Dallas Independent School District
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Dallas Independent School District (Dallas ISD or DISD) is a
school district A school district is a special-purpose district that operates local public primary and secondary schools in various nations. North America United States In the U.S, most K–12 public schools function as units of local school districts, wh ...
based in
Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
,
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
(
USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
). It operates schools in much of
Dallas County Dallas County may refer to: Places in the USA: * Dallas County, Alabama, founded in 1818, the first county in the United States by that name * Dallas County, Arkansas * Dallas County, Iowa * Dallas County, Missouri * Dallas County, Texas, the nin ...
and is the second-largest school district in Texas and the seventeenth-largest in the United States. It is also known as Dallas Public Schools (DPS). As of 2017, the school district was rated " as having met the standard" by the
Texas Education Agency The Texas Education Agency (TEA) is the branch of the government of Texas responsible for public education in Texas in the United States.
.


History


1800s

The Dallas public school district in its current form was first established in Dallas in 1884, although there is evidence that public schools had existed for Dallas prior to that date.Walter J. E. Schiebel, Ed.D. (1966) ''Education in Dallas: Ninety-two years of history 1874–1966''. Dallas: Dallas Independent School District. Mayor
W. L. Cabell ordered just one month after the June 16, 1884, district founding that "all former Ordinances in relation to the city public school are hereby repealed," and the district's 1884–85 superintendent, a Mr. Boles, had enrollment figures for each year from 1880 through his own tenure;Scheibel, page 1; a table indicates that 1880 had 1,218 students enrolled; 1881, 1,351 students; 1882, 1,453 students; 1883, 1,760 students; 1884, 2,537 students; and 1885, 3,204 students. The Dallas Directory of 1873 expressed regret that "there are no public schools in Dallas," while the 1875 Directory said that "the schools are near perfection."Scheibel, page 1. The 1884 organizational meeting coincides with changes in statewide education law establishing a system of school districts, each to be assigned its own number, with the ability to levy taxes and raise funds as well as to determine the length of school terms and other educational decisions. The state superintendent of schools, Benjamin M. Baker, praised the new law's abandonment of tying teachers' salaries to the number of pupils attending, a practice he called "a relic of barbarism."Schiebel, page 3. By 1884, six schools were operating. Four were designated for "whites" and two for "colored/black",Schiebel, page 10. as
school segregation School segregation is the division of people into different groups in the education system by characteristics such as race, religion, or ethnicity. See also *''D.H. and Others v. the Czech Republic'' *School segregation in the United States *Single- ...
was the legal policy in Texas at the time. Booker T. Washington High School is one of these original schools, beginning as "Colored School No. 2" in 1884 and adopting its later name in 1902.Schiebel, pages 11–12.


