Staff News

Beginning in the 2021-2022 school year, sixth through 12th grade courses identified as “Pre-AP” will be known as “Honors” courses. The Board of Trustees approved the name change recently to comply with College Board regulations.

Mitch Morken, director of Advanced Academic Services for Dallas ISD, emphasized that the course content will remain the same; only the name is changing. Teaching and Learning departments will continue to challenge Honors students by exposing them to a challenging, enriched curriculum associated with advanced coursework.

As in the past, Dallas ISD will continue to encourage equity for all by maintaining open enrollment for any student meeting the requirements to enroll in an Honors course. The district wants to encourage all students interested in participating in the Honors classes to feel both welcomed and supported.

In addition, students who score at the “meets” or “masters” level in subject content on the fifth grade STAAR test for English Language Arts and Reading will be automatically enrolled in grade 6 Reading and Language Honors and Social Studies Honors. If the STAAR score is not available, students scoring at or above the 80th percentile on the reading comprehension section of the current Measure of Academic Progress (MAP) test will qualify for automatic enrollment.

Likewise, students who score at the “meets” or “masters” level on the fifth grade Mathematics or 5th grade Science STAAR test will be automatically enrolled in grade 6 Mathematics Honors or grade 6 Science Honors, respectively. If the STAAR score is not available, students scoring at or above the 80th percentile on the mathematics or science section of the current MAP test will qualify for automatic enrollment.

If you have further questions regarding the Pre-AP name change to Honors, visit www.dallasisd.org/letstalk. Click on the Teaching and Learning link to send your question to the appropriate department.

A nutritious diet is crucial to good mental, emotional and physical health, but some people believe that maintaining a wholesome diet can be expensive. It’s not.

Shop with a strategy

• Make a meal plan with healthy dishes and develop a shopping list from that.
• Take advantage of sales. If you have freezer or refrigerator space stock up on foods that you usually buy when they are on sale.
• Shop the perimeter of the store. Foods around the perimeter include produce, meats, dairy that are healthier and often cheaper than the processed foods that are found in the center isles.
• Don’t food shop while hungry. Shopping while hungry makes it harder to stick to a list and leads to impulse buying and cravings for snacks.

Think large

• Preparing large portions of food and eating them over multiple meals can save you time, money, and energy. Cooking once and eating multiple times throughout the week, especially if the portions can be frozen.
• Don’t throw away leftovers. You can get creative and make new dishes with them. Soups, stews, or stir fries can create a base for new creations.
• Experiment with combinations. Never forget about how many combinations you can create with whole grains, salads and vegetables that produce many different flavors and go well together.

These are all examples of ways to not only get more out of your buying experience, but to help you create a new norm for yourself and your family that will enrich your lives. Start today with these examples and create multiple ways of loving yourself by edifying your life with beautiful food choices and creations.

Several Dallas ISD Maintenance and Facilities supervisors who worked during the recent winter storms to maintain and repair schools were recognized today for their efforts. Over 140 Dallas ISD schools were damaged due to record freezing temperatures, including flooding due to burst pipes.

While the nearly 1,600 employees in the Maintenance and Facility Services department will be recognized at a future date, Wednesday 35 essential team members were highlighted for working day and night for no additional compensation. Thanks to a donation made by Atmos to the Dallas Education Foundation, each of the team members received a gift card to buy new western boots of apparel at Cavender’s Western Wear and Cowboy Boots.

“Our department has seen unprecedented events that could have defined us in the last 24 months, but instead we chose to overcome and define those moments,” said David Bates, assistant superintendent of Maintenance and Facilities. “This team has worked through geothermal well malfunctions, rolling outages due to extreme heat, a historic tornado, a pandemic, and most recently, a severe winter storm with electrical outages and water damages due to extreme cold.”

Dallas ISD had to act quickly to repair damage to schools to ensure a safe return for the district’s students and staff.

SMU Football also showed its appreciation by providing each team member with two tickets to their home opener. SMU Football will be one of the lead partners in the recognition of the entire Maintenance and Facilities department at a future date.

COVID-19 has had a significant impact on the lives of Dallas ISD staff and families, a safe, and effective tool to help us get back to normal is now available to all Dallas ISD employees.

It takes everyone to build community immunity, and Dallas County is giving all Dallas ISD employees—campus and central—to get vaccinated by filling out its registration form. District employees are in the county’s current priority group to get appointments and receive one of the three vaccines available.

