Photo courtesy of Dallas ISD
Hello, District 7,
I hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful and rainy spring in Dallas. This month, the Dallas ISD school board has been busy, and you can find what we’ve been up to summarized below.
Dallas ISD District 7 monthly updates:
Teacher retention and salary at the highest levels in the region:
Dallas ISD is leading the region in both teacher retention and teacher salaries across all experience levels, a remarkable turnaround from where the district stood more than a decade ago. This year, the average teacher salary in Dallas ISD exceeds $70,000. The district’s teacher turnover rate is more than two percentage points lower than the regional average and over four percentage points lower than the state average.
W.H. Adamson High School’s JROTC program legacy going strong: Adamson’s JROTC has more than a 100-year legacy and is still going strong. It received a feature in Dallas ISD’s online newspaper available at the link above.
Pre-K enrollment is now open: Do you have a 3- or 4-year-old child? Dallas ISD pre-K enrollment is now open. Click the link above to explore options and sign up today.
Bond Progress Updates:
- Old W. H. Adamson High School building – new update: Dallas ISD is scheduled to have a first discussion with the Landmark Commission regarding the old Adamson building on May 5. This first meeting will be a cursory review and first discussion. No decisions will be made at this time.
April Board Meeting debrief: This month, Dallas ISD had its regular board briefing and meeting. I’ve chosen to highlight a few critical items below:
- Dallas ISD priority setting update: Dallas ISD approved broad language for our priorities – our student outcome goals and our community values (constraints). Overall, there have been a number of major improvements from the last cycle, namely (1) inclusion of habits of mind, (2) adding a financial literacy component to our goals, and (3) ensuring a higher bar of rigor related to college and career readiness.
- Leila P. Cowart and James Bowie elementary school renovations: I’m proud to support the passage of more than $13 million for renovations for these District seven elementary schools to receive some much-needed updates.
Ben Mackey
As always, please reach out to me if you have thoughts, ideas, questions, concerns, or simply want to say hello. Just reach out to me at BenMackey@dallasisd.org
Best,
Ben Mackey