School District Expansion

Dallas ISD has annexed many schools and school districts throughout its history: * 1920: Lagow Independent School,Schiebel, pages 253–256. a one-room school attended only by the Lagow children and one other family; a
quitclaim deed Generally, a quitclaim is a formal renunciation of a legal claim against some other person, or of a right to land. A person who quitclaims renounces or relinquishes a claim to some legal right, or transfers a legal interest in land. Originally a c ...
signed by the Lagow heirs and the property soldSchiebel, page 56. * 1922: Maple Lawn ISD * 1926: Irwindell ISD * 1927: Greenland Hills Territory; Gould School District, a one-teacher school; West Dallas ISD * 1928: Lisbon School District; Bluff View Estates; Love Field;
Cockrell Hill Cockrell Hill is a city in Dallas County, Texas, United States. The population was 4,193 at the 2010 census, and 3,815 in 2020. It is completely surrounded by the city of Dallas. History Cockrell Hill was established by the pioneer Brentwood A ...
School District; Eagle Ford Common School District; Beeman Common School District; Fair Grounds Common School District;
Arcadia Park Shale The Arcadia Park Shale is a geologic formation within the Eagle Ford Group that outcrops in the northern portion of East Texas. It was deposited during the Middle to Late Turonian of the Late Cretaceous.Denne, R. A., Breyer, J. A., Callender, A. ...
; Bonnie View Common School District; Cement City ISD * 1929: Floyd Common School District #60 * 1937: Vickery Common School District * 1945: Bayles Common School District #59; Reinhardt Common School District; Pleasant Mound ISD; Vickery ISD * 1946: Walnut Hill Common School District #79; Letot Common School District #7 * 1948: Vickery Independent School District (adding
Vickery Meadows Vickery Meadow is an ethnically-diverse neighborhood consisting almost exclusively of apartment complexes in Northeast Dallas, Texas, United States. The Vickery Midtown Public Improvement District states the neighborhood is bounded by Northwest H ...
) * 1949: Parts of the
Lake Highlands Lake Highlands is a neighborhood constituting most of Northeast Dallas. The neighborhood is a collection of dozens of subdivisions served by Richardson ISD and Dallas ISD public schools, as well as an array of private schools. Geography Overview ...
area, from
Richardson ISD Richardson Independent School District (RISD) is a school district based in Richardson, Texas (USA). RISD covers and serves the city of Richardson and portions of the cities of Dallas and Garland (60 percent of RISD is in North Dallas, with 3 ...
* 1952: Scyene Common School District; Union Bower School District #50 * 1954:
Farmers Branch Farmers Branch, officially the City of Farmers Branch, is a city in Dallas County, Texas, United States. It is an inner-ring suburb of Dallas and is part of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Its population was 28,616 at the 2010 census. Known ...
ISD;
Addison Addison may refer to: Places Canada * Addison, Ontario United States *Addison, Alabama *Addison, Illinois *Addison Street in Chicago, Illinois which runs by Wrigley Field * Addison, Kentucky *Addison, Maine *Addison, Michigan *Addison, New York ...
ISD; Wheatland Common School District; and territory from
Mesquite ISD The Mesquite Independent School District is a school district in Mesquite, Texas, Mesquite, Texas (United States, USA) (incorporating most of Mesquite and portions of Balch Springs, Texas, Balch Springs, Dallas, Texas, Dallas, Garland, Texas, Ga ...
* 1954: Pleasant Grove ISD was annexed in 1954 (adding Pleasant Grove) * 1954: Pleasant Grove High School was replaced by Samuell High School * 1959: Territory from Lancaster ISD; Rylie ISD; territory from Grand Prairie ISD * 1960: Buckner ISD * 1963: Parts of Garland ISD * 1965: Seagoville ISD of Seagoville The school system expanded from offering 11 grades to a modern 12-year program as of 1941. Initially, the change was resisted by families who felt the additional year would be too expensive, though others promoted the addition of a further year of athletics and some anticipated an ability for gifted students to finish the 12-year program in as little as 10.5 years, although that hope did not prove a reality.Schiebel, page 130. The period from 1946 to 1966 saw construction of schools, with 97 of the district's school buildings erected during this period, at a peak of 17 schools in 1956 alone.Schiebel, pages 132-133.


Desegregation

School desegregation School integration in the United States is the process (also known as desegregation) of ending race-based segregation within American public and private schools. Racial segregation in schools existed throughout most of American history and rema ...
in Texas did not begin for nearly six years after the
United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
made its May 17, 1954, ''
Brown v. Board of Education ''Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka'', 347 U.S. 483 (1954), was a landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the segrega ...
'' decision, nullifying the previous doctrine of "
separate but equal Separate but equal was a legal doctrine in United States constitutional law, according to which racial segregation did not necessarily violate the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which nominally guaranteed "equal protec ...
" public facilities. The Dallas school board commissioned studies over the next several months, deciding in August 1956, that desegregation was premature and that the segregated system would stay in place for 1956–57.Schiebel, page 160. In 1957, Texas passed legislation requiring that districts ''not'' integrate their schools unless district residents voted to approve the change. An August 1960, election for this purpose ended with voters rejecting desegregation. Meanwhile, a lawsuit was filed by the district against the state superintendent on August 13, 1958, with the goal of a resolution of conflicts between federal and state courts on the subject of integration. In 1960, the district initially adopted a plan to desegregate grade by grade, starting with the 1961 first-grade class, and proceed year by year until desegregation had been achieved. The plan was amended only weeks later to provide for movement of students at parent request. On September 1, 1965, the elementary schools were ordered to be desegregated, initially to be followed by the junior high schools in 1966 and the senior high schools in 1967; however, the Fifth Circuit United States Court issued an order on September 7 that led to amending the ruling so that all twelve grades must be desegregated as of September 1, 1965. A book on the history of DISD published the following year by the school district made the statement, "Desegregation of the Dallas Schools was accomplished in the course of ten short years with a minimum of commotion and stress ... ue tothe patient and sympathetic understanding ... and the flinty determination of the School Board ... to serve the public in their lawfully constituted duty."Schiebel, page 159. In September 1967 Dallas ISD states that its schools were desegregated. However, lawsuits against the district from parents of Black children continued for decades. During one desegregation lawsuit in the 1970s, a judge suggested that students from different schools could interact via television instead of forcing
desegregation busing Race-integration busing in the United States (also known simply as busing, Integrated busing or by its critics as forced busing) was the practice of assigning and transporting students to schools within or outside their local school districts in ...
in the district. The parties filing suit did not like the plan. After the forced busing desegregation, in the 1970s many White American students and families withdrew from district schools ''
en masse Many words in the English vocabulary are of French origin, most coming from the Anglo-Norman spoken by the upper classes in England for several hundred years after the Norman Conquest, before the language settled into what became Modern Engli ...
''. While DISD believed it had complied with the Brown ruling from 1954, Sam Tasby of Love Field disagreed. He had to send his two children several miles to an all-Black school, despite there being an all-White school within walking distance of his house. On October 6, 1970, Tasby filed a lawsuit against DISD claiming that the school district continued to operate a segregated system. Tasby's challenge wound its way through the courts over the next 33 years, eventually getting passed to Judge Barefoot Sanders. After a series of hearings, Judge Sanders found that DISD continued to show signs of segregation and constituted the Desegregation Plan for the Dallas Independent School District. In August 1983, the DISD school board finally ended its fight against court-ordered desegregation by unanimously accepting the Fifth Circuit's upholding of Judge Sander's desegregation plan. From that time on, DISD would remain under Sander’s oversight until he declared it desegregated. On June 2003, 49 years after Brown v Board was decided, Judge Sanders ruled that Dallas ISD was desegregated and no longer subject to his oversight.


