Staff News

The COVID-19 pandemic has created many challenges, but with a Core 4 approach to customer service, these challenges can be turned into wins. In Dallas ISD, we are responsive, accurate and accountable to each other as we seek timely solutions for our customers.

When interacting with customers—such as our students’ parents and guardians—it’s important to keep in mind the Fast core tenet of the district’s culture. Parents are also finding it difficult to navigate the challenges brought about by the pandemic, making it even more important we remember that behind every call or email with which a parent reaches out to ask a question or share a concern, there is a person who needs to feel heard and understood.

This understanding happens when you practice active listening—a pillar of good customer service:

• Adopt an attitude of understanding and focus. Even on a busy day, make the customer feel they are important and not a distraction from other priorities.
• Focus on the speaker and listen without interruptions to learn what he or she needs from you or the district.
• When the customer stops speaking, ask clarifying questions to make sure you have understood.
• If you can’t help, don’t just connect the call. Stay with the customer until someone answers on the other end. And if you don’t know who can help, take down their information and offer to call them back. Then call them back.

This approach also applies to emails. Whether you are actively listening or reading, keep in mind that how you respond to a parent’s request could make a difference in how that parent feels about his or her child’s school or all of Dallas ISD.

The Fast core tenet guides the urgency with which we approach our service to each other and our customers every day. The expectations are that you will:

• Deliver accurate email and phone responses within 24 hours during normal business
• Access data, policy, and all other relevant information sources to provide accurate and timely responses, regardless of requestor
• Align time in relationship to task importance and consistently respond in a timely manner to requests between students, families, employees, and equity groups
• Consistently adjust responses for problems and unforeseen circumstances to ensure equitable outcomes

To learn more about the Core 4 tenets that guide the district’s culture, visit www.dallasisd.org/core4.

New Translation Services electronic request forms are available now to expedite the processing of requests for interpreters and document translations. This service is free for district staff.

Language support is available to help teachers and staff communicate with non-English-speaking parents in the languages most spoken in the district. District interpreters who speak American Sign Language, Arabic, Burmese, Chin, French, Italian, Kirundi, Portuguese, Spanish and Swahili can assist at school meetings and provide document translations.  Assistance with languages not listed may be requested as needed.

For interpretation requests, please complete the Interpretation Request form.

For translation requests, please complete the Translation Request form.

Language support for students who are new to the country and whose native language is Arabic, Burmese, Chin, Kirundi or Swahili also is available. To inquire about this service, please contact Adriana Cabeza at interpreters2@dallasisd.org or (972) 925-5884.

Another high-demand service is the Interpreter Hotline. When calling the hotline, district staff can request assistance from Translation Services interpreters to communicate with non-English proficient parents via a three-way conversation.  This service is available Monday – Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. For Spanish: (972) 925-5880. For other languages: (972) 925-5884

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The district will host a COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic on Saturday, Sept. 11, (FIRST DOSE), and Saturday, Oct. 2 (SECOND DOSE), from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Yvonne A Ewell Townview Center, 1201 E. 8th Street in Dallas. The clinic will be a drive-through clinic in the school’s parking lot. The clinic is open to staff and children 12 years of age and older who want to get their first dose of the Pfeizer-BioNTech vaccine. The vaccine is free.

For more information about where staff can get vaccines, visit www.vaccines.gov.

Staff who provide proof of being fully vaccinated by Nov. 15 can receive a $500 incentive from Dallas ISD. Learn more at www.dallasisd.org/vaccineincentive.

During its regular monthly briefing, the Board of Trustees will consider several items and reports from district departments. This month’s reports include:

• Superintendent’s Report: ESSER Update; Enrollment; Virtual Learning; and Racial Equity
• Legislative update
• Vision and progress monitoring: Student Outcome Goals 1 & 5 / Constraints 1-3

Briefings are scheduled to begin at 11:20 a.m. and are broadcast online through a link available on www.dallasisd.org once the meeting starts. To see a copy of the agenda and presentations associated with this meeting’s reports, visit  https://go.boarddocs.com/tx/disd/Board.nsf/vpublic?open and click on the Sept. 9 briefing to access the agenda.

School Leadership Executive Director Nancy Bernardino has been named an Emerging Latina Leader by the Hispanic 100.

Launched in 2019, the Emerging Latina Leader (ELLA) Award is bestowed on a rising and influential Latina professional in the DFW-area who is making an impact on Latina women and girls through her engagement and leadership in community, profession and/or industry.

Bernardino was recognized for forging new avenues in the area of education by being the founding principal for the first STEAM-focused, all-girls school in Dallas ISD. She has also been instrumental in the opening of other schools with a similar focus and the all-boys SOLAR Preparatory. Bernardino currently leads the single-gender and hybrid schools as executive director

“It is such an honor to announce and celebrate these two outstanding and accomplished women, and so inspiring to see the impact they have in our community,” said Silvana Rosero, president of The Hispanic 100, during the ceremony in which Bernardino was one of the honorees. “They embody our mission of serving as a catalyst for increased participation of Hispanic women in employment, procurement and social issues.”

