With the Nov. 3 election 60 days away, activities in the community have increased. District employees are reminded of election laws and policies related to political electioneering and political advertisement. Please make sure you comply with all district guidelines and policies during this election time. The guidelines for political electioneering and advertisements on district property can be found in this memo.
The Social and Emotional Learning Team encourages all staff to practice self-care in preparation for the new school year and as a way of dealing with stress. District employees are invited to participate in free weekly 60-minute virtual mindfulness and emotional intelligence sessions provided by Mastermind. The sessions will focus on science-based mindfulness strategies for cultivating self-awareness and self-management. Each session will include information and teachings on emotional intelligence, formal and informal mindfulness exercises, and key takeaways for daily life. Join us every Wednesday at 7 p.m. through Dec. 16. Register here to join the class. We are excited to share this transformative practice with you!
The Benefits Department, Human Capital Management, provides employees is providing you an opportunity to access professional support from LifeWorks—an innovative, confidential, and free employee assistance program.
Whether you are looking to overcome an obstacle, improve your overall well-being, or reach a personal goal, LifeWorks can support you with your mental, emotional, and physical health goals. You can personalize the content based on your needs and interests in the areas of life, family, health, and work.
Talk with experts, access community resources, or receive trusted referrals for challenges such as:
Connect today with LifeWorks 24/7/365 by phone, online, or mobile app. You can access the LifeWorks Portal through the OneAccess Portal at https://oneaccess.dallasisd.org. Once logged in, you can click on the My Applications option and it will take you to individual apps, including LifeWorks. You can also call (972) 925-4000.
In an effort to support students and staff for at-distance learning, Marketing Services has created options for district-branded virtual backgrounds for zoom classes and meeting. These backgrounds can be accessed and downloaded by visiting: www.dallasisd.org/virtualbackgrounds.
Schools reopening a week early for students moving between certain grade levels
While school starts in a distance-learning model for all district students on Tues., Sept. 8, current plans call for the restart of on-campus classes in Dallas ISD on Mon., Oct. 5. Based on the recent leveling out of Dallas County COVID-19 cases, Dallas ISD is inviting students who will attend classes for the first time in a new building to return a week early, on Mon., Sept. 28.
Students in grades prekindergarten, kindergarten, those moving to a new campus for fourth or sixth grade, from elementary to a new middle school, and from middle school to a new building for high school have the option to start school on Mon., Sept. 28. This early start of on-campus classes only applies to students who are transitioning to a new building. Students who are simply moving to the next grade in a school they attended last year will return with all other students on Oct. 5. A document detailing the phased-in reopening is available here.
School Leadership Chief Jolee Healey says giving the district’s youngest learners and students moving to new schools a one-week jump-start on the school year will give them a chance to get acclimated to new surroundings and start building relationships with teachers and peers.
“The current health environment has made the start of school an unusual experience for all students,” said Healey. “Add to that the stress of navigating a new building, and it’s not a stretch to realize that students may need a period of adjustment to get acclimated. That’s the idea behind the one-week early return for these students.”
Healey said principals of schools receiving these students will be reaching out to their parents to communicate plans for the early restart of on-campus classes.
Beginning today, the district is also launching a parent survey asking parents to indicate their preference for on-campus or distance learning for their children. Parents are urged to respond to the survey by Sept. 7.
As previously announced, the district is also phasing in designated special education related services by appointment in a one on one setting on Sept. 8, and certain special education classes will be opened for face-to-face instruction with parent opt-in on Sept. 17.
The phased-in return to campus also impacts athletics. At high school, athletics strength and conditioning, sports and related UIL extracurricular activities will restart per the following schedule.
Plans call for the start of middle school conditioning Sept. 28, followed by practices for athletes, UIL band, drill team and cheerleaders on Oct. 5 and the start of in-district football and volley ball games on Oct. 12. As of now, the middle school football season will consist of six to seven games and the volleyball season will include 10 to 12 games.
The restart of in-person classes and athletic activities will be subject to all approved district health and safety protocols. District officials caution these plans are based on current county health data with the understanding that plans may be adjusted if data changes. All activities will be closely monitored, and if confirmed cases of COVID-19 are detected, appropriate action will be taken to protect students and staff.
Specifically, the phased-in restart of athletics and UIL activities will be required to comply with the following key tenets, and transportation will not be provided for athletic or UIL activities.
Guidance: Details of the CDC- and UIL-aligned protocols have been provided and explained to each of the campus coordinators and will be strictly enforced.