More than 72 million doses of the vaccine have already been administered in the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, getting vaccinated adds an important layer of protection for you, your family, and loved ones. Here are some things you should know about the COVID-19 vaccine:

• All COVID-19 vaccines currently available in the United States are very effective at preventing the disease.
• The most common side effects are pain in the arm where you got the shot, feeling tired, headache, body aches, chills, and fever.
• Stopping a pandemic requires using all the tools available—wearing masks, staying at least 6 feet apart from people who don’t live with you, avoiding crowds and poorly ventilated spaces, washing your hands frequently, and, of course, getting vaccinated.

If you have questions about the COVID-19 vaccine, visit CDC’s FAQs web page: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/faq.html.

When filling out the Dallas County vaccine registration form, employees should make sure they choose Education as their occupation to be included in the priority list for vaccinations. Once the form is submitted, the county will contact employees with information about their appointments to receive the vaccines and other instructions when the vaccine is available. Make sure to bring your employee badge to the appointment.

Dallas ISD has secured vaccines for certified teachers through Parkland Hospital.

In Texas, people can register to get a vaccine anywhere, such as neighboring counties and medical institutions. Below are links to registration information for neighboring counties and medical facilities where people can register to receive one of the three available COVID-19 vaccines:

• Dallas County
• UT Southwestern Medical Center
• Baylor Scott & White Health
• Kaufman County
• Denton County
• Grayson County
• Hood County

Other vaccine providers have a first-come, first-serve signup list for appointments that they refresh once or several times a week. To prevent waste of vaccines, WalMart and CVS also have waiting lists in their stores. People who have added their names to the waiting lists can be called if not all vaccines are used on any given day. Call your local store for additional information about the waiting lists.

• CVS
• Walmart
• Sam’s Club

The district will be closed on Fridays this summer as central staff employees work a four-day week from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Monthly employees

• Employees paid monthly will work the four-day work week from June 21 through July 30.
• Monthly employees will resume their regular work hours on Aug. 2.

Biweekly employees

• Employees paid biweekly will work a four-day workweek from June 25 through Aug. 5.
• Biweekly employees will NOT work on June 25 if they participate in the four-day workweek.
• Biweekly employees who participate in the four-day workweek will resume their regular hours on Aug. 6.

Supervisors may allow employees to work a schedule other than the four-day workweek as long as the change does not negatively affect the functions of the department. In addition, some departments may choose to return to the regular work schedule sooner. Decisions regarding the work schedule are at the discretion of the department supervisor. Employees are responsible for consulting with their supervisor to determine the start, end, and lunch times of their daily work schedule during the summer.

The district will be closed for summer break July 5-9. Employees will not be allowed to work for pay while the district is closed unless the employee has received prior written approval from their department chief. All central staff will return to work on July 12.

The Dallas CIO Leadership Association (DallasCIO) has named Jack Kelanic, Dallas ISD’s chief technology officer, the winner of the 2021 Dallas CIO of the Year® ORBIE® Awards in the Public Sector category.

This technology executive recognition program in the United States recognizes chief information officers, and those in equivalent roles, who have demonstrated excellence in technology leadership.

As the district’s chief technology officer, Kelanic brings more than 20 years of technology leadership experience to his post. His responsibilities include developing the long-range technology plan to enable digital learning for Dallas ISD students and improving technology support for schools and district business operations.

Dallas ISD is launching its sixth cohort of the Future Leaders Academy in partnership with UNT-Dallas this fall. Candidates accepted into the program will have the opportunity to earn a master’s degree in Educational Leadership from UNT-Dallas and will form a cohort of future leaders for Dallas ISD schools.

Highlights of this program include:

• • Course content developed in partnership with Dallas ISD
  • 18-month program resulting in an M.Ed in Educational Leadership with principal certification
  • Virtual classes, and also face-to-face classes at a central Dallas ISD location

This program is designed for educators who do not currently have their principal certification and master’s degree in Educational Leadership.  Additionally, the district will potentially reimburse up to 50% of university tuition costs.

UNT-Dallas will be hosting two information sessions via Zoom at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, March 8, and at Thursday, March 11. If you are interested in learning more, please RSVP at the following link: tiny.cc/infosessionrsvp.  Should you have any questions or need additional information, please contact LEAD@dallasisd.org.

Food and Child Nutrition Services is celebrating National School Breakfast Week starting March 8 with activities for students.

Elementary students are encouraged to use the coloring sheet available at www.dallasisd.org/fcns or create their own art piece to have a “blast” creating a colorful artwork.

High school students are encouraged to post a picture of their favorite school breakfast food to participate in a giveaway. The best pictures will be posted on social media.

