Dallas Independent School District’s Board of Trustees was roundly criticized by disaffected DISD employees, parents, and community members at a meeting on Thursday evening.
Official trustee business started with the swearing-in of Trustee Joe Carreón, who ran unopposed this election cycle.
Following a closed session, Superintendent Stephanie Elizalde gave her superintendent’s report to the trustees, during which she lambasted state lawmakers for advancing school choice legislation.
“On Tuesday, the Senate passed a bill that would give Texas families $8,000 per child to send their child to private school, even if that child is already in and attending private school. That’s not a choice anymore. That’s a subsidy,” Elizalde said.
“By contrast, the state pays public schools $6,160 per student right now to educate that child. I kind of find it upsetting that the Texas Senate would pay people more to take their kids out of public schools than it pays to educate them in our own schools,” she added.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, statewide enrollment trends suggest that parents have been increasingly opting to ditch public schools in favor of private schools, homeschooling, and charters.
“Traditional K-12 schools are hemorrhaging enrollment due to growing concerns over content, quality, and the politicization of the classroom,” claimed James Quintero of the Texas Public Policy Foundation in a previous statement to The Dallas Express.
Elizalde went on to suggest that so much taxpayer money would be funneled to private schools that it would pose serious budget issues for traditional public schools.
“[It would prevent] meaningful [pay] increases to any of our team members in public schools, from custodians to counselors, and of course teachers,” Elizalde claimed.
The public comment component of the meeting followed, and a number of DISD residents and employees voiced their frustrations with the district over issues ranging from transparency and mismanagement to employee pay and DISD’s alleged culture of retaliation.
Several parents whose children attend Rosemont Upper and Lower Campus School spoke out about how the alleged mismanagement of a campus renovation project has left parents angry at the possibility that many of their children would be uprooted and bused to another campus for the remaining duration of construction.
“There’s been very much a lack of transparency, a lack of communication to our parents … about what they are going to do,” said April Hernandez.
Jessica Andrews issued a scathing appraisal of the situation, noting that many of the children at the school are only just now getting back into the groove of a regular school year following COVID-19. Now students face disruption again, she claimed.
“This construction project was mishandled,” Andrews said. “We are shouldering the burden for the district, so they can supposedly finish the project more quickly. It’s like we’re being asked to vacate our homes and move into a motel for an amount of time, one and a half years. … We don’t want to let go of the peace of mind and convenience that comes from remaining in our neighborhood school.”
She added that parents at the school feel disregarded, and some are already seeking educational alternatives for their children.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, DISD has had a troubled history in its capital improvement and procurement departments, with longstanding allegations of waste and potential fraud connected to district construction projects.
More Rosemont parents and community members spoke about the construction issue, but there were also teachers and staff members that charged the district with bullying employees.
Linda Barrett, who works in transportation for the district, accused the district of ignoring repeated complaints about management retaliating against bus drivers and staff in the department.
“You should not be penalized for bringing up issues. To that point, they have talked about even trying to remove me from my service center because I brought up issues. … I would like for you to pay attention to what’s been going on in the transportation department because no one should be dehumanized [and] treated like that,” Barrett claimed.
School bus driver Anthony Peterson also piled on, accusing executives in the department of hiring unqualified friends and family to work as managers in the department.
“Many transportation managers lack the professional logistics skills and professional ethical skills to lead large groups of transportation workers. … It weakens [the system] hiring and tolerating unqualified managers, including area directors with high school diplomas with salaries better than $100,000 per year,” Peterson alleged.
At one point during public comment, Robert Ceccarelli, a former teacher who has struggled to secure permanent housing, took to the podium and referred to The Dallas Express’ Bad Apple of the Quarter series.
“If you can … get your phone, I want you to Google: Bad Apple, Dallas Express, Bad Apple, Dallas Express, Bad Apple, Dallas Express,” said Ceccarelli. “It’s about [Trustee Justin Henry] and how he’s failing 10,000 students in District 9. Seventeen schools either got a D or F in student achievement.”
DISD has struggled academically for years, with its most recent Texas Education Agency accountability report indicating that only 81.1% of its Class of 2022 graduated on time. Additionally, only 41% of students scored at grade level on their STAAR exams that school year.
