Photo courtesy of Dallas ISD

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While school might be out, the Board of Trustees continued working. You can find all the new updates below:

Dallas ISD & District 7 monthly updates

Dallas ISD budget adoption: The major item was the adoption of our 2024-2025 budget for next year. I wrote the linked opinion piece for the Dallas Morning News in May, detailing why adopting this budget and investing in our district is a necessity.

  • Dallas ISD adopted the lowest, legally allowable tax rate.
  • Transitioned smoothly off federal funding provided through the pandemic, including making more than $400 million in spending reductions compared to the previous year.
  • Increased minimum wage to $16.50 which continues to lead the region.
  • Providing approximately $34 million in compensation increases to our educators and other team members across the district, which should result in an average teacher salary of more than $70,000 next year.

30 years of dedication to Sunset High School: Two amazing Sunset High School English teachers—Valarie Nichols and Stephanie Blankenship—were profiled this month as they reach their 30th anniversary of teaching at Sunset. We are so thankful to both Valarie and Stephanie for their extraordinary service and impact on their students and our wider community.

New trustees join the board: This month, we had two new trustees join our Dallas ISD school board. Lance Currie was elected to replace outgoing District 1 Trustee Edwin Flores and Ed Turner was elected to replace outgoing District 9 Trustee Justin Henry.

Dallas ISD teacher speaks on curriculum: Last month, Dallas ISD fifth-grade teacher Ana Fernandez published an OpEd in the Dallas Morning News sharing her experience with the district’s new curriculum. This year, Dallas ISD made the decision to roll out a baseline curriculum across the district in English and Math that ensures rigorous and challenging material.

 Construction Updates: 

  • Old Adamson High School: The district has completed its second opinion and begun to explore and compile options for the Old Adamson building. I have asked them to host a meeting with the Old Adamson alumni and community, which I will schedule in the coming weeks.

Upcoming Events:  

  • 11:30 a.m., Thursday, June 13: Dallas ISD Board Briefing
  • 6 p.m., Thursday, June 27th: Dallas ISD Board Meeting

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, just reach out to me at BenMackey@dallasisd.org 

Best,
Ben Mackey