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At the end of the 2020-2021 school year in June, Boude Storey Middle School Principal Jacqueline Rivers was teary as she thought about why her heart remains in education after 28 years of working in Dallas ISD.

“I’ve always worked in schools that had high needs,” Rivers said. “I’ve had students who are homeless, who are in foster care, who are coming from no resources. And to see them beat the odds and overcome challenges and go on to live productive lives, there is no other feeling like it in the world.”

Rivers has one word to describe last school year: scary. Scary that her students, who face enough challenges in a regular year, were falling even further behind academically because of the pandemic. Scary that it seemed like a nearly impossible task to help the students catch up once in-person instruction resumed.

So when she heard about the opportunity for Boude Storey Middle School to adopt a School Day Redesign calendar–which extends the school year to start at the beginning of August and end in late June for all students–Rivers jumped at the opportunity. She got family and staff buy-in by explaining how far students were falling behind, and how providing more time to learn could make a lifelong difference.

“We will have time for small group instruction. We will have time to get to know the students and help them thrive,” Rivers said. “And we will have the support of the district as we pursue this innovative strategy.”

There are three different Dallas ISD 2021-2022 school year calendars, with three different start dates in August. Providing schools with the flexibility to adopt the calendar that best fits their needs is part of a larger strategy to help ensure the pandemic doesn’t have a long-lasting negative impact on student learning. The district is investing up to $100 million over the next two years in this comprehensive effort.

“With leaders like Principal Rivers taking the bold step to rethink how her school works and how to give more time to students, Dallas ISD will continue to improve outcomes and equity,” Deputy Chief of Academics Derek Little said. “We are so thankful for the 46 schools that are extending their school year to improve services and opportunities for students.”

Dallas ISD is home for Rivers, who attended Charles Rice Learning Center, John B. Hood Middle School and the School of Health Professions. She planned on becoming a doctor but, during a break before graduate school, she taught at Madison High School, igniting her passion for education and her 28-year career in the district.

Rivers knows there is plenty of work ahead for her team to prepare the current Boude Storey students for success after the additional challenges caused by the pandemic. But she also knows that, thanks to the extended school year calendar and her outstanding teachers and campus staff, they are up for the challenge.

“We want to make a difference,” Rivers said of the school year that begins in a few days “We want to see every student here go on to lead productive, fulfilling lives. And we are willing to do whatever it takes to make that happen.”

The Board of Trustees recently approved pay increases for Dallas ISD employees.   As of result of these increases, CDL drivers will now have a minimum hourly rate of $22.69 per hour.  Existing Dallas ISD CDL drivers will have their pay rates adjusted to the new pay scale as well and will receive approximately a 10% increase in their hourly rate.

Dallas ISD’s CDL Driver Referral Incentive program will reward any Dallas ISD staff member who refers a CDL driver applicant who is then hired as a bus driver. It will pay $200 for referring an applicant with a CDL and P/S endorsement at the time of hire and $100 for referring an applicant who has only a CDL at the time of hire.  Refer someone with a commercial drivers license and it could be a win-win for both.

For current drivers, the Dallas ISD offers a retention incentive, designed to compensate full-time CDL bus drivers who hold their passenger and student endorsements. Eligibility for the incentive requires that the employee be full time and hold a CDL with a P/S as of Jan. 1, 2021. The employee must be active at the time of payout and have remained a Transportation bus driver with no break in assignment or service. The supplemental earning amount is $800 per year with 50% paid in December and the remaining 50% paid in May.

If you know someone interested in teaching in Dallas ISD, let them know about the district’s next  “In-Person Job Fair Hiring Event” from 4 to 6 p.m.  Thursday, July 22, at Skyline High School.

During the job fair, principals will interview candidates for all campus based openings, such as teachers, teacher leads, and paraprofessionals. Campus booths and interviews will be set with social distancing that is in compliance with the CDC and state guidelines.

This who want to participate in the event will need to bring proof of teaching certification or statement of eligibly from their education preparation program. Should you have any questions, please email us at futureteacher@dallasisd.org.

Candidates who have not yet completed the district’s teacher application, should do so prior to the hiring event. Our Teacher Application can be found at www.dallasisd.org/careers.

To register for the event, click on the invitation link.

Juneteenth National Independence Day was recently established as a federal holiday, and Dallas ISD, following policy guidelines, has adopted June 19 as an official district holiday.

Traditionally, when school districts elect to honor a federal holiday, if the holiday falls on a Saturday, the preceding Friday is used to commemorate the holiday. To honor the passage of this historic law—which this year took place June 17, a day before the end of the 2020-2021 school year—Dallas ISD will allocate one additional local day (PTO) to those who were full-time employees on June 18, 2021. 

