.
Prior to that protest the organizer’s business had tweeted out the question which is better the AK47 or M16 in a blog post which seemed unrelated to the men’s salon business and fully related to the school protest.