1990s and 2000s

In 1996, DISD announced that it would ''en masse'' rezone many areas to different schools. DISD officials said that the rezoning, which would affect over 40 campuses, would be the largest such rezoning since at least the 1950s. In the summer of 2005, the
Texas Education Agency The Texas Education Agency (TEA) is the branch of the government of Texas responsible for public education in Texas in the United States.
(TEA) ordered the Wilmer-Hutchins Independent School District closed for the 2005–2006 school year due to financial stress and reported mismanagement. After negotiations, Dallas ISD agreed to accept the students for the 2005–2006 school year. The Wilmer-Hutchins ISD district was absorbed into Dallas ISD in summer 2006. Dallas ISD opened 11 new campuses in the fall of 2006. The district incorporated the WHISD territory via "Plan K," adopted on November 30, 2006. From 2005 to 2007, several northwest Dallas area public schools under Dallas ISD jurisdiction became infamous due to the outbreak of a Dallas-area
recreational drug Recreational drug use indicates the use of one or more psychoactive drugs to induce an altered state of consciousness either for pleasure or for some other casual purpose or pastime by modifying the perceptions and emotions of the user. When a ...
, a version of
heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a potent opioid mainly used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects. Medical grade diamorphine is used as a pure hydrochloride salt. Various white and brow ...
mixed with
Tylenol PM Tylenol may refer to: * Paracetamol (acetaminophen), a medication used to treat pain and fever * Tylenol (brand) Tylenol () is a brand of medication, advertised for reducing pain, reducing fever, and relieving the symptoms of allergies, cold, ...
, called "
cheese Cheese is a dairy product produced in wide ranges of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats, or sheep. During production, ...
," which led to several deaths of Dallas-area youths. Dallas ISD issued drug dog searches to schools in order to combat the problem. Dallas ISD was reported in April 2008 to have the 7th highest dropout rate of any urban school district in the US.Stutz, Terrence and Tawnell D. Hobbs
Grad rate formula to be uniform:Spellings issues order; dropout rate report puts DISD 7th worst
''
Dallas Morning News ''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885 by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ''Galvesto ...
'', April 2, 2008. Retrieved January 24, 2009
Circa 2012 the district was shutting down some schools in central Dallas which had enrollment declines, while it was building new schools in outlying areas of the district, which had population increases. That year five schools were opening, with most of them in Southeast Dallas and Seagoville. The district planned to close eleven schools in the same year; the income levels in the neighborhoods hosting the closing schools tended to be very low and student populations had consistently declined. Of the nine board members, the vote was six to two in favor of closing with one abstention. By 2016 the district was expanding the use of two-way bilingual programs, with 24 schools of 51 two-way bilingual programs beginning that year. Effective July 1, 2018, four elementary schools originally named for confederate generals were renamed: *
William L. Cabell William Lewis Cabell (January 1, 1827 – February 21, 1911) was an American engineer, lawyer, businessman, and politician who served as the 14th, 16th and 20th mayor of Dallas (1874–1876, 1877–1879 and 1883–1885). Prior to that, he ...
Elementary in Farmers Branch became Chapel Hill Preparatory School *
Stonewall Jackson Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson (January 21, 1824 – May 10, 1863) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War, considered one of the best-known Confederate commanders, after Robert E. Lee. He played a prominent role in nearl ...
Elementary in
Lower Greenville Lower Greenville is a neighborhood in east Dallas, Texas ( USA), west of Lakewood. Specifically, the neighborhood is the area adjacent to Greenville Avenue south of Mercedes Avenue and north of Belmont Avenue. The area south of Belmont Avenue is ...
, Dallas became Mockingbird Elementary *
Albert Sidney Johnston Albert Sidney Johnston (February 2, 1803 – April 6, 1862) served as a general in three different armies: the Texian Army, the United States Army, and the Confederate States Army. He saw extensive combat during his 34-year military career, figh ...
Elementary became Cedar Crest Elementary * Robert E. Lee Elementary in Lower Greenville became Geneva Heights Elementary


