DISD Offers a Sneak Preview of What's to Come (and Who's to Go)

Sometime in the last couple of days, the Dallas Independent School District added to its Web site a "Dallas ISD Finances" page, where it lays out those pesky frequently asked questions (as in, "How did the figure rise from $64 million to $84 million?") and offers answers, more or less,...

By Robert Wilonsky

September 24, 2008

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Sometime in the last couple of days, the Dallas Independent School District added to its Web site a "Dallas ISD Finances" page, where it lays out those pesky frequently asked questions (as in, "How did the figure rise from $64 million to $84 million?") and offers answers, more or less, concerning its budget shortfall. One day before the DISD board of trustees meets again -- "to discuss possible alternatives and options" to layoffs, says the site -- it might be a good idea to visit the site, if only to get some idea how district officials are approaching the inevitable reduction in force. (Also worth a peek: its campus-staffing standards.) But those guesstimating that the district will shed three teachers per campus appear to be close to correct: "The administration has calculated that, on average, campuses throughout the district are overstaffed by nearly three employees." --Robert Wilonsky

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