Based on approved changes to DEC (Regulation), Human Capital Management has revise the 2021-2022 staff calendar and the contract start and end dates document to reflect the new federal holiday of Juneteenth National Independence Day.

Juneteenth commemorates the announcement of the emancipation of slaves on June 19, 1865, in Galveston, following the Emancipation Proclamation that was issued two years earlier. Several states, including Texas, still practiced slavery despite the emancipation in 1863 until federal troops arrived in Galveston to bring word of then President Abraham Lincoln’s proclamation.

Juneteenth, traditionally a Texas holiday, has gained more and more prominence among African Americans at the national level as Emancipation Day, leading to the signing of the bill by President Joe Biden that officially makes it a federal holiday. Juneteenth has been a state holiday in Texas since 1980.

Corey Banks, a custodial Services Supervisor and proud South Oak Cliff Golden Bear, is committed to uplifting his community through his leadership position.

With 23 years of service under his belt, Banks manages over 80 custodial services employees who ensure the day-to-day smooth operations of 23 Dallas ISD campuses in southern Dallas. Part of his secret sauce for success stems from valuable lessons on collaboration and determination that he learned during his teenage years at South Oak Cliff High (SOC).

“I am who I am today because of the education that I received here at South Oak Cliff,” he said during an interview last year. “The love that I have for this building and for this school community is off the charts. Golden Bears bleed gold and white!”

Like him, Bank’s father graduated from a Dallas ISD school, and both of his uncles are SOC alumni. His mother graduated from Pinkston High and worked for Dallas ISD for more that 30 years, in the Sarah Zumwalt Middle School attendance office and later in Accounting at the Administration Building.

Banks finished high school in the top 20 percent of his graduating class in 1991. Decades later, both of his sons—Corey Jr. and Kendrick Banks—graduated from SOC in 2016 and 2018, respectively. Like their father, both brothers finished in the top 20 percent of their graduating class.

We spoke with Banks about his love for SOC, his best high school lessons, and the impact he wishes to have in his community.

What is South Oak Cliff High School to you?

SOC is a school of tradition. It’s a school that is loved by the community. A school known and respected by the state. Growing up as a Golden Bear was an experience that taught me how to be mentally strong and prepared me for life. It taught me teamwork, dedication, perseverance and respect. Our teachers cared about our education and our growth for the future. We trusted the process and I was under the leadership of two amazing principals, Dr. Todd and Mr. Waylan Wallace. They were personable and always had our best interest in mind. The school was old and full of history and pride. Like every high school, South Oak Cliff had its challenges, but we owned and loved our school regardless.

Tell me about a lesson that you learned in high school that still applies today.

At SOC, I learned perseverance, I learned discipline and hard work, and I carry that over to my job. Dealing with 23 campuses, you have multiple personalities and you have to be strong and learn how to be attentive to everybody’s needs. You have to push and weather the storms, to make sure that things are moving at a rate that’s pleasing the customer.

During our senior year, our class had the opportunity to join a play called Blues, Beat, Bumps. A South Oak Cliff graduate came and sang with us and taught us the play, which was about the music from the ‘60s through the ‘90s. We had wardrobe changes, dances, acting, everything. And that resonated the most with me because we all came together, all of us got really close and it taught us how to work together as a team. It taught us team-building and depending and trusting that someone else on a team has their part. It showed us versatility and how to depend on one another.

That was a great learning experience for me at SOC. And that was one of many great experiences, because I was also into sports. I played football, basketball, ran track and won games. And all of those experiences also taught me about perseverance and team building, and were great and memorable too.

How would you convince your sons that the next generation of Banks should be Golden Bears?

I don’t think I’d have to convince them or encourage them a lot, because they love SOC just as much as I do.

South Oak Cliff is an outstanding school in the inner city, located in the southern sector in a traditionally historic building and with outstanding support from the community. The people that go to South Oak Cliff High want to make sure that their community is recognized, uplifted, and brought to a point where it should be. Like me, many want their future generations to keep adding to the culture and to the commonwealth of the community.

I would tell my kids that this environment can really teach you about the importance of community.

If you want to make changes to your annual benefits, explore options, or check out the new Health Savings Account offered to those who have a high-deductible plan, now is the time to do it.

Annual enrollment runs through Aug. 20 and becomes effective Sept. 1. If you don’t make any changes, you will keep the same medical, vision, and dental plans; however, if you want to put money into a flexible spending account or FSA, you need to enroll every year. Now is also the time to enroll in the Sick Leave Bank.

