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…
How about some good news for the Dallas Independent School District? That would come from today’s online edition of The Washington Post, where longtime education columnist Jay Mathews ranks more than 1,900 public high schools across the U.S. — the first time he’s done so for the paper, after 13…
Left a few messages for Dallas Independent School District board trustee Carla Ranger yesterday, but never heard back. No matter — she’s always got her blog. And there, this morning, she has posted a rather straight-forward item headlined “Trustees should remove Superintendent Hinojosa immediately for bad faith.” Because Ranger, like…
Moments ago, the Cobb County School District outside of Atlanta, Georgia, named Michael Hinojosa as its superintendent. He was, as expected, its sole finalist — but as per school district policy there, they will wait 14 days before officially naming him the superintendent.All seven members of its board of education…
It would now appear all but certain Dallas Independent School District Michael Hinojosa is out the door, joining his Fort Worth counterpart Melody Johnson, who surprised her board today with a resignation letter of her own. We’ll know for sure soon enough. Watch it live, after the jump. If you…
Down below, Dallas Independent School District trustee Bruce Parrott says he wants to know “how does the business community feel” about Superintendent Michael Hinojosa’s more-than-likely departure for the top job in Cobb County, Georgia. (The Atlanta Journal Constitution is now reporting that “Dallas school chief Michael Hinojosa is reportedly going…
Shortly after The News broke the news that Dallas Independent School District Michael Hinojosa is a finalist — perhaps the sole finalist — for the top job at the Cobb County School District outside of Atlanta, I asked DISD spokesman Jon Dahlander if there would be a statement forthcoming. His…
Yesterday we took a look at the latest version of the Dallas Independent School District’s budget reduction plan, as necessitated by the state Legislature’s decision to gut public education in the wake of its $27-billion (give or take) shortfall. After the board briefing, Superintendent Michael Hinojosa went in front of…
Many good Friends of Unfair Park have forwarded me the clip you see above, which District 103’s state rep, Rafael Anchía, posted to YouTube last night. In it, the Haynes and Boone attorney and former Dallas ISD school board trustee argues against the passage of Carrollton state Rep. Burt Solomons’s…
It’s been a long, contentious meeting of the Dallas Independent School District board of trustees, and we just got to the latest budget update. First, Carla Ranger wanted to know why Bernadette Nutall, with Superintendent Michael Hinojosa’s OK, halted construction at a handful of South Dallas schools. Nutall said it…