COVID-19 Pandemic

During the
COVID-19 pandemic in Texas The COVID-19 pandemic in Texas is a part of the ongoing viral pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a novel infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The state of Texas confirmed its ...
, in 2021 the DISD board voted to require masks, contradicting
Governor of Texas The governor of Texas heads the state government of Texas. The governor is the leader of the executive and legislative branch of the state government and is the commander in chief of the Texas Military. The current governor is Greg Abbott, who ...
Greg Abbott Gregory Wayne Abbott (born November 13, 1957) is an American politician, attorney, and former jurist serving as the 48th governor of Texas since 2015. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 50th Tex ...
's order to disallow school districts in the state from having mask mandates. Despite the
Texas Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Texas (SCOTX) is the court of last resort for civil matters (including juvenile delinquency cases, which are categorized as civil under the Texas Family Code) in the U.S. state of Texas. A different court, the Texas Court of ...
stating that Abbott had the authority to remove mask mandates, Dallas ISD kept its mask mandate in place.


Data Breach

On August 8, 2021, Dallas ISD suffered a data breach affecting the information of students and employees from 2010 to 2021. Data from the 2019-2020 school year indicated that 52 percent of students suspended from the Dallas ISD were African American, and 2.4 percent were white. In response, the district stopped using suspensions as a disciplinary practice in 2021, instead sending suspended students to "reset centers".


Superintendents

A partial list of past DISD superintendents at
Pressreader.com PressReader is a digital newspaper distribution and technology company with headquarters in Vancouver, Canada and offices in Dublin, Ireland and Manila, Philippines. PressReader distributes digital versions of over 7,000 newspapers and magazines ...
, covers Warren T. White until Mike Miles and includes interim superintendents.
- Has detailed dates of superintendents from Chad Wollery to Mike Miles, but does not include people who only served as interim superintendents. * Stephanie Elizalde, July 2022 to present *
Michael Hinojosa Eliu Misael "Michael" Hinojosa (born 1956) was the superintendent for the Dallas Independent School District (DISD) and formerly superintendent of the Cobb County School District. He originated from the Oak Cliff area of Dallas. Career His first ...
, October 2015 to July 2022 * Mike Miles, July 1, 2012 to June 25, 2015 *Alan King (interim) - June 2011 to July 2012 *Michael Hinojosa, May 12, 2005 to June 30, 2011 *Larry Groppel (interim) - September 2004 to May 2005 *
Mike Moses Michael P. Moses is an American aerospace engineer and aerospace industry executive. He was the Space Shuttle program Launch Integration Manager from 2008 until the conclusion of the program in 2011. Moses joined Virgin Galactic in 2011 as vice p ...
, January 1, 2001 to August 31, 2004 *Robert Payton (interim) - July to December 2000 * Waldemar "Bill" Rojas, August 1, 1999 to July 5, 2000 *James H. Hughey, acting from September 24, 1997; appointed superintendent May 1998 to August 1999 *
Yvonne Gonzalez Yvonne Gonzalez is a former school superintendent, serving in that capacity in the Dallas Independent School District (DISD) in 1997 as well as in Santa Fe Public Schools from 1994 to 1996. She also served as interim superintendent of the Houston In ...
, January 9, 1997 to September 17, 1997 *Chad Woolery, December 1, 1993 to August 5, 1996 *Marvin Edwards June 1988 to April 1993 *Otto M. Fridia (interim) - November 1987 to May 1988 *Linus Wright August 1978 to October 1987 *Nolan Estes 1968 to 1978 *Warren T. White 1946 to 1968 The first superintendent of the Dallas school system was W. A. Boles, elected in August 1884.