Dallas ISD offers staff medical, dental, and vision coverage and life insurance. The district also provides several  supplemental, voluntary insurance plans that can help meet your financial needs when the unexpected happens. You can choose from four different plans that provide benefits for require hospitalization, when you face various types of critical illness, when you become disabled and unable to work, or if you need long-term care at home or at an assisted living or rehabilitation facility.

You’ll find detailed information about each of the plans—including the optional, voluntary plans—and their premium costs through the Benefits Portal.

It all starts in the Benefits page at www.dallasisd.org/benefits, your one-stop-shop for all benefits information and links. From the Benefits Resources page, check out the Benefits Overview and Plan Costs, which provides many details on your benefit options.

If you have questions or need help, assistance is close by. Just call (972) 925-4000 weekdays from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Spanish- and English-speaking representatives will be available to guide you through the choices and the enrollment process.

For additional information you can also look at at the Benefits Overview Guide.

They are there when schools need them. During the 2020-2021 school year, Dallas ISD substitutes answered the call from schools to fill in for more than 100,000 teacher absences to make sure that students did not lose a day of learning.

“Substitutes are an integral part of the success of a student’s education,” said Shenise Tyler, substitutes manager for Dallas ISD in the Human Capital Management Division. “Although a substitute is only in a classroom for a short period of time, they are a teacher, and they make a difference in the lives of students.”

Without substitute teachers, absences due to illness or other unexpected circumstances could cause major complications: instruction is interrupted, classes are doubled up, and preparation periods are lost, Tyler said. Considering that the average student will spend an entire school year with a substitute teacher over the entirety of their K-12 learning journey, substitutes are important and valued members of the district.

“Without quality substitutes, teacher absences can have a domino effect that impacts the entire school,” Tyler said.

Of the more than 2,300 substitutes enrolled to cover teacher absences in Dallas ISD, about 37 percent are retired teachers. The others are qualified professionals who are interested in education and who believe it’s important that students have someone teaching in the classroom every day.

“Quality substitute teachers contribute to maintaining progress in the learning environment, which helps promote student achievement,” she said.

Substitutes who want to remain active during the 2021-2022 year should make sure they sign the Substitute Re-Enrollment form that was recently sent to their district email via DocuSign.

As the district begins to have in-person events, it’s important to avoid conflicts. While planning for the upcoming year, the Districtwide Datebook should be your chief means of scheduling districtwide activities.

The Districtwide Datebook can be found at https://www.dallasisd.org/datebook. Placing your events on the datebook will help others avoid booking events on the date of your school or department activity. Departments who already have scheduled dates for events and activities are encouraged to push them to the datebook as soon as possible.

The datebook is only for events that involve (or are of interest to) the entire school district. For example: STEM Day, Discover Dallas ISD, MLK oratory competition, recognition events and opportunities, job fairs, etc.

Department directors and administrative assistants are asked to update their department calendars (when available) and the districtwide datebook by following the steps below. If your department has a calendar on the district’s website, post your events there with the following information:

• the name of the event or activity
• a short description of the event
• the start and end time
• the venue name and address of the event location
• a department contact person and phone number or email address
• If you need help pushing an event from your department calendar to the districtwide datebook, send an email to webservices@dallasisd.org.

Departments that do not have a website-based calendar can add districtwide events to the datebook by sending an email with the information above to webservices@dallasisd.org at least a week in advance of the activity.

Diana O’Connor, librarian at Irma Lerma Rangel Young Women’s Leadership School, was recently surprised at her school with a Recognition in the Congressional Record from U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) for her work at the school, in the community and Dallas ISD.

She was recognized for her support of the schoolwide pre-Advanced Placement and Advanced Placement curriculum through a variety of programs like summer camps, STEAM camps, college readiness
camps and more for middle and high school students. She also created the Respect Starts here curriculum, a system dedicated to building listening, speaking, understanding skills and embracing one another with empathy.

O’Connor is involved in various community organizations, such as 29 Pieces, and has represented Dallas ISD in a variety of librarian associations. In 2020, she received the H. William Chris Educator Prize from the National Coalition of Girls Schools for her commitment to extraordinary teaching, program design and curricular innovation.

Before joining Rangel School, she taught hearing impaired adolescents, students with disabilities, and multiple grades in Dallas ISD.

Rep. Johnson asked that O’Connor be recognized “for her immeasurable impact on the Irma Lerma Rangel Young Women’s Leadership School and the entire Dallas community. Her career, marked by compassion and dedication to her students, has left an invaluable mark on my district, and it is my honor to congratulate her for her accomplishments.”