Implementation: All schools will implement a “Small Group Instruction” Model to minimize the number of student athletes on campus at a given time. Strength and conditioning sessions will occur outdoors. Marching Band, Drill Team, Cheerleading and other extracurriculars will implement all required safety protocols for participation.
Monitoring: Central office athletic directors and athletic trainers as well as visual and performing arts staff will monitor and assist with all phases of the reentry implementation. Campus visits will be completed to ensure fidelity of process implementation.
A change to DH (REGULATION) announced today will allow the children of classroom teachers and campus staff to accompany their parents to campuses during the period of districtwide distance learning for all. Children must be at least 4 years of age and no older than 15 and can be enrolled in any school district to qualify.
All campus staff must request and receive permission in writing from the principal before they bring their children to work with them. Approval can be revoked by the principal or district at any time during the districtwide distance learning period.
The change will avoid creating a hardship for teachers and campus staff who choose to work on campus and whose children would otherwise have to attend daycare or stay home alone.
Teachers and campus staff who take advantage of this option are responsible for the personal safety of their children and for ensuring there are no disruptions to their daily tasks or campus operations. The children must follow all district and campus health and safety procedures.
Children who are enrolled as Dallas ISD students must abide by all district rules, regulations, guidelines and expectations while on campus.
The school year is about to start and the STEM Environmental Education Center is ready to provide teachers and students with a wild experience in nature—virtually that is.
The center will provide 130 free, live, virtual field trips for 15 grade levels/subjects. Each trip will be 45 minutes in length and align to the science standards taught during the current nine weeks grading period.
During these virtual trips, experienced teachers and naturalists will provide students with interactive opportunities to explore prairie, forest, and freshwater ecosystems, study fossils, visit a working barn with a variety of livestock, meet live amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and birds, tour gardens, and more.
All of the virtual field trip information can be found at 2020-2021 Guide to Virtual Field Trips at the STEM Environmental Education Center. You can register for as many trips as you like with as many students as you want–there is no limit. If you have any questions about free, live, virtual field trips to the STEM EEC, please email eec@dallasisd.org. You can also download the flyer.
Annual benefits enrollment, leaves of absence, alternative work arrangements , qualifying life events, and other benefits topics may be on your mind. Do you know who to call to get the information you need?
The Benefits department has many resources available to help employees navigate the benefits system. The information below should help.
Call: 972-925-4300 or email benefits@dallasisd.org when you need to:
Call: 972-925-4000, when you need to:
BenefitsReviewCommittee@dallasisd.org:
In compliance with state and federal laws, Dallas ISD requires that all employees complete an annual policy acknowledgement and compliance training every school year. The window for both the annual policy acknowledgement and compliance training closes Oct. 31.
Annual Policy Acknowledgement
Using their EAD, employees will log into the annual policy acknowledgement web-based application at http://PolicyAcknowledgement.dallasisd.org. The system can be accessed from work or home.
Compliance Training Videos
Online compliance training will be available to all District employees in Cornerstone at https://dallasisd.csod.com. Employees will need to use their EAD username and password to log into Cornerstone. The compliance training assignment will be in the “Training in Progress” or the “Your Assigned Training” box located on the “Welcome” page. If the assignment is not listed, employees can hover over the “Learning” tab and select “View Your Transcript.” The compliance training curriculum will be listed on your transcript.
For questions or concerns regarding the annual policy acknowledgement and compliance training, please contact Policy and Compliance at HCMcompliance@dallasisd.org or (972) 794-7858.
A change in the workflow process when submitting requisitions will shorten the turnaround time to issue purchase orders.
Currently, once a department or school submits a requisition so that a purchase order can be issued, if additional information is needed by the buyer in the Procurement Department, the requisition would be rejected and the process would have to be repeated.
To enable this process, requisitions should be submitted as a Non-Catalog Request in iProcurement. Before submitting, the Simplified PO box should be checked. Once this is done, if the buyer has any questions, the process is halted. When the information is received, the process is activated again and the purchase order can be issued without having to resubmit the request. Requisitions will only go through the approval process once, even if returned for additional information.
Application and Training is conducting Oracle training and will be able to provide guidance on how to submit Non-Catalog Request in iProcurement. Please reach out to that department if there are questions.
“It’s a smoother process and a quicker turnaround time because Procurement is involved only once,” said Candace Yarbough, contracts director in Procurement Services.