Staff News

Some health events are planned and some are not, but either way, the sick leave bank could come in handy when you need paid time off to take care of yourself for your loved ones.

Whether you are planning on having a baby during the year or you need surgery with a long recovery, as a participant in the sick leave bank you could have access to up to 20 sick leave bank days or 160 hours per school year. The SLB is a pool of local days contributed by employees to be used by members of the bank who are on an approved medical leave and have exhausted their own accumulated vacation, local, and state days. DEC [Regulation]

To participate, you need to donate one local day annually. To take advantage of the benefits, you can submit a sick leave bank application to the Benefits Review Committee (BRC) at benefitsreviewcommittee@dallasisd.org.

It’s easy to enroll during the benefits enrollment period that ends Aug. 21. For more information, download the flyer with instructions.

Need help or have questions? Contact Benefits at (972) 925-4300 or email Benefits@dallasisd.org for assistance.

The Dallas ISD Board of Trustees have called a meeting for 3 p.m. Thursday, July 23, to consider changes in the school year calendar as follows:

• Start date moves from Aug. 17, 2020, to Sept. 8, 2020.
• Removal of holidays in October due to the State Fair cancellation.
• Addition of holiday on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020.
• 
Change from six-week grading periods to nine-week grading periods.
• Move end date from May 27, 2021, to June 18, 2021.

Some employees whose work cannot be accomplished offsite, are being asked to return Aug. 3 to prepare for students’ return. Those staff include Construction Services, Maintenance and Facilities, Police and Security, and select IT staff. Additional information about the re-entry process for these employees can be found by clicking on each link.

The safety of each student and staff member is always our top priority, and numerous steps have been taken to ensure that the workplace and schools are safe. The appropriate personal protection equipment—including but not limited to masks, face shields, hand sanitizer and gloves—will be provided to each staff. If you consider yourself to be in a high risk category, contact the Benefits Department for additional assistance. Enhanced and intensified daily cleaning of office spaces and equipment are also part of that plan.

Details on district safety measures for staff are available in the re-entry playbook.

The district will continue providing summer bulk grab-and-go meals to families until at least the first week of August at several school-based distribution sites.

Dallas ISD Food and Child Nutrition Services has prepared and served more than 8 million meals since school buildings closed in March to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.

“Each of these meals represents a time that a child in our community did not go hungry,” said Michael Rosenberger, executive director of FCNS.

On Thursdays families receive enough breakfasts and lunches for each child to last through the next distribution. To make the weekly meal distributions possible, food services teams, custodians, district security staff and other campus personnel worked together with volunteers, substitutes, and community partners. In partnership with DART, food services also distributed meals at several community locations.

“I want to thank everyone who has come together selflessly and with commendable dedication and passion to take care of children in need during this crisis,” Rosenberger said. “You are my heroes!”

Dallas ISD is seeking substitutes for the 2020-2021 school year. The district is looking for candidates who have a minimum of 60 college hours or a bachelor’s degree; however, they are not required to be certified.

Refer a friend! Tell someone you know about the excellent benefits of becoming a substitute for Dallas ISD and helping thousands of Dallas students get ready for the future. We are dedicated to providing quality instruction for all of our students every day and substitutes play an important role in this commitment.

Substitute teaching provides an opportunity to gain experience and can see first-hand what it takes to be a successful teacher in Dallas ISD. To apply to become a Dallas ISD substitute, click here.

District employees are required to complete the Dallas ISD Re-entry Employee Safety Training course that provides employees information on social distancing, the proper use of face masks and other safety protocols. Please find the link to the training below.

To access the training, employees should go to https://dallasisd.csod.com and use their EAD username and password to log into Cornerstone. For problems logging into Cornerstone, such as resetting your password, contact the IT Service Desk at (972) 925-5630.

The training assignment will be in the “Required Training” section located on the “Welcome” page. If the assignment is not listed, employees can hover over the “Learning” tab, select “Learner Home” to access the training, and scroll down to the “Required” section to choose the Dallas ISD Re-entry Employee Safety Training.

Employees are required to complete the training within two days of the day in which they return to work in a district facility or in advance of returning to work. Supervisors will receive reports so they can ensure all employees complete the required training.

For questions or concerns regarding the training, please contact Human Capital Management’s Policy and Compliance department at HCMcompliance@dallasisd.org or (972) 794-7858.

More than $1.9 billion in the proposed bond 2020 package is dedicated to renovating aging facilities and addressing infrastructure and architecture improvements. More than $1.1 billion is allocated for new and replacement campuses.

According to district leadership, these allocations should bring schools up to a level that will provide modern and functional spaces for Dallas ISD students.

Based on board recommendations, the Citizens Bond Steering Committee—made up of more than 100 community volunteers and district staff—updated the this spring plan to designate $537 million to replace 14 aging schools.

As part of long-range plan to enhance educational opportunities, the Bond 2020 proposal also includes more than $607 million for 10 new facilities, including:

• a pre-K-12 campus downtown and another in midtown
• a pre-K-eight STEM campus in the medical district
• a pre-K-eight Montessori school in Pleasant Grove
• a transformation school
• a districtwide performing arts center
• four career institutes

For more information about the 2020 Bond proposal, visit www.dallasisd.org/bond2020.