General information


Headquarters

Its headquarters is 9400 N. Central Expressway in North Dallas. It moved there beginning in 2017. The anticipated date for fully moving in was in January 2018. The previous headquarters, 3700 Ross, is an
Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
building that was built in the 1950s. DISD architectural consultant Mark Lemmon was the designer. Robert Wilonsky in ''
The Dallas Morning News ''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885 by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ''Galvesto ...
'' stated in 2017 that while other buildings around it were changed by
gentrification Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and urban planning, planning. Gentrification ...
, the DISD headquarters was "a rare, defiant survivor". In April 2016, trustees approved a plan to purchase the 9400 NCX office building on Central Expressway in North Dallas. This was done to consolidate various school district offices which had been scattered around the city previously. In the process, school trustees voted in February 2017 to sell various surplus properties; among them, the district's Ross Avenue headquarters complex. Permits were filed by the buyer of the longtime headquarters building, in April 2017, to tear down the complex; this was a cause of concern for local preservationists. In December 2017 Leon Capital Group, the new owner of 3700 Ross, stated it wanted to preserve a part of the building; a five-story luxury apartment complex is being built on the majority of the four-acre site with of the former building preserved. Ultimately that one section of the Ross Street building was preserved with the remainder demolished. Demolition of the Ross Street facility began in December 2017.


Location and area

Dallas ISD covers of land
map
and most of the city of Dallas. The district also serves
Cockrell Hill Cockrell Hill is a city in Dallas County, Texas, United States. The population was 4,193 at the 2010 census, and 3,815 in 2020. It is completely surrounded by the city of Dallas. History Cockrell Hill was established by the pioneer Brentwood A ...
, most of Seagoville and
Addison Addison may refer to: Places Canada * Addison, Ontario United States *Addison, Alabama *Addison, Illinois *Addison Street in Chicago, Illinois which runs by Wrigley Field * Addison, Kentucky *Addison, Maine *Addison, Michigan *Addison, New York ...
, Wilmer, most of Hutchins, and portions of the following cities: * Balch Springs * Carrollton * Combine *
Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
* DeSoto * Duncanville *
Farmers Branch Farmers Branch, officially the City of Farmers Branch, is a city in Dallas County, Texas, United States. It is an inner-ring suburb of Dallas and is part of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Its population was 28,616 at the 2010 census. Known ...
*
Garland A garland is a decorative braid, knot or wreath of flowers, leaves, or other material. Garlands can be worn on the head or around the neck, hung on an inanimate object, or laid in a place of cultural or religious importance. Etymology From the ...
* Highland Park * Lancaster *
Mesquite Mesquite is a common name for several plants in the genus ''Prosopis'', which contains over 40 species of small leguminous trees. They are native to dry areas in the Americas. They have extremely long roots to seek water from very far under grou ...
* University Park In addition, Dallas ISD covers unincorporated areas of Dallas County, including some other surrounding areas, including those with Ferris addresses.


Curriculum

Teachers in the district created an
African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...
studies class, which includes information on African countries prior to 1619.


School uniforms

Dallas ISD implemented mandatory school uniforms for all elementary and middle school students (through 8th grade) on most campuses starting in the 2005–2006 school year.Dallas ISD: Uniforms
/ref> Elementary and middle school campuses which do not follow the Dallas ISD uniform policy continue to use their own mandatory uniform codes, which were adopted prior to the 2005–2006 school year. Uniforms are optional at the high school level as in schools decide whether to adopt uniform policies; eight traditional high schools and three alternative high schools have adopted them. The
Texas Education Agency The Texas Education Agency (TEA) is the branch of the government of Texas responsible for public education in Texas in the United States.
specified that the parents and/or guardians of students zoned to a school with uniforms may apply for a waiver to opt out of the uniform policy so their children do not have to wear the uniform; parents must specify " bona fide" reasons, such as religious reasons or philosophical objections.DOCKET NO. 008-R5-901
."
Texas Education Agency The Texas Education Agency (TEA) is the branch of the government of Texas responsible for public education in Texas in the United States.
. Accessed October 13, 2008.


Relations with other agencies

Angela Shah of ''
The Dallas Morning News ''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885 by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ''Galvesto ...
'' said in 2004, "Even as many big cities move aggressively to bolster public education, City Hall's relationship with Dallas' largest school district remains informal at best."


