Central Staff News

While the district may be closed, if you need assistance with your benefits, a number of resources are available.

District schools and administrative offices will be closed for Spring break from Monday, March 15, through Friday, March 19, but the benefits call center will be open regular hours during that time to provide assistance.

For non-emergency health concerns such as cold and flu, TRS ActiveCare participants can utilize Teladoc at a reduced cost.  Call 1-855-Teladoc (835-2362) or visit their main page.

If you have questions regarding your FSA, you can contact Connect Your Care at 877-528-9876 or visit www.connectyourcare.com. Connect Your Care is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

You may reach the benefits call center at 972-925-4000 or email benefits@dallasisd.org.  For questions regarding leaves of absence, email benefitsleaves@dallasisd.org.  During the periods in which the district is closed, the email boxes will be monitored periodically to ensure any critical issues are resolved in a timely manner.

Through the Theory of Action Standards of Service, the Special Education Department supports, students from birth through age 21. The students who receive services have a disability and are eligible to receive special education services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The Special Education Department supports students on campuses, in homes, in hospitals, and in residential care facilities, ensuring the compliant and effective delivery of these services with professional development, instructional and related services, instructional programs, coaching support, and family and community engagement, which includes our Special Education Parent Advisory Council.  Many of these supports and services are provided through the following:

Let’s Talk Platform – The Let’s Talk Platform is a customer service platform that helps district leaders manage stakeholder questions and concerns. Through data and analytics, staff can track, review and maintain requests to ensure that the best customer service is provided.
Michelle Brown- Executive Director (micbrown@dallasisd.org)

Transition Services – Transition Services provides age-appropriate learning activities/experiences designed to develop students with disabilities’ potential for intellectual, emotional, vocational, and social growth, preparing them for life after high school.
Joslyn Harmon- Supervisor
Sharon Hunt- Director (shunt@dallasisd.org)

Campus Support – Special Education Campus Support Service Teams provide quality, efficient academic, and IEP implementation support to campuses serving students with disabilities. Target areas for services and supports include general education, resource, inclusion, and specialized program classrooms. The service teams’ quality support to campuses provides students access to their least restrictive environment using assistive technology, curriculum access, and alignment.

Campus Support Supervisors by Network;
Stephanie Fuller- Supervisor – Central Network
Karisha Bangs- Supervisor – Northeast Network
Stephanie Collins- Robinson – Supervisor – Southwest Network
Ricardo Corrales- Supervisor – Northwest Network
Ricardo LaFrance- Supervisor – Southeast Network
Wernsetta Session- Supervisor – M.A.T.S. (Magnet, ACE, Transformation & Innovation, and Single Gender Schools)
Jennifer Landry- Director (jelandry@dallasisd.org) 

Speech Services – Speech Services provide districtwide face-to-face and interactive teletherapy services for students in a variety of settings.
Brenda Snow- Supervisor
Kristin Davis- Director (krdavis@dallasisd.org)

Section 504 and Dyslexia Services- Section 504 and Dyslexia Services ensures that students with known or suspected disabilities have access to free and appropriate programs and services needed to meet their disability-related needs. Dyslexia Evaluation supports Section 504 by assisting with evaluating and identifying students for dyslexia and/or dysgraphia. Additionally, the department fulfills any Child Find Dyslexia evaluation requests. Dyslexia Services begins once a student has been identified to receive General Education programming through Section 504 or Special Education.
Erin Gracey – Section 504 Manager
Maria Marroquin – Supervisor
Melita Carlton – Supervisor
Lauren Zimmerman – Supervisor
Veronica Allen, Director, veallen@dallasisd.org

If you have any questions or need support, contact Michelle Brown, Executive Director Special Education, Section 504 / Dyslexia micbrown@dallasisd.org  or 972-581-4343.

The Office of Transformation and Innovation (OTI) is excited to formally announce the recipients of the Public School Choice (PSC) Competitive Proposal Process, Version 7.0.  This year’s process collected 31 applications which yielded 19 new choice school offerings. A description of the proposal types and approved proposals are below:

Types of proposals approved:

• Transformation: brand new start-up school
• Innovation: existing neighborhood school adding a schoolwide model/program
• Innovation Pilot: existing neighborhood school adding a school/model program to pilot
• High School Redesign Incubator; a 2 year period to incubate a new school model

Approved proposals: 

• Global School at Paul Quinn 6-12; Transformation-Launch 2021-2022
• Hybrid School K-8; Transformation-Launch 2021-2022
• Montessori at E D Walker PreK -5; Transformation-Launch 2021-2022
• Single Gender Replication K-8; Transformation-Launch TBD
• Walnut Hill International Leader K-8; Transformation-Launch TBD
• John Neely Bryan Elementary; Novel Engineering; Innovation-Launch Fall 2021
• Julius Dorsey Elementary; Leadership; Innovation-Launch Fall 2021
• Eddie B. Johnson; STEM; Innovation-Launch Fall 2021
• Herbert Marcus Elementary; Leadership; Innovation-Launch Fall 2021
• Highland Meadows Elementary; Personalized Learning; Innovation-Launch Fall 2021
• Kennedy-Curry Middle; Modern Arts; Innovation-Launch Fall 2021
• Hector P. Garcia Middle; International Baccalaureate; Innovation-Launch Fall 2021
• Robert T. Hill; Global Leadership; Innovation-Launch Fall 2021
• Alex W. Spence Middle; College and Career Prep; Innovation- Fall 2021
• North Dallas HS; Design Thinking; Innovation- Fall 2021
• Birdie Alexander Elementary; Visual and Performing Arts; Innovation-Pilot Fall 2021
• James Bowie Elementary; Service Learning; Innovation-Pilot Fall 2021
• Paul L. Dunbar Elementary; STEM; Innovation-Pilot Fall 2021
• Roosevelt High School, STEM; High School Redesign; Fall 2021

Gena Koster brings 25 years of experience in education to Dallas ISD as assistant superintendent for Special Populations. Koster is passionate about educational services for students with special needs of any kind and has varied experience as a special education teacher, coach, campus principal, director of Special Education, and executive director of Academic and Federal Programs. She holds a doctorate in Educational Leadership from Oklahoma State University and a master’s degree in Special Education. Most of her career has been focused on evidence-based practices in educating students with significant behavior disorders.

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.