Staff News

Longtime educator and Dallas ISD principal will now lead the district’s Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Department as its new executive director. Michael J. Ruiz brings years of experience as a teacher, parent and campus leader to the role in addition to his experience outside education as a marketing professional at Microsoft.

During his tenure as principal of Geneva Heights Elementary School, he successfully navigated through an unprecedented global pandemic while increasing enrollment—from 369 to 518 students—and academic achievement at the IB World School. As assistant principal at Woodrow Wilson High School, Ruiz led the school’s science and math departments to consecutive years of academic gains.

In his nine years as a dual language teacher, he worked with a diverse population of students and staff—at L.L. Hotchkiss Elementary School, he served students from 17 different countries. In 2015 he was named Dallas ISD Teacher of the Year and the following year was named the Jose Martí National Dual-Language Teacher of the Year at the National Association of Bilingual Education conference.

Ruiz has served as a member of the Hillcrest Leadership Academy, the initial cohort of the district’s Bilingual Cadre, Dallas ISD’s Academic Advisory Council and the Mickelson ExxonMobil Teachers Academy in partnership with the National Science Teachers Association.

Join Dallas ISD virtually at 11 a.m., Friday, Jan. 14, to honor the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and watch fourth and fifth graders compete in the 30th Annual MLK Oratory Competition. The event is co-presented by Dallas ISD and Foley and Lardner, LLP.

Eight talented orators will present their self-composed speech on the topic: “How would Dr. King assess our progress in achieving his vision for America?”  The competition begins at 11:00 a.m. and will be streamed via the district’s website and Facebook page at www.facebook.com/dallasisd.

Finalists are:

• Zihair Douglas, fourth grade, T.L. Marsalis Elementary School
• Arianna Garcia, fifth grade, L.L. Hotchkiss Elementary School
• Daniella Goffney-Mitchell, fourth grade, Thomas Tolbert Elementary School
• Kiyan Harrison, fourth grade, Jack Lowe, Sr. Elementary School
• Diamond McKinney, fifth grade, Clara Oliver Elementary School
• Jaliaha Rodgers, fifth grade, J.P. Starks Math, Science, and Technology Vanguard
• Chance Taylor, fifth grade, Charles Rice Learning Center
• Tristan Whitfield, fifth grade, Paul L. Dunbar Learning Center
• Jackson Smith, fourth grade, Martin Luther King, Jr Arts Academy*

*Will compete should one of the finalists be unable to participate.

During its regular monthly briefing, the Board of Trustees will consider several items and reports from district departments.

Superintendent’s Report:

• College and Career Readiness
• Student Recruitment Update

The Board will also consider and take possible action to adopt the resolution ordering a general election to be held May 7, 2022, for the purpose of electing three members to the Board of Trustees of the Dallas Independent School District in Districts 4, 5, and 7. Other items are also up for consideration.

Dallas ISD employees who retire this year can get cash for their unused local days through the district’s Retirement Service Award. The more days remaining, the higher the payout.

To participate in the Retirement Service Award, employees should notify Human Capital Management no later than April 1 of the date they intend to retire. Notification should be made by entering the intended retirement date in Oracle Self-Service.

The Retirement Service Awards pays employees a flat daily rate of pay for any unused local days accrued by July 31. The exact rate to be paid will be determined upon calculation of the total of all participants’ remaining local days (calculated by July 31). There is no cap to the number of local days paid. There is no time in service requirement.

If employees complete the separation process in Oracle by April 15 and work the remainder of the year, they will continue to have pay and benefits through Aug. 31.

Those who do not enter their separation date in Oracle Self-Service by the April 1 deadline will not be eligible for the award.

For additional questions, employees may contact the HCM Benefits Department at 972-925-4300 or email Retirement@dallasisd.org.

Dallas ISD Chief Technology Officer Jack Kelanic has been appointed to the Governor’s Broadband Development Council. The council was created by the 86th Legislature in 2019 and expanded by the 87th Legislature in 2021. The council studies and identifies ways to provide internet access to underserved areas of Texas.

Kelanic is also co-chair of the Internet for All Coalition and a member of the Texas Education Technology Leadership Council and Consortium for School Networking. He previously served as an advisory board member of The University of Washington Tacoma Institute of Technology and a board member of the Schools Federal Credit Union. Kelanic received a Bachelor of Science in Engineering from Vanderbilt University.

Wilmer-Hutchins Elementary School teacher James Mims’ life calling is supporting marginalized communities, specifically students receiving special education services who are also English language learners.

Seeing that these students were often overlooked, Mims transitioned four years ago from a general education classroom to become a special education teacher helping English language learners.

“For me to have the skills and passion that I have, it was an easy change to make,” Mims said. “And I haven’t regretted it for one day ever since.”

To help support educators like Mims, Dallas ISD has partnered with Southern Methodist University for a $3 million endowment to provide a full scholarship for identified teachers to get their master’s degree in Special Education with an emphasis in Bilingualism or ESL and Foundational Literacy. The scholarship was created by Kathryne and the late Gene Bishop to support Dallas ISD teachers pursuing master’s degrees. The couple worked together as longtime supporters of children’s health and education, among other philanthropies.

Mims is in the first cohort of Bishop Scholars and is set to earn his master’s later this year. He calls the Bishop Scholars program a game changer.