LGBT relations

Jose Plata, an openly gay DISD board member, and Pat Stone, the president of the Dallas Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), advocated for adding LGBT students to the anti-discrimination ordinance. In 1996 the DISD board of education voted to add LGBT individuals to the ordinance, and by 1997 the district had created a pamphlet for LGBT students.Fowler, Jimmy. "School's out." ''
Dallas Observer ''Dallas Observer'' is a free digital and print publication based in Dallas, Texas. The ''Observer'' publishes daily online coverage of local news, restaurants, music, and arts, as well as longform narrative journalism. A weekly print issue circ ...
''. November 13, 1997. p
2
( ). Retrieved on September 22, 2014.
Some high school campuses in DISD house
Gay–straight alliance A Gay–Straight Alliance, Gender-Sexuality Alliance (GSA) or Queer–Straight Alliance (QSA) is a student-led or community-based organisation, found in middle schools, high schools, colleges, and universities. These are primarily in the United ...
organizations.


Athletic facilities

Athletic facilities controlled by DISD include P.C. Cobb Athletic Complex in the
Fair Park Arena The W. F. "Bill" Harris State Fair Arena (called Bill Harris Arena or Fair Park Arena) is a 5,000-seat multipurpose indoor arena located at the Alabama State Fairgrounds. The arena is used primarily for basketball, but also hosts concerts and oth ...
, Forester Athletic Complex in southeast Dallas, Franklin Stadium in North Dallas (north of
NorthPark Center NorthPark Center, sometimes referred to as NorthPark Mall, is an upscale, enclosed shopping mall in Dallas, Texas (United States). It is at the intersection of Loop 12 (Northwest Highway) and US 75 (North Central Expressway). Opened in 1965, it ...
), Jesse Owens Memorial Complex (southeast of Interstate 20) including the
John Kincaide Stadium John Kincaide Stadium is a 15,000-seat multi-use stadium in Dallas, Texas owned and operated by the Dallas Independent School District. It opened in 2005. In 2023, a track at this stadium was renamed the Sha'Carri Richardson Track. Kincaide Sta ...
, Alfred J. Loos Athletic Complex in
Addison Addison may refer to: Places Canada * Addison, Ontario United States *Addison, Alabama *Addison, Illinois *Addison Street in Chicago, Illinois which runs by Wrigley Field * Addison, Kentucky *Addison, Maine *Addison, Michigan *Addison, New York ...
, Pleasant Grove Stadium in southeast Dallas, Seagoville Stadium in Seagoville, Sprague Athletic Complex in southwest Dallas, and Wilmer-Hutchins Eagle Stadium in Hutchins.


Student makeup

some of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the central city area are actually in the
Highland Park Independent School District Highland Park Independent School District (HPISD) is a public school district based in University Park, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. HPISD serves most of the town of Highland Park, all of the city of University Park, and two ...
(HPISD), not DISD. The student body of DISD has a higher percentage of Hispanics, a slightly lower percentage of non-Hispanic Whites, and a higher percentage of low income students compared to the
Houston Independent School District The Houston Independent School District (HISD) is the largest public school system in Texas, and the eighth-largest in the United States. Houston ISD serves as a community school district for most of the city of Houston and several nearby and ...
(HISD), which includes some of the wealthiest neighborhoods in central Houston. In 2010 DISD had a higher number of black students in its boundaries attending charter schools compared to HISD, even though HISD had more black students living in its boundaries.