Among the new features for this year’s benefits enrollment is virtual assistant AVA. She can be reached through the Benefits Portal and allows you to ask a specific benefits-related question and get an immediate, personalized answer.

There is also a new Benefits Portal mobile app that allows you to enroll, access your benefits, and chat with AVA from your mobile device. Visit dallasisd.org/benefits and click on Resources for information and links to download the app.

Benefits enrollment for the 2020-2021 year is available through Aug. 21. Employees can change current benefits, add or drop coverage for eligible dependents, and contribute to a Flexible Spending Account through the benefits portal at mylogin.dallasisd.org. For additional information and resources, visit www.dallasisd.org/benefits.

The Texas PTA recently recognized Maria Elena Pacheco, a kindergarten teacher at Martha Turner Reilly Elementary, as its 2020 Teacher of the Year.

“Texas PTA recognizes the important role educators and administrators play in our student’s lives,” says Sheri Doss, Texas PTA president. “Our children take on a great deal, but their success is a shared responsibility. The men and women in Texas schools give our students both support and guidance, not to mention a top tier education. We are honored to turn the spotlight back on them!”

Pacheco has worked at Reilly Elementary for the last 13 years and with Dallas ISD since 1995. Pacheco has taught kindergarten and first and second grades. Currently, she teaches in the two-way dual language program. One of her favorite parts about teaching is seeing that the students apply what they learn and then share it with others.

Katy Decker, a member of Martha Turner Reilly’s PTA nominated Pacheco for the Outstanding Educator of the Year Awards.

“Ms. Pacheco knows that as a kindergarten teacher, she is responsible for laying the foundation for the families’ school experience as much as the children’s,” Decker stated on the nomination letter. “Both of my children had her for kindergarten, so I saw first-hand how well she communicates with families. She answers emails, text and Remind app messages promptly, at all hours, and never makes a clueless kindergarten parent feel like they are an imposition on her.”

Texas PTA is one the largest child advocacy organizations in the state, and awards five outstanding educators every year based on nominations from members in their communities and the nominees’ profiles.

Dallas ISD’s top-notch nationally recognized Dual Language program gives children an opportunity to learn how to speak, write, read, listen, and think in both Spanish and English. Gaining this skill set prepares students for greater career and professional options, as well as gives them a competitive edge in the global marketplace. In the Dual Language classroom, instruction is provided in Spanish and English. Students also learn and grow by interacting with their peers whose first language is Spanish and/or English.

“Every year, my children are mostly non-Spanish speaking,” Pacheco said. “They and their parents are always a little anxious and worried because they don’t speak Spanish and my lessons are mostly in Spanish. But the children always catch on to it. They acquire the language and the vocabulary so quickly. Little by little they start using Spanish words to talk among themselves in the classroom and it makes me feel really good.”

Dallas ISD is launching My Apps Portal—a one-stop site to access a variety of applications with a single login.

With the initial release, district staff will have access to:

• Oracle E-Business Suite
• HCM Benefits Portal
• Web Clock
• Budget Online System (BOS)
• Medicaid
• Enterprise Customer Management System (CRM)
• Position Change Request / Request to Post (PCR/RTP)

To access My Apps Portal, go to https://mylogin.dallasisd.org, click on the ADFS button at the bottom of the screen and sign in with your your EAD credentials.

If you have not gone through the process already, you will be asked to do a multifactor authentication via recovery email address, mobile phone SMS text, or security questions. This provides additional security for your account.

To report technology issues or request services, please contact IT Service Desk at (972) 925-5630.

Benefits enrollment is here, and through Aug. 21, employees can change current benefits, add or drop coverage for eligible dependents, and contribute to a Flexible Spending Account through the benefits portal at mylogin.dallasisd.org.

There are many resources available to assist staff with questions as they review their current benefits and change or elect new benefit options. These resources, as well as detailed information regarding benefits and costs, can be found in the new Benefits Department website and the Benefits Overview Guide.

Enrollment is passive for most plans this year—medical, dental, vision, life and accidental death and dismemberment insurance, disability, personal legal, and sick leave bank elections will automatically roll over to the 2020–2021 plan year.

However, employees are encouraged to look at the available benefit plans because many new plans have been added.

The benefits package offers a new vision option. Vision benefits now offer the choice of three plans: basic, moderate and premium. The new premium plan allows you to purchase contacts AND glasses, or two pairs of glasses, or two orders of contacts per benefit year. There is also a higher allowance for frames and lower copays for this plan than the other two vision plan options. Enrollment is required for this plan.

Another significant change this year is that Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas (BCBSTX) will administer the TRS-ActiveCare medical plans beginning Sept. 1, so employees are encouraged to look at the plans and check if their providers are still within the network and plan accordingly. Prescription drug coverage is not changing and will remain with CVS Caremark.

The dental discount plan will not be offered for 2020–2021. Those currently enrolled in the dental discount plan who would like to continue dental coverage, should log in to the Benefits Portal and enroll in a new dental plan.

These benefits choices are effective from Sept. 1, 2020, through Aug. 31, 2021, unless there is a qualified special enrollment event.