Superintendent Michael Hinojosa decided today, after consulting with his senior leadership team and the Dallas County Health and Human Services staff, that the district will open with 100% distance learning when school starts Sept. 8 and will continue with distance learning through at least Oct. 6. In addition, all extracurricular activities will remain in a distance setting, including strength and conditioning, band and drill team, all UIL and visual and performing arts activities.
The superintendent is expected to make a public announcement of the decision at a late afternoon news conference today.
At this time, to meet the needs of the district and ensure schools are ready to receive students, the reentry process for staff will be differentiated based on district and department needs.
Teachers
All classroom teachers will notify their campus principal by Aug. 25 if they will participate in distance learning from the campus or deliver instruction virtually from home.
On Sept. 17, all classroom teachers will report in person to their respective schools to prepare to continue teaching classes via distance learning unless they have an approved AWA, ADA accommodation, or benefits leave, and as allowed by the Dallas County Health and Human Services Department, to get acclimated to procedures and prepare for instruction.
Non-teacher campus-based staff
Contract start dates for campus staff who work more than 185 days will remain as stated in the 2020-2021 start and end dates document shared earlier this summer. Emergency pay and essential pay ceased for this employee group on July 21.
Other non-teacher campus employees (workdays 185, 187, 191, 193, 195) should report to the worksite based on the revised 2020-21 start and end dates. Emergency and essential pay will cease for this employee group starting on the established start date for their position.
All other extended contract/early reports campus-based staff will report to the work site based on the revised 2020-21 start and end date work calendar.
Central Staff Employees
Central staff whose duties cannot be performed virtually returned to work on-site starting Aug. 3 to help prepare district facilities for the beginning of the 2020-2021 school year. These groups include the Police and Security Department, Maintenance and Facility Services and some employees in Information technology, Food and Child Nutrition Services, and Transportation.
All 185-day Student Transportation and Food and Child Nutrition Services employees will work on site starting Aug. 28, 2020. While districtwide distance learning is in effect and bus services are not needed, staff will report to their work site as usual and be assigned to perform other duties to support the needs of the district.
These 185-day bi-weekly employees will continue to be able to opt-in to work up to 10 days through Aug. 27 in miscellaneous support, including installing signage, organization of PPE, and assistance with shipments of materials to campuses.
The reentry process for other central staff will vary due to building capacity/structural elements, greater difficulty in social distancing, high elevator dependency for mobility, limited stair wells, wide use of common spaces for large numbers of employees, and high dependency/density of cubicles in office spaces.
All staff who can complete all work required for their position remotely may, with supervisor’s written approval, continue working remotely through Oct. 6, 2020. Any staff who cannot complete all work duties remotely will be required to report to work on an A day-B day type schedule depending on department needs and supervisor guidance.
All central staff will return to the work site on Oct. 7. Anyone who cannot report to the work site on their designated date can request an Alternate Work Arrangement with their supervisor, request an ADA Accommodation or file for a benefit leave as applicable through those established processes. Extended Emergency pay for all employees in this group will cease on Oct. 4.
For questions related to what may qualify for an AWA, accommodation or an approved leave, contact the Benefits department at benefits@dallasisd.org, visit www.dallasisd.org/benefits, or reference the AWA Request Form Guidance Document.
For more details about the reentry dates, please download this document.
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customer service and project management, workflow automation and business planning, Harris will oversee various aspects of district operations. Most recently, Harris has served as executive director of Administrative and Board Services where he coordinated activities of the Administrative Services office through the development and implementation of policies, programs and practices in support of the initiatives of the district and the Board of Trustees. Prior to this, Harris managed and coordinated Business Services activities related to the planning, development and implementation of policies, programs and practices in support of Financial Services, Support Services, Project Management, Construction Services and Auxiliary Services. He also served as director of Community and Administrative Services and as manager of the district’s Customer Service department. Prior to Dallas ISD, Harris was assistant director of Communication and Information Services for the City of Dallas, where he was responsible for Desktop Support, Mainframe, Account Management, Customer Service, Maintenance Contracts, Hardware/Software standards and Call Center/Help Desk.
Shantell Grant has been appointed executive director of Board Services. Most recently, Grant has served as project manager in Human Capital Management, where she has coordinated and implemented leadership development programs for central staff employees in collaboration with university partners, administered the HireVue, OnDemand and Live interview systems, created and monitored the departmental contract tracking system, managed summer internships districtwide, and led the districtwide reentry plan preparations for HCM for the COVID 19 pandemic. Grant began working in Dallas ISD in 2007 in the superintendent’s office, became a board coordinator in 2013, and was named special assistant to the deputy superintendent of Academic Improvement and Accountability in 2016 where she coordinated leadership team projects, including the implementation of the district’s Strategic Improvement Plan, established a baseline framework for tracking progress with the Lone Star Governance Model, and Coordinated and managed the timeline and workflow for the District of Innovation Committee for the creation of a Local Innovation Plan among other duties. Grant worked as director of Board Services for Houston ISD for a year before returning to Dallas ISD in 2018.