Demographic history

In 1968 DISD had 159,527 students, with 52% of them being Anglo whites.Lyons, Gene. "This is Woodrow Wilson: A School that Works." ''
Texas Monthly ''Texas Monthly'' (stylized as ''TexasMonthly'') is a monthly American magazine headquartered in Downtown Austin, Texas. ''Texas Monthly'' was founded in 1973 by Michael R. Levy and has been published by Emmis Publishing, L.P. since 1998 and is ...
''.
Emmis Communications Emmis Communications is an American media conglomerate based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Emmis, based on the Hebrew word for Truth (Emet) was founded by Jeff Smulyan in 1980. Emmis has owned many radio stations, including KPWR and WQHT, which h ...
, January 1979. Volume 7, No. 1. ISSN 0148-7736. START: p
69
CITED: p
69
In 1970 the district had 94,383 Anglo white students. In 1973, half of DISD's students were White. As time passed, the White population decreased due to private schools and
white flight White flight or white exodus is the sudden or gradual large-scale migration of white people from areas becoming more racially or ethnoculturally diverse. Starting in the 1950s and 1960s, the terms became popular in the United States. They refer ...
.Hadnot, Ira J.
Public schools resegregating, research finds Busing, court orders haven't reversed trend especially in South; policy changes urged
" ''
The Dallas Morning News ''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885 by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ''Galvesto ...
''. Sunday January 19, 2003. 23A. Retrieved on October 11, 2011.
In the fall of 1978 there were 132,061 students, with 34% of them being white. By 1979 there were 42,030 Anglo White students. In the 1980s and 1990s the DISD student body was majority black. In 2000 almost 161,000 students were enrolled, with 52% being Hispanic, 38% being black, and 9% being white. That year 73% of the students were on free or reduced-price lunches, meaning they were classified as being from socioeconomically poor families. As of 2003, DISD was 58% Hispanic, 34% African American, 6% White, and 2% Asian and Native American. As of that year, 190 DISD schools were 90% or more combined black and Hispanic, 37 schools were 90% or more Hispanic, and 24 schools were 90% or more black. White flight continued into the 2000s and 2010s, as there was a 55% decrease in the white student population from 1997 to 2015. In 2008 the Anglo White student population bottomed at 7,207, and the decline stopped afterward. In 2010 157,000 students were in DISD schools, with 68% being Hispanic, 26% being black, and 5% being white. From 2000 to 2010 the number of Hispanic students had increased by 23,000, an increase by 7%; while the number of black students had declined by 19,000, a 31% decrease. That year, 87% of DISD students were on free or reduced-price lunches. Eric Nicholson of the ''
Dallas Observer ''Dallas Observer'' is a free digital and print publication based in Dallas, Texas. The ''Observer'' publishes daily online coverage of local news, restaurants, music, and arts, as well as longform narrative journalism. A weekly print issue circ ...
'' wrote that by 2016 the number of Anglo whites was "actually increasing slightly — very slightly — over the past couple of years." In 2009 the State of Texas defined "college readiness," or readiness to undergo university studies, of high school graduates by scores on the ACT and
SAT The SAT ( ) is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. Since its debut in 1926, its name and scoring have changed several times; originally called the Scholastic Aptitude Test, it was later called the Schol ...
and in the 11th grade
Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills The Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) was the fourth Texas state standardized test previously used in grade 3-8 and grade 9-11 to assess students' attainment of reading, writing, math, science, and social studies skills required ...
(TAKS) tests. Holly K. Hacker of ''
The Dallas Morning News ''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885 by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ''Galvesto ...
'' said that DISD schools "showed extreme highs and lows in college readiness." Regarding the selective DISD magnet schools, Hacker said that they "prepare virtually all graduates for college." Throughout the DFW metroplex, the highest college readiness rates were found in the School of Science & Engineering and the
School for the Talented & Gifted The School for the Talented and Gifted at the Yvonne A. Ewell Townview Magnet Center (commonly referred to as TAG or TAG Magnet) is a Public school (government funded), public university preparatory, college preparatory magnet school, magnet second ...
. Hacker said " ough they serve some students with lower incomes, the campuses have a huge advantage because they accept only those with high test scores." By 2016 the growth in the number of low income students, previously significant, had stopped.


Demographics by racial group

As of 2003, some schools in DISD still had significant numbers of
White American White Americans are Americans who identify as and are perceived to be white people. This group constitutes the majority of the people in the United States. As of the 2020 Census, 61.6%, or 204,277,273 people, were white alone. This represented ...
students. Usually they were up to 15-20% of a school's given population. Many schools with significant White populations were in the
East Dallas East Dallas, also referred to by the East Dallas Chamber of Commerce as the Lake & Garden District, is an expansive area of numerous communities and neighborhoods in Dallas, Texas (United States) that border nearby suburban cities to the east s ...
and North Dallas areas and mostly white sections of
Oak Cliff Oak Cliff is a neighborhood of Dallas, Texas, that was formerly a separate town in Dallas County; Dallas annexed Oak Cliff in 1901. It has since retained a distinct neighborhood identity as one of Dallas' older established neighborhoods. Oak C ...
, such as Kessler Park. Elementary schools that had significant White populations included Nathan Adams, Hexter, Lakewood, Mockingbird (formerly Stonewall Jackson) Elementary, Pershing, W.B. Travis Vanguard & Academy, Preston Hollow, and Harry Withers. Middle schools with significant White populations included Franklin, and Long middle schools. High schools with significant White populations included Hillcrest, W.T. White, and
Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...
.
Seagoville High School Seagoville High School is a public secondary school located in Dallas, Texas, United States, northwest of the city of Seagoville. Seagoville High School enrolls students in grades 9– 12 and is a part of the Dallas Independent School District ...
and its feeder schools also had white populations. Circa 2016 the white population consistently made up 5% of the DISD student body. In 2016 Nicholson wrote that "By the end, DISD's Anglo exodus could be rationalized as a response not to racial mixing but to concentrated poverty, flagging test scores and an inept administration perennially mired in scandal." From 2000 to 2010 the number of black students decreased by 20,000. In 2010 that was the lowest in the post-1965 history of DISD. One reason for the decline in the percentage of black students is the move of black people to suburbs; they did so due to a perception that public schools there have a higher quality than those in DISD, as well as general desires for higher quality housing and lower crime environments. Another reason was the growth in charter schools which take students who would otherwise attend DISD schools; in 2010 5,900 black students attending charter schools in the area lived in the DISD boundaries. Other reasons for the decline in the percentage of black students included a perception that DISD has moved its focus away from black students and towards Hispanic students, and the fact that many Hispanics have moved into traditionally black neighborhoods.