“SMU designs their lessons to create real-world, practical scenarios that you can bring to the classroom,” he said. “It really is a degree designed for teachers. I’m incredibly thankful to Dallas ISD for providing me this opportunity.”

Dallas ISD Special Education Services and the Dual Language/ESL Departments worked with SMU to develop the curriculum. Dallas ISD is now recruiting eight K-5 teachers for the second cohort of Bishop Scholars program. The district has two upcoming information sessions for interested educators to learn more.

The information sessions are scheduled for Jan. 18 and Jan. 25 from 5:30–6:30 p.m. Educators can click here to register.

“This is an exciting opportunity for Dallas ISD educators who are passionate about helping kids,” said Michelle Brown, Dallas ISD executive director of Special Education.

Mims has seen the real-world impact the Bishop Scholars program is making. Using techniques he’s learned in the program, he’s had students go from failing to mastering the STAAR within a year, for example.

“To take these amazing research-based practices and apply them in my classroom and to see these students grow is an incredible feeling,” Mims said. “I feel like the students don’t know what they are capable of until someone brings it out of them. And at the end of the day, look at the data, and the data shows that this program works.”

Welcome back to the spring semester! With the recent COVID level status for Dallas County changing to red and the increase in COVID positive cases in the community, Dallas ISD wants to remind staff to stay safe by maintaining district COVID safety protocols: wearing masks, social distancing and taking advantage of vaccination opportunities. Contact your health care provider if you feel ill or exhibit any symptoms.

Dallas ISD is offering staff a central testing location, which has shifted to an appointment-only facility at 3609 Botham Jean Blvd. (formerly Lamar St.) on Tuesdays and Thursdays. As an added convenience for school personnel, campuses have testing supplies available for both students and staff to get tested on campus. Campus staff are encouraged to see their nurse or principal on how to get tested at school.

Visit https://www.dallasisd.org/stafftesting to learn more about testing offered by the district and to fill out a consent form.

Dallas County Health and Human Services is offering free COVID testing at Ellis Davis Field House, 9191 S. Polk St. Appointments are preferred at Ellis Davis, but walk-ups are also accepted. Make an appointment for Ellis Davis at testing.nomihealth.com/signup/texas.

Please email EmployeeTesting@dallasisd.org with any questions.

Learn how to prepare for retirement with a variety of virtual resources so your retirement years can be all that you hoped for.

The Benefits Department and the Dallas Retired Teachers Association are hosting webinars to provide information on retirement and answer questions. All webinars will take place from 5 to 6 p.m. Click on your preferred date to register to attend. Once you register, you will receive a confirmation email with the link to join.

Tuesday, Jan. 11

Tuesday, Feb. 8

Tuesday, March 8

Retirement financial planning

Trusted Capital Group (TCG) has created a Dallas ISD landing page that contains videos about retirement savings and other personal finance topics.  This can be found at tcgservices.com/dallasisd and the district’s Benefits website.

TCG virtual retirement planning webinars.  Available on both TCG and Benefits Websites.

• Tuesday, Jan. 25, at 12 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.
• Thursday, April 7, at 12 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.

To improve overall IT Security, Dallas ISD will require two-factor authentication for all Office 365 systems for all staff—central and campus—starting in January. During the week of Jan. 10, all Dallas ISD teachers and staff will receive a registration email from Duo, the Dallas ISD-approved two-factor provider, requiring they register and set up of two-factor authentication. To learn more about Duo, visit. https://www.dallasisd.org/Page/77504

Effective the evening of Jan. 18, teachers and other staff will be required to use two-factor authentication when not on the district’s network (wired or wi-fi) to access Office 365 products (Outlook, OneDrive, Teams, etc.). Staff who have not completed the two-factor registration process will not be able to access Office 365 systems from outside the Dallas ISD network until they have completed the Duo registration. Even if registration is not completed in advance, users will still be given the opportunity to register for Duo when they try to access the system. Please contact the Service Desk at 972-925-5630 between the hours of 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. for assistance.

Dallas ISD is joining other school districts throughout Texas to celebrate January as School Board Recognition Month.

School board members are elected to establish the policies that provide the framework for public schools and serve as a link between the community and classroom. Trustees serve as unpaid volunteers.

Dallas ISD will be celebrating School Board Recognition Month throughout January. Join in by using the hashtag #SchoolBoardMonth on social media.

Learn more about Dallas ISD trustees on the district website here.

The trustees are:

• President, Ben Mackey, District 7 (North Central Oak Cliff, Cockrell Hill, and parts of West Dallas)
• 1st Vice President, Edwin Flores, District 1(Northwest Dallas, including North Dallas, Addison, parts of Carrollton and Farmers Branch)
• 2nd Vice President Maxie Johnson, District 5 (Oak Lawn, West Dallas, Wilmer, Hutchins and portions of East Oak Cliff)
• Secretary, Joe Carreón, District 8 (Northwest Dallas, Love Field, and parts of East and West Dallas)
• Dustin Marshall, District 2 (North and Near East Dallas)
• Dan Micciche, District 3 (Northeast Dallas)
• Karla Garcia, District 4 (Southeast Dallas, Seagoville, Balch Springs)
• Joyce Foreman, District 6 (Southwest Dallas)
• Justin Henry, District 9 (South Dallas and parts of Downtown Dallas, Pleasant Grove, Deep Ellum, Uptown, and East Dallas)