Dallas ISD – Page 9 – The Other Side Dallas

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.

August 5, 2021August 5, 2021

Dallas Youth Sports Back To School Giveaway

Dallas Youth Sports Back to School event is this coming Saturday, August 7, 2021. Dallas Youth Sports is proud to be hosting the Back to School Community Event giving away 1000 backpacks filled with supplies for the coming school year.

In addition to school supplies they event with also include haircuts, food, and much more. Line starts at 9am. This will be a first come, first served event until supplies run out.

About Dallas Youth Sports Back To School Event

Dallas Youth Sports, in conjunction with Dallas Youth Athletic Association, a 501 (c) non-profit organization, works to provide affordable recreational sports programs to the youth of the Dallas-Oak Cliff area.

Founded by a volunteer board, Dallas Youth Sports continues to operate through the generosity of members of our own community. Our staff organizes sports leagues, tournaments, and special events throughout the year in order to reach as many children as possible.

We help our inner city youth develop athletic skills, healthy living habits, and leadership qualities by building a team concept at an early age. This enhances each child personally, athletically, and academically.

A Dallas ISD registration event will also be taking place at the same time that morning.

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.

June 29, 2021June 28, 2021

BREAKING: Harry Stone Zoom Reveals Assault and Terror Issues

Harry Stone Zoom Article Leads To Breaking News

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.

June 16, 2021June 29, 2021

No Answers From Dallas County College

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.”

However, Shawnda Navarro Floyd, Provost for Dallas College, sent out an email to teaching faculty about the news report.

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.

December 20, 2020December 20, 2020

TEA Interferes In COVID19 Response Again

TEA COVID19 response at cross roads again.

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.

TEA has kept federal dollars meant for local school districts while demanding local schools be open despite the innovation shown, including here in Dallas.

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.

December 8, 2020December 8, 2020

Laura Bush – First Lady of Dallas?

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.

December 7, 2020December 7, 2020

School Board Election Gaslighting

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.