Schools

The district has high schools, middle schools, elementary schools, and multi-level schools.


School photographs

File:Oak Cliff September 2016 09 (W.H. Adamson High School).jpg,
W. H. Adamson High School William Hardin Adamson High School, formerly Oak Cliff High School, is a public secondary school located in the Oak Cliff area of Dallas, Texas, United States. It is part of the Dallas Independent School District and is classified as a 5A school ...
File:Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts.jpg,
Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (BTWHSPVA) is a state school, public secondary school located in the Arts District, Dallas, Arts District of downtown Dallas, Texas, United States. Booker T. Washington HSPVA en ...
File:North Dallas High 02.jpg,
North Dallas High School North Dallas High School is a public secondary school located in the Oak Lawn area of Dallas, Texas, United States. It enrolls students in grades 9- 12 and is a part of the Dallas Independent School District. As of 2017, the principal adminis ...
File:Samuell HS 2007.JPG, W. W. Samuell High School File:FDR HS.JPG, Franklin D. Roosevelt High School File:TJ2006-ed.jpg, Thomas Jefferson High School File:Woodrow Wilson High School.jpg, Woodrow Wilson High School File:Igniteatjwray.jpg, Ignite Middle School at J.W. Ray File:J.L. Long Middle School.jpg, J.L. Long Middle School


See also

*
List of school districts in Texas This is a list of school districts in Texas, sorted by Region and County. Geographical school districts in Texas are (with one exception, the Stafford Municipal School District) completely independent from city or county jurisdiction. Texas sch ...


References


Further reading

* Betzen, Bill.
Dallas ISD’s middle school model is especially damaging for boys
" (letters to the editor) ''
The Dallas Morning News ''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885 by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ''Galvesto ...
''. November 19, 2013. * Holley, Doug.
The Lessons of Longfellow Elementary
" ''
D Magazine ''D Magazine'' is a monthly magazine covering Dallas–Fort Worth. It is headquartered in Downtown Dallas. ''D Magazine'' covers a range of topics including politics, business, food, fashion and lifestyle in the city of Dallas. The first iss ...
''. September 1975. * Curts, Tracy.
IS WHITE FLIGHT RUINING THE DALLAS SCHOOLS?
''
D Magazine ''D Magazine'' is a monthly magazine covering Dallas–Fort Worth. It is headquartered in Downtown Dallas. ''D Magazine'' covers a range of topics including politics, business, food, fashion and lifestyle in the city of Dallas. The first iss ...
''. August 1977.


External links


Dallas ISD home page
** *
Desegregating Dallas Schools
"
Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = "The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , prov ...
(Archive)
The School Archive Project: a dropout prevention program started within one Dallas ISD middle school that is lowering the dropout rate below 50% in formerly high dropout rate high schools

DISD In the Hole
– ''
Dallas Observer ''Dallas Observer'' is a free digital and print publication based in Dallas, Texas. The ''Observer'' publishes daily online coverage of local news, restaurants, music, and arts, as well as longform narrative journalism. A weekly print issue circ ...
''
DISD's Budget Shortfall: Hinojosa's One-Man Gaffe
– ''
Dallas Observer ''Dallas Observer'' is a free digital and print publication based in Dallas, Texas. The ''Observer'' publishes daily online coverage of local news, restaurants, music, and arts, as well as longform narrative journalism. A weekly print issue circ ...
'' {{Authority control School districts established in 1884 School districts in Dallas County, Texas Education in Carrollton, Texas School districts in Dallas DeSoto, Texas 1884 establishments in Texas