This week, a couple dozen high-schoolers have been honing their design skills, trying to create the perfect plan for a social space adjacent to a community garden planned for a patch of land along Good-Latimer. Various plans for the space, just south of Canton Street, include a serpent that is…
We went over this last year: Despite the fact the Dallas Independent School District board was just given a presentation on preliminary TAKS scores for the school year that just wrapped, the Texas Education Agency won’t formally release its 2011 Accountability Ratings till July 29. That said, there are some…
The Dallas Independent School District board was just told it’s “still in limbo” when it comes to the exact dollar figure it can expect in cuts from the state Legislature, though something could land on Gov. Rick Perry’s desk as early as late next week. Right now, Senate Bill 1…
School’s out, but not for the Dallas Independent School District’s trustees, who’re meeting at this very moment (behind closed doors) before they look at two versions of the 2011-’12 budget — what they’re calling versions 5.1 and 6.0, which follow the iteration presented to the board on May 26 that…
Last night in Austin, state Rep. Sid Miller laid out a novel solution for Texas’s troubled school budget: the Taxpayer Savings Grants Program, a reward of nearly $5,000 for any parents who’ll do us all a solid and take their kids out of public school. Under Miller’s plan, parents would…
Following their acceptance of superintendent Michael Hinojosa’s resignation, the Dallas Independent School District board unanimously selected current district CFO Alan King — who’s all of six month into his job — as the interim superintendent. “He’s done a great job … and I’m looking forward to him doing an even…
Leslie’s at the Dallas Independent School District board meeting at this very moment, where the trustees will more than likely announce who will temporarily take Michael Hinojosa’s place now that he’s off to become a Georgia peach. Shocking — they’re in closed session. Ah, but speaking of: The district just…
Dallas Independent School District trustees once more spent most of Friday afternoon and evening rating and debating the five interim superintendent candidates. But, once more, they retreated to exec session and opted to run out the clock till Michael Hinojosa was officially offered the top job in Cobb County, Georgia…
ight now, DISD trustees are meeting once again in closed session (Leslie drew the short straw on this one) to discuss their pick for an interim superintendent once Michael Hinojosa exhales his first fresh breaths in Cobb County.All the discussions of particular candidates have taken place behind closed doors — giving…
Turns out, the Dallas Independent School District’s decision to take away teachers’ collaborative planning time — a very reluctant budget cut — has necessitated a change to schools’ start times next year, which begins August 22. So here’s the deal: School’s starting just a little bit later next year, which…
At this very moment, Nolan Estes is at his home in Austin filling out a questionnaire sent to the handful of finalists for the position of interim Dallas Independent School District superintendent. It was dispatched to him by DISD board president Lew Blackburn, who, Estes says, called him yesterday and…
A fellow Dallas Independent School District parent, who recalls Tuesday’s sparring match between Carla Ranger and newly installed board president Lew Blackburn, suggests I take another look at the prolific Ranger’s blog. That’s because, moments ago, she posted yet another item about the interim superintendent debate — this one suggesting…
As Patrick noted Tuesday, the Dallas Independent School District’s board of trustees has narrowed down its short list of interim superintendents and hopes to name Michael Hinojosa’s temporary replacement by no later than Monday. And while newly installed board president Lew Blackburn won’t say who’s on that list of four…
Brand-new Dallas Independent School District board president Lew Blackburn emerged from executive session this afternoon to announce the trustees have narrowed their list of interim superintendent candidates to “four or five,” and should be ready to name their pick by Monday. Blackburn, who took over the board presidency just last…
Over the weekend, The Marietta Daily Journal pointed out that somewhere on the Cobb County School District’s website is an interview with Michael Hinojosa that’s supposed to be distributed district-wide on Wednesday. The chitchat, shot with Cobb County’s spokesman during the outgoing Dallas ISD super’s visit to Georgia last week,…
Late last night, the Startlegram’s Bud Kennedy took to Facebook to pass along state Sen. Wendy Davis’s heads-up that she was about to begin her filibuster intended to shut down (which is to say, temporarily delay) the vote that would have gutted public education. Said the Fort Worth Democrat and…
At some point this evening, the Dallas Independent School District board of trustees will elect new officers. Among the front-runners for president is Lew Blackburn, which may explain why Carla Ranger took to her blog earlier today to throw Blackburn under the bus.You see, there’s no love lost between the…
As promised earlier today, on the other side you will find the entirety of the Dallas Independent School District’s proposed budget for the 2011-’12 school year, which was just released. And though it’s still rife with cuts (“Staff has been reduced by 1,679 employees in this budget. These reductions have…
After the jump you’ll find two things of note: the proposed 2011-’12 school year staffing formulas that could be voted on by the Dallas Independent School District trustees at their 5:30 p.m. board meeting today, and a music video featuring a young pianist and singer named Cameron Ordinario. He’s a…
Whoever set the table before last night’s DISD board meeting had to be kicking themselves once the trustees got started, with dead-serious Carla Ranger yet again calling for soon-to-be-ex-Superintendent Michael Hinojosa’s immediate removal, saying an interim replacement would be a waste of money, and wondering in veiled terms about other…
Patrick Michels will be at that 5:30 p.m. meeting at 3700 Ross today, where the Dallas Independent School District’s board of trustees will discuss naming an interim superintendent now that Michael Hinojosa’s all but boarded that midnight train to Georgia. Or: You can always watch it live — no doubt…
Michael Hinojosa is in Georgia today for a 4:30 p.m. meet-n-greet with the citizenry of Cobb County, most of whom appear happy to be taking the Dallas Independent School District super’s off Dallas’s hands. Twenty-five hours later, the DISD board will meet for the first time since Hinojosa’s almost-adios for…
