Greetings, District 2! There is a lot happening with the Dallas ISD Board of Trustees. Read below to learn about new developments in District 2 .
District 2 monthly updates:
Lens on learning: Focused on building skills that will serve students through life, Woodrow Wilson High School’s IB film program is a great example of how electives and extracurricular activities can provide students with hands-on opportunities to learn and grow.
Dallas ISD sustainability practices result in half a million in savings: Four years ago, Dallas ISD embarked on a full-scale analysis of its energy, food, construction, transportation, and maintenance practices to both improve its environmental sustainability practices while saving substantial funds over the long-term. As a result, this month, the district received more than half a million dollars in savings that we can invest directly back into our schools and classrooms.
February Board Meeting Debrief: Last month, Dallas ISD held its regular board briefing and meeting. I’ve chosen to highlight a few items below:
Dallas ISD priority setting update: At our briefing, the Board of Trustees and Superintendent Elizalde had a deep discussion about establishing our district’s priorities for the next five years. The most recent discussion aimed to get feedback from the community listening sessions conducted this fall, and merge that with the previous December discussion. The priorities discussed included focus on English and math, college, career and military readiness, state accountability, student experience, teacher experience, equitable resources, and financial literacy. While we’re making progress, there is still work to do based on the feedback received:
College and career readiness: I am against simply using the state accountability system as a goal to measure the readiness of our students because it changes frequently and includes many elements that don’t truly denote a student’s readiness for college and career. I don’t believe that parents would be content with their student simply passing a college prep class if it’s not paired with enrolling in college or completing a meaningful workforce certification. I will advocate for Dallas ISD to choose a more rigorous and meaningful measure.
Special education: It was clear from our community listening meetings that a focus on our special education students and processes is top of mind for many, therefore I will encourage us to consider this as a particular priority.
Financial literacy: Because the single most common response we heard from students in terms of what they wanted to know and do by the time they leave Dallas ISD was financial literacy, I will advocate to ensure this is robustly considered.
Bond task force to be created: As Dallas ISD continues to finish construction from our last bond in 2020, it’s time to begin to explore the district’s need for a new bond in the coming years. When Dallas ISD passed its last $3.5 billion dollar bond (without raising the tax rate), it had $6 billion in deferred maintenance needs. Currently, Dallas ISD is undergoing a comprehensive land use study and will use the results, as well as feedback from community appointees, to determine if we should consider another bond.
As always, please reach out to me if you have thoughts, ideas, questions, concerns, or simply want to say hello!
Best,
Sarah Weinberg
Stay up to date on the news from the district by following us on social media @Dallasisd and @dallasisdEspanol.