The Hispanic 100 is a network of D/FW-area Latina leaders who are committed to increasing business development opportunities for Hispanic, women-owned businesses and to promoting Hispanic women’s leadership roles in the private and public sectors.

Jesús Rodríguez, Ed.D, has been appointed deputy chief academic officer of Content in Teaching and Learning. He has served in a variety of capacities in Colorado from classroom teacher and campus principal to regional assistant instructional superintendent in Denver Public Schools and executive director of the BUENO Center at the University of Colorado in Boulder.

In his most recent role as executive director of the BUENO Center—an internationally recognized organization that supports and advocates for culturally and linguistically diverse learners, families, and educators—he established collaborative relationships with districts, departments, boards of education, local communities and other higher education institutions to promote language equity and inclusion across the state. Additionally, he established the center’s first scholarship endowment in its 45-year history.

In his work with Denver Public Schools, he was most recently a regional assistant instructional superintendent in the Schools Division in a network of 25 elementary, middle, and high schools in northwest Denver. In his role as a regional assistant instructional superintendent, while supervising principals, he led with a focus on increased academic achievement and positive inclusive school cultures. Rodríguez began his career in DPS as a fourth- and fifth-grade bilingual teacher and later served as a successful turnaround school principal, earning a center of excellence award from the Colorado Department of Education.

Rodríguez has a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education and Spanish from the University of Northern Colorado, a Master of Arts in Educational Equity and Cultural Diversity from the University of Colorado in Boulder, and a Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies from the University of Denver.

He and his wife Elle are looking forward to exploring Dallas with their son Cosme and his best friend, their family dog, Cain.

During its regular August meeting, the Dallas ISD Board of Trustees voted to join multiple other school districts in an existing lawsuit challenging a ban on mask mandates. The litigation defends local control of such decisions defined by the education code, which gives districts the right to manage their respective district.

“It’s about the safety of our students, staff and families,” board president Ben Mackey said, according to the Dallas Morning News. “We just gotta do what’s right, and to make our voices heard in this lawsuit is critical for us.”

Superintendent Michael Hinojosa announced Aug. 9 that, to protect staff and students from the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus, Dallas ISD is temporarily requiring all staff, students and visitors to wear masks when on district property.

Haven’t gotten your COVID-19 vaccine yet? Don’t delay. Dallas ISD is offering a one-time, $500 incentive to fully vaccinated employees. You only have until Nov. 15 to show proof you are fully vaccinated and be eligible to receive the $500.

If you just became fully vaccinated, visit www.dallasisd.org/vaccineincentive to access the form and provide proof of vaccination.

If you are just going to get your vaccine, note that employees may be eligible for an absence of up to four hours of paid leave per vaccination dose to receive the COVID vaccine. Time will not be deducted from the employee’s paid time off.

Vaccines are widely available throughout Dallas County in health clinics, hospitals, pharmacies and through private medical professionals. For more information about where to find the vaccine, visit https://www.dallasisd.org/covidvaccine or visit Dallas County’s vaccine information page at https://www.dallascounty.org/covid-19/covid-19-vaccination.php.

If you have submitted your proof of vaccination and are counting on getting the incentive, let us know how you are planning on spending it by writing to staffnews@dallasisd.org. Your story could be featured in a future issue of The Beat!

Five decades after Sam Tasby was the centerpiece of the lawsuit that ended segregation in Dallas ISD, two of his descendants are working in the district to continue his legacy of equity and bettering lives through education.

In her social studies classroom at Seagoville Middle School, Rashonda Phelps proudly showcases a picture of Tasby, her grandfather, on a poster listing her favorite things. She credits her grandfather as the reason she is in education.

“When I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do for a career, I talked with my grandfather. He always stressed the importance of education, and he supported us and pushed us,” Phelps said. “I ended up getting my teaching certification, and I haven’t looked back since.”

Over at David W. Carter High School, Tasby’s great-granddaughter, Calissia Tasby, supports students as a licensed mental health clinician with the Mental Health Services Department.  She helps students work through anxiety and depression caused by the pandemic and address any personal crises.

Calissia Tasby, who attended Ronald E. McNair Elementary School as a child, said one of her greatest joys was starting her work in Dallas ISD while her great-grandfather was still alive.

“He was so passionate about education and equal rights,” she said. “It’s a privilege to help continue what he started.”

Tasby and Phelps vividly remember him talking about the historic lawsuit that led to the desegregation order for Dallas ISD. He thought it was outrageous that his kids couldn’t attend the “white school” in northwest Dallas. According to his obituary, Tasby was harassed and lost his job following the lawsuit. But he remained committed to fighting for what was right, his descendants said.

As a thank you for all teachers did in 2020 and continue to do to help Dallas children learn and grow, Southern Methodist University wants to invite Dallas ISD teachers to it’s home opening football game on Saturday, Sept. 4, when the SMU Mustangs take on Abilene Christian. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.

In addition to the free ticket to the SMU football game, Whataburger is sponsoring the event and offering teachers a Whataburger gift bag as well as the opportunity to enter to win gift cards for school supplies at their tent on the boulevard.

For any additional questions, please contact Candice Vaughn directly by calling (214) 768-7728 or emailing cmvaughn@smu.edu.