Trustee Mackey: Happy New Year, District 7

Dallas ISD is holding its in-person STEM EXPO on Feb. 4, 2023.

Here’s wishing you a happy and productive new year! Below you’ll find a summary of what’s been happening in Dallas ISD:

Dallas ISD District 7 Monthly Updates

Rosemont Celebrates its 100th Anniversary: Rosemont Elementary recently celebrated its 100th birthday! This school has been a pillar of the community since its inception and currently serves prekindergarten through 8th grade. Congratulations to the staff, students, families, and community of Rosemont past and present on all the successes that Rosemont has had and will continue to have over the next 100 years.

Dallas ISD Awarded $7.3 million for Electric Buses: Dallas ISD was chosen by the EPA to receive more than $7 million to purchase 25 new, electric school buses. This grant will also support the building of the infrastructure to support electric vehicles. Two years ago, Dallas ISD adopted a comprehensive sustainability plan, part of which was the goal of moving toward a carbon-neutral bus fleet. This grant gets us off to a strong start in achieving that goal.

Teacher Retention & Compensation: Nationwide, many people are talking about teacher shortages and retention issues. Recently, Dallas ISD shared information on its teacher retention and compensation system, and I am proud to highlight some of the incredible results:

The district started the school year with only a 1% vacancy rate. This is outstanding in the face of nationwide challenges relating to staffing and retention.
Since the inception of our teacher evaluation & compensation system (TEI), the average teacher salary has grown from $53,140 to $68,086, a nearly 30% increase.
Since TEI was implemented, the teacher turnover rate in Dallas ISD has fallen from 21.9% in 2013-14 to 13.8%, according to the most recent data – falling below state and regional averages for the first time in decades.

STEM Expo Coming Up

Dallas ISD is holding its in-person STEM EXPO on Feb. 4, 2023. The event, the largest STEM Expo in Texas, is a chance for students and families to explore, design, and create real-world STEM activities. The expo offers more than 130 hands-on exhibits and serves as the culmination event for our district STEM championships. For more information and to register, visit www.dallasisd.org/stem.

As always, if you have questions, thoughts or simply want to sit down and have a conversation about anything Dallas ISD-related, I am always willing to chat or set up a Zoom. Just reach out to me at BenMackey@dallasisd.org.

Best,

Ben Mackey

As always, if you have questions, thoughts or simply want to sit down and have a deeper conversation about anything Dallas ISD-related, I am always willing to grab a coffee and chat or set up a Zoom. Just reach out to me at BenMackey@dallasisd.org.