Other activities during the week include incorporating one or all fun themed attire days during the week. The themes can be found on the FCNS website and include Milky Way Monday, Super Smart Tuesday, NASA Wednesday, Planet Thursday, ands Take Flight Friday. Photos of the activities—whether in-person or virtual—should be submitted to FCNSMedia@dallasisd.org for a chance to win a prize for the classroom.

All artwork submissions are due Thursday, March 11. Teachers can submit the artwork to FCNSMedia@dallasisd.org or use the hashtag #DallasISDBreakfast when posting on social media to be entered for a daily giveaway. Winners and best pictures will be posted on FCNS’s Facebook page at @DallasISDFood.

The recent frigid temperatures and winter storms that hit Texas left many Dallas ISD families facing expensive repairs to their homes and other hardships. Fortunately, there is assistance at the federal and district levels.

President Joe Biden declared an emergency for most counties in Texas, which made federal disaster assistance funds available to families to help with home repairs and other needs not covered by insurance. FEMA programs do not pay for fuel or spoiled food.

Federal assistance

To start a claim, call 800-621-3362 or go to https://www.disasterassistance.gov/ to apply for federal FEMA funds. Homeowners must be able to provide FEMA with information on insurance coverage available to them as well as documentation on insurance settlements or denials to process the application. Additional information you will need to file the claim includes:

• Social security number or the social security number of a minor child in the household who is a U.S. citizen, non-citizen national or qualified alien
• Annual household income
• Contact information such as phone number, mailing address, email address, and address of the damaged home
• Insurance information (coverage, insurance company name, etc.)
• Bank account information (if you are eligible to receive financial assistance, the money can be deposited in your account)

District assistance

Dallas ISD has two types of leave that district staff can access if they need to take time to deal with major repairs in their homes or other hardships related to the recent winter storms.

Emergency Leave—Emergency leave includes, but is not limited to, unforeseen natural disasters or destruction of a vehicle or domicile by flood, fire, or storm involving the employee or a member of the employee’s family. Employees may be granted three paid days of emergency leave by the BRC.

The days will not be deducted from the employee’s time off. Additional days of absence will result in a deduction of accumulated time off.

Hardship Leave—Hardship leave may be granted only if the employee is not eligible for or has exhausted any other leave (e.g., FMLA leave, temporary disability leave, general medical leave, or workers’ compensation). The leave may be granted for serious illness of the employee or a family member or personal hardship for circumstances beyond the employee’s control.

Leave may be paid if the employee has available time off. Hardship leaves may be granted up to 20 business days in a school year. An extension of an additional 20 business days may be granted by the BRC with proper documentation.

For additional information about leaves and to requests one, visit the Benefits Department webpage or contact BenefitsLeaves@dallasisd.org.

You can help

Partnership and Volunteer Services is accepting donations of gift cards in amounts of $25 and $50 for distribution to families displaced or impacted by the recent snowstorm. District staff or members of the public can drop off cards purchased from retail stores, MasterCard or Visa to the PVS team at 9400 N. Central Expressway during business hours Tuesday through Friday or make a drop off appointment by calling (972) 925-5440. Family and Community Engagement Services will deliver the donated cards to families that have been identified by campuses as being in need. Families displaced from apartment complexes that suffered water damage from burst pipes are especially in need of assistance.

The 80 high priority campuses across the district are looking for outstanding teachers who are passionate about their profession and whose heart lies with helping students succeed no matter what. Teachers, instructional coaches, counselors and media specialists who are eligible and interested in working in one of these campuses can participate in a virtual high priority job fair via Brazen that will take place from 4 to 6 p.m. on Tuesday, March 9.

To sign up for the March 9 job fair, click here.

Then, they can take advantage of the district’s open transfer period for high priority campuses that started last week and continues through April 23. For eligibility requirements, go here.

Open transfer process

Each year, Dallas ISD teachers, instructional coaches, counselors and media specialists who meet certain guidelines can accept a position at another campus for the following school year during the open transfer period.

Eligible employees must apply online using their EAD login at www.dallasisd.org/careers using the Current Dallas ISD Employee link. Employees who do not apply will not be eligible to participate.

Working at a high priority campus has benefits beyond making a difference. Eligible teachers serving at high priority campuses in the 2021-2022 school year will:

• Earn additional DTR points on the TEI Scorecard, replacing the existing Tier I process.
• Earn additional stipends. Proposed stipend amounts are shown in the chart below.

PROPOSED 2021-22 High Priority Campus stipend amounts are below.  More information about stipend eligibility can be found here.