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Dallas ISD District 1 Newsletter – October 2024 Recap
Haga clic aquí para ver la versión en español.
I hope everyone had a wonderful October and an opportunity to visit the State Fair. Kids are well into the school rhythm, and Friday Night Lights are in full swing.
Dallas ISD Updates
Goals and Constraints Resetting Process: There is still time to participate in Dallas ISD’s goal setting process. Please make your voice heard by:
Legislative Agenda: This month, the Board adopted its Legislative Priorities for the upcoming Texas Legislative Session. Overall, we have five priorities:
- Increase School Funding (there hasn’t been an increase in funding to school systems since 2019 despite rising costs, increasing needs, and unfunded mandates)
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Provide PK3 and PK4 Full Day Funding: Currently, the state funds PK3 and PK4 at half day rates, but this makes no sense when students and parents need full day PK. We need funding to support PK for our Dallas families.
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Increase Teaching Compensation & Retention: Despite no new funding, Dallas ISD has increased compensation by 21% over the last five years. The state should help offset this cost to ensure the best for our students and staff.
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Increase Funding for School Safety: Safety & Security is top of mind for everyone. Last cycle, the legislature mandated new safety requirements but added no funding to pay for them.
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Accountability for Public Dollars: Given the ongoing push for Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) or vouchers in the Legislature, it is Dallas ISD’s position that any schools or educational entities should be accountable for the same level of public oversight and accountability as public schools.
College & Career Readiness Goal Update: This month, we received updates on progress towards out College & Career Readiness goal which has shown incredible growth over the past two years. Dallas ISD met its goal. Some highlights are below:
- TSI (College) Readiness in the district increased 25 percentage points from the Class of 2023 to the Class of 2024.
- Students earning Industry Based Credentials under the new calculation methods increased 21 percentage points between Class of 2023 to Class of 2024.
District 1 Updates
Here are highlights from our District 1 schools. Please e-mail any ideas you have for highlights to LanceCurrie@dallasisd.org.
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W.T. White Celebrates 60 Years: Congratulations to W.T. White for celebrating 60 amazing years. We are incredibly proud who has been, is, or will be part of W.T. White’s amazing story.
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Dallas ISD Realtor Training: On October 30, Dallas ISD hosted a pilot meeting with many local realtors to talk about the great things happening in our public schools. We will take the information we learned and continue reaching out to the realtors so they can tell families about the incredible success stories in our neighborhood and choice schools.
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Thomas Jefferson’s Amazing Hero: Student Jonathan Moreno is a hero. Their family suffered an incredibly tragedy when their home was set on fire. During the chaos, Jonathan ran back into his home to save his two-year-old sister. While the family is facing an immense struggle, we are so proud of Jonathan and his heroism. WFAA’s story on the incident is here: LINK. If you would like to support his family, here is a link to the Go Fund Me page organized by TJ alumni: LINK.
Upcoming Events:
- November 21 at 6:00 p.m. – Dallas ISD Board Meeting (5151 Samuell Blvd.)
- November 25-29 – Thanksgiving Break
Thank you for the opportunity to serve our students. If you have questions, thoughts, or want to talk about how we can work together to make Dallas ISD the best school district, please reach out. I’m happy to grab coffee or set up a Zoom call. Just e-mail me at LanceCurrie@dallasisd.org.
Thank you,
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