Dallas Independent School District

Location and area

Dallas ISD covers 312.6 square miles (809.6 km²) of land (map) and most of the city of Dallas. The district also serves Cockrell Hill, most of Seagoville and Addison, Wilmer, most of Hutchins, and portions of the following cities:

In addition, Dallas ISD covers unincorporated areas of Dallas County, including some areas with Ferris addresses.

History

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. 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after the June 16, 1884, district founding that "all former Ordinances in relation to the city public school are hereby repealed," and the district's 1884-85 superintendent, a Mr.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; furthermore, 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." 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, also praised the new law's abandonment of tying teachers' salaries to the number of pupils attending, a practice he called "a relic of barbarism."

At the time of the 1884 organization, six schools already were operating; four schools were designated for whites and two for "colored," as segregation was the legal policy 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.

Dallas ISD has absorbed many smaller school districts throughout its history. Vickery Independent School District was annexed into Dallas ISD (adding Vickery Meadows) in 1948. Pleasant Grove ISD was annexed in 1954 (adding Pleasant Grove), and Pleasant Grove High School was replaced by Samuell High School in the same year. Seagoville ISD of Seagoville was annexed into Dallas ISD in 1965.

Other schools and school districts annexed by Dallas ISD include:

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. The period from 1946 to 1966 saw rapid construction of schools, with 97 of the district's school buildings erected during this period, at a peak of 17 schools in 1956 alone.

School desegregation was a gradual process that did not begin for nearly six years after the United States Supreme Court made its May 17, 1954, Brown v. Board of Education decision, nullifying the previous doctrine of "separate but equal" 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. Texas passed legislation in 1957 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. The year 1965 brought substantial changes to this process, as on September 1, 1965, the elementary schools were ordered 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 ... [due to] the patient and sympathetic understanding ... and the flinty determination of the School Board ... to serve the public in their lawfully constituted duty." In September 1967 Dallas ISD states that its schools were desegregated. During another desegregation suit in the 1970s, a judge suggested that students from different schools could interact via television instead of forcing desegregation busing in the district. The judge liked the plan, while the parties filing suit did not.

After the forced busing desegregation, in the 1970s many White American students and families withdrew from district schools en masse.

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 (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, a version of heroin mixed with Tylenol PM, called "cheese," which led to several deaths of students. 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.

In 2009 state representative Yvonne Davis proposed a bill which would force the state to divide any school district that meets several parameters. The parameters include the district having more than 150,000 students, the district residing in a county with more than two million residents, and the resident county being adjacent to at least one other county with more than one million residents. The bill does not name any particular school district, but the parameters of the bill may only apply to Dallas ISD.

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.

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 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.

Relations with other agencies

Angela Shah of The Dallas Morning News 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.

Some high school campuses in DISD house Gay–straight alliance organizations.

Athletic facilities

Athletic facilities controlled by DISD include P.C. Cobb Athletic Complex in the Fair Park Arena, Forester Athletic Complex in southeast Dallas, Franklin Stadium in North Dallas (north of NorthPark Center), Jesse Owens Memorial Complex (southeast of Interstate 20), Alfred J. Loos Athletic Complex in Addison, Pleasant Grove Stadium in southeast Dallas, Seagoville Stadium in Seagoville, Sprague Athletic Complex in southwest Dallas, and Wilmer-Hutchins Eagle Stadium in South Dallas.

Student makeup

As of 2015 some of the wealthiest, neighborhoods in the central city area are actually in the Highland Park Independent School District (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 (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.

A more detailed enrollment of Dallas ISD students by grade from the years 1997 through 2008 as reported to the Texas Education Agency is compiled into a spreadsheet at http://www.studentmotivation.org/DallasISD.htm.

Demographic history

In 1968 DISD had 159,527 students, with 52% of them being Anglo whites. 30 years prior to 2003 (circa 1973), half of DISD's students were White. As time passed, the White population decreased due to private schools and white flight. In the fall of 1978 there were 132,061 students, with 34% of them being white.

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. 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.

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 and in the 11th grade Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) tests. Holly K. Hacker of The Dallas Morning News 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. Hacker said "[t]hough they serve some students with lower incomes, the campuses have a huge advantage because they accept only those with high test scores."

Demographics by racial group

As of 2003, some schools in DISD still had significant numbers of White American 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 and North Dallas areas and mostly white sections of Oak Cliff, such as Kessler Park. Elementary schools that had significant White populations included Nathan Adams, Hexter, Lakewood, Pershing, 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. Seagoville High School and its feeder schools also had white populations.

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 a 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.

List of schools

The district has 28 high schools, 32 middle schools, three "primary/secondary" schools that include grades normally in both middle schools and elementary schools, more than 150 elementary schools, and one early childhood development center.

Former secondary schools

Former primary schools