Proposed Dallas ISD Policy Change Revs Up Rumor Mill

Adjourning by 8:30 p.m., November’s Dallas ISD school board meeting Thursday could’ve been a lot longer if a proposed policy change had not been pulled from the agenda.

Social media (if you knew where to look) has been on fire recently with rumors that Lincoln and Madison high schools were facing closure. The idea that these closures are possible, it seems, stems from a proposed change to a district policy that governs the procedure the district takes to close a school.

The current policy requires a School Utilization Task Force to review issues regarding the current and future use of district facilities. The task force is made up of appointees by each trustee and the superintendent, and would take into consideration input from various groups including PTAs, site-based decision committees, district personnel, parents, and students.

The policy also currently outlines a procedure for public hearings.

The changes, which were sponsored by Dallas ISD trustee Edwin Flores, would nix the task force and public hearings for a formula-based system that would calculate how equitably district resources were being allocated.

While no schools have been named, and the proposal isn’t even policy, the word quickly shifted from “could be” to “my school is definitely being closed.”

A Lincoln High student took her allotted three minutes during the public comment portion of the meeting to beg for her school’s life.

“My school is on the verge of being shut down,” she said, adding that 55 percent of her schoolmates walk to school because they can’t afford other means of transportation, nor can their parents.

“How will we get to school if you close ours down?” she asked.

“You can’t judge us by our zip code,” she said. “We want to stay where we are. Our grades do not define us. I ask of you, please don’t shut down my school.”

“It means more than just a school to me — they are my family.”

There are schools at risk of closure in the district — but Madison and Lincoln are not among them. Although both are listed as Improvement Required, neither school has reached the threshold that would trigger that demand from the Texas Education Agency.

Currently, C.F. Carr Elementary, Thomas Edison Middle School, Edward Titche Elementary, and J.W. Ray Elementary are close to that threshold. Carr, Edison, and Titche are in year five on the IR list, and Ray is at year four.

Madison and Lincoln are at years two and one, respectively.

The proposed educational equity formula would be made up of the school’s financial sustainability score (60 percent), the school performance framework score (30 percent), and the facility condition index (10 percent).

After Dallas city councilman Casey Thomas asked about the rumored closure of Lincoln High on Facebook, a robust discussion erupted that included two trustees — board president Dan Micciche and trustee Bernadette Nutall, whose district includes the two schools.

“The Dallas ISD administration is NOT proposing and the Dallas ISD school board is NOT considering closing Lincoln High School,” Micciche said. “I do not know where this rumor started, but it is not true.”

Nutall pointed everyone to the proposed changes, which were found in the Nov. 2 board briefing documents.

“One of the changes proposed…. Every October, the District shall publish an educational equity list, which shall be based on the following educational equity formula: 60 percent financial sustainability score, 30 percent school performance framework score, and 10 percent facilities condition index,” Nutall wrote. “The District will develop an annual proposed School closing and consolidation plan for discussion and approval by the Board of Trustee.”

After several comments by Micciche reiterating that the board is not entertaining closing either school, Nutall agreed, but with a qualifier.

“The board is not considering closing Lincoln or Madison today or tomorrow,” she said. “However with the policy changes it could happen in the near future.”

After another commenter insisted there was a three-year plan to close the schools, Micciche again said, “The Dallas ISD administration is NOT proposing and the Dallas ISD school board is NOT considering closing Lincoln High School or The Great James Madison High School. And there is no three-year plan to close them.”

Nutall was having none of it. “READ the policy CT Local proposed by Trustee Flores to see how he wants the board to start closing or consolidating schools,” she responded. “Dan, if this policy passes in the current form presented to us, please tell us which schools would close October 2018, October 2019, and October 2020?”

“Also, please explain the formula Trustee Flores wants to use to decide how we close schools and do you think this is a fair policy?” she added.

Micciche referred Nutall to the video of the board briefing from Nov. 2.

“I am not going to have a Facebook debate with you,” he said. “The administration is not proposing and the board is not considering closing Lincoln High School.”

“I want people to know the WHOLE TRUTH about the proposed policy,” Nutall responded, adding that she was at the meeting. “No, we are not closing Lincoln or Madison High school today or tomorrow!”

“Dan, if the proposed policy by Trustee Flores passes in the current form, it’s just a matter of time in the very near future,” she said. “As president you decide what goes and comes off the agenda!”

The conversation went back and forth for several comments, with Micciche referring Nutall to the board briefing video.

“Dan, you are missing the point,” Nutall insisted. “We know Lincoln and Madison were not discussed for closing at the board meeting.”

“However, the board and the administration is discussing a policy on how we close schools and Madison, North Dallas, SOC, Pinkston, Lincoln and Roosevelt just to name a few are at the bottom.”

Nutall added that she was worried that once the policy changes were in place, it would be hard to change it.

“We can’t continue to let things happen to us we have to make things happen for us,” she said. “Most people plan for short term and long term.”

“This is a bad policy and it is not written with students and OUR community in mind,” Nutall said.” We have to be proactive and not always reactive.

Nutall is holding a community meeting to discuss the policy on Nov. 27 at 5:30 p.m. at Lincoln High.

In Other News

Dallas ISD superintendent Michael Hinojosa and Micciche both talked about how Mount Auburn Elementary dropped off the IR list after winning its appeal.

“Mount Auburn was successful in its appeal with the Texas Education Agency and is out of IR status, and that drops the number to 13,” Hinojosa said in his report to the board.

Micciche pointed out that in 2013-2014, Dallas had 43 schools on IR. In 2014-2015 it was 37, in 2015-2016 it was 21, and with the successful appeal of Mount Auburn, the district is down to 13 schools out of 230.

“This is just an amazing job … no other district has been able to do that,” he said. “We do that with the highest poverty level in North Texas, and the highest percentage of English Language Learners.”