Dallas ISD Trustees Approve Partnership To Aid Homeless Students

It was quite possibly the shortest school board meeting Dallas ISD has had in quite some time, and some board members were nearly giddy.

“I would just like to point out that it’s 7:45,” said trustee Dustin Marshall, right before board president Dan Micciche gaveled the meeting to a close.

In an often fractious board, that bonhomie was due in large part to an 8-0 vote to approve a collaborative effort called After8ToEducate, which will provide a groundbreaking shelter and drop-in center for Dallas ISD students who are homeless.

The partnership will include the district and nonprofits Promise House and CitySquare. Social Venture Partners Dallas is another partner.

“This is truly, in my opinion, a model for public-private partnership,” Marshall said. He said he hopes that it spurs something that can be replicated in other districts.

Trustee Lew Blackburn said that he hoped the district could go one step further, and help provide a path out of homelessness for students. “I hope that we will find ways to help those students with job skills, with employment,” he said.

Trustee Audrey Pinkerton said that a Dallas ISD report about the homeless student population – which is estimated to be anywhere from 3,000 students to 6,500 students – spurred the board to action.

She praised colleague Bernadette Nutall. “I began talking to (city councilman) Mark Clayton,” she said. “But Trustee Nutall went one step further and began talking to nonprofits.”

Pinkerton said the two partners the district needs the most have not yet signed on as partners – the City of Dallas and Dallas County.

“The school district cannot do this alone,” Pinkerton said, adding that she is hopeful that more partnerships will be forged in this collaboration.

“We’re calling you out city and county, so come on all over to the good side,” Nutall said.

Nutall was effusive in her praise for district staff and for her fellow trustees for working as a team to address the needs of the district’s most vulnerable.

“This is my most memorable board moment,” Nutall said, beaming. “That we’re all sitting at the table together on this one issue. I want to thank my colleagues for supporting this.”

“Today we put children first.”

“We can talk all day, and have every poverty report and homeless report, but until we start putting action to our words, they’re just words,” Nutall continued. “I’m glad that these nonprofits are all saying, ‘You know what, we’re not gonna talk about it anymore, we’re gonna be about it.’”

For now, the effort will make use of Fannie C. Harris Elementary, a currently closed campus near Fair Park, which will become a shelter for homeless 14- to 21-year-old students. At first, it will have 35 beds, and will also offer support services, education services, and will also be a round-the-clock drop-in center for other homeless students.

Students will be able to get academic counseling, job placement services, and a hot meal, clean clothing, and even do laundry and take a shower.

The beds will be for students who do not live with parents or guardians. Current district numbers have about 112 high schoolers living in cars, parks, campgrounds or abandoned buildings.

According to the agreement approved by trustees last night, the district will pay no more than $135,000 per year to After8ToEducate and will provide the building and pay for utilities, cleaning services and security for the first seven years. The agreement could be extended twice, for five years each.

The center is slated to open in a year. After8ToEducate will begin the task of raising $2 million for renovations, and then another $2 million each year to pay for services offered at the shelter.

In other news:

Parents are encouraged to take a look at the proposed calendars for the next two years before the board finalizes them.  For the 2018-2019 school year, the first day of school is Aug. 20, and the last day is May 29. Thanksgiving break will be Nov. 19-23, and Winter break is Dec. 21, 2018-Jan. 4, 2019. Spring break will be March 11-15.

Feedback can be provided (and the calendars can be seen) here.