Tag: Stephanie Elizalde

Failing DISD sues TEA over its new standards which show Dallas schools unable to educate students on a basic level.

Dallas Independent School District is joining other school systems in Texas to sue the Texas Education Agency over the state’s new report card.

Dallas ISD has 233 campuses and 145,000 students. On the last state report card roughly ten percent of these received a D or F grade from the state.

In an interview with NBCDFW, Superintendant Stephanie Elizalde said, “I would never have any evaluation of any member of my team based on previous evaluation criteria, and at the end of the period of time that I’m going to evaluate them say I’ve changed my mind I’m going to evaluate you on something else.”

However, Dallas ISD has done this – repeatedly.

Most recently, a principal was suddenly removed from a successful Dallas ISD school with no clear reason or cause.

Additionally, since at least 2020, Dallas ISD students have been shown to be failing at basic math and reading.

Dallas ISD’s answer then was not to improve education or seek innovation. They chose to lower standards.

Dallas ISD administration now seems surprised the state is holding them accountable while fewer students are heading to college.

Failing DISD Sues TEA

Mike Morath, former Dallas ISD Trustee, and current TEA Commissioner told media “small changes always happened.”

He said the new system incorporated several larger changes that will allow longitudinal views of student success.

One parent, Anna Ramirez, said TEA’s change is positive.

“Dallas ISD talks about teacher accountability all the time,” she said, “but never about the bureaucrats in administration who do things on a whim.”

“It’s about time parents got some choice after more than a decade of Dallas ISD spending tax dollars recklessly on crony capitalism,” she continued.

There are several smaller school districts already in the lawsuit. Fort Worth ISD will vote next week on joining the suit.

Back to school 2022 is in full force this morning as most Dallas Independent School District students return to the classroom.

Among changes expected this year, students in grades six and up, are required to have clear backpacks. This is after the tragic response to the Uvalde school shooting last May.

That event led to copy cat threats at Berkner High School in Richardson and at Pinkston High School in Dallas.

National experts have called the move security theater and it appears to have drawn widespread criticism for first year Dallas Superintendent Stephanie Elizalde.

Back To School 2022 Calendar

The base Dallas ISD calendar is below.

Superintendent Elizalde’s first public meeting was with the Next Generation Action Network. That calendar decision draws questions about her work with Dominique Alexander.

Alexander is a felon who assaulted a child.

Dallas Independent School District mandates clear backpacks for students in sixth grade up for the 2022-2023 school year.

“Clear bookbags are a well intended but relatively ineffective measure,” said Michael Dorn. Dorn is a former police officer and Executive Director of Safe Haven International.

The group is the world’s largest K-12 school safety center. The group produced the video below showing the ease of moving weapons into a school.

Marjory Stoneman Douglas schools trialed a clear backpack policy. They abandoned the policy shortly. It became clear to school administrators that contraband was still coming into schools.

Parents at several high schools told Other Side Dallas that metal detectors are not used. The devices are time limiting and staff does not focus on them.

“They are a physical deterence, but only when they are actually used,” one parent said.

DISD Mandates Clear Backpacks – Unclear Reason

Dallas ISD has not released the results of its parent survey on clear backpacks. They did say they will issue a single backpack to students.

If it becomes damaged or otherwise unusable the student will supply a replacement. It is unclear how many students this will effect given district socioeconomic challenges.

It is not clear how this poplicy will stop incidents like last year’s.

In December 2021, parents were notified of an elementary student with a firearm on a bus. At the time, parents said the note normalized the situation.

There were also multiple protests at Dealey Montessori with at least two events where adults were armed on campus.

NGAN hosts Stephanioe Elizalde – the new Dallas Independent School District Superintendent – in her first public appearance.

The Next Generation Activist Network – or NGAN – for short hosted the event which was the first welcome reception for newly appointed superintendent Dr. Stephanie Elizalde.

The Next Generation Action Network (NGAN) self describes as one of North Texas’s largest social justice organizations, with several chapters nationwide. With a mission of lobbying for social change and equality for all regardless of race, religion, nationality, gender, sex, or age, the Next Generation Action Network focuses on legal advocacy and education. Daily NGAN bridges and fills individual and community needs as a catalyst for impactful change.

They claim to focus on education, but in the host committee graphic above it is clear they do not do their own editing. One person is listed twice and a member of the Dallas ISD Board of Trustees had his name misspelled.

Early Super Mistake? NGAN Hosts Stephanie Elizalde

A giant question is was this a good move for Stephanie Elizalde.

It is unclear why Elizalde feels NGAN serves the needs of minority students whose test scores reveal abysmal results by her predecessor’s administration.

NGAN’s focal point – the “CEO Minister” Dominique Alexander – is alleged to be in a relationship with former Dallas Police Chief U. Reneé Hall.

Once this allegation was public, confirmed by four separate police and civilian sources at Dallas Police, Hall left office within twenty-four hours.

Additionally, Alexander was convicted of shaking a 2-year-old baby in 2011. He was sentenced to five years but released on probation shortly after his sentencing. Alexander has also been convicted of theft, making a false police report and evading arrest. He’s also been indicted in Denton County for felony theft.

Alexander was also involved in questions about contract awards after the Dallas ISD Auditor Report in 2020.