Dallas ISD board approves budget, changes for Spruce

by PegNews wire

DALLAS — The Dallas ISD Board of Trustees approved a nearly $1.2 billion dollar budget for the 2008-09 school year during its June meeting.

Trustees also approved a plan to begin to re-create the learning environment at H. Grady Spruce High School in Pleasant Grove.

The new budget includes funds for each of the district’s approximately 11,000 teachers to take a salary step up the district’s pay ladder, averaging a 2% raise. It also includes a plan to eliminate longevity pay, but with a provision to “hold harmless” those teachers who have received longevity pay in the past.

The 2008-09 district budget is approximately $4 million less than what the district will spend during 2007-08, in part because of less revenue from an expected slight decrease in enrollment. Complicating matters in the development of the budget has been record fuel prices, which will cost the district roughly $13 million more for utilities and student transportation. If additional revenue becomes available during the year through a possible tax increase by Dallas County Schools, the entity that provides school bus service for district students, the board directed the administration to use the funds for a one-time bonus for employees.

The board also approved a plan to move rising 10th and 11th grade students from H. Grady Spruce High School to Lincoln and Madison High School. The changes are necessary because Spruce has been rated Academically Unacceptable for three straight years by the Texas Education Agency and because student achievement did not make any significant gains this past spring.

Incoming 9th grade students who attend Spruce this fall will be able to choose from three different career pathways: engineering, business/finance and health sciences. Rising Spruce seniors will have the option to finish their 12th grade year at Spruce. The following year, should the Texas Education Agency not close the school because of poor student performance for a fifth consecutive year, Spruce will accept another 9th grade class, with 10th grade students staying at Spruce. This will allow students from the Pleasant Grove area an opportunity to continue to attend their neighborhood school.

“If we don’t do something drastic, the Texas Education Agency will shut down Spruce next spring,” said Superintendent of Schools Michael Hinojosa. “Our goal is to re-create the learning environment over time at Spruce so that students can graduate from their neighborhood school ready for college and the work place.”

Students from Spruce who have less than 6 course credits will not be able to attend Lincoln and Madison but will be assigned to other campuses before school begins August 25.

The Dallas Independent School District serves approximately 157,000 students at 228 campuses. More than 100 Dallas schools are expected to be rated either exemplary or recognized by the Texas Education Agency when state rankings are announced in August. For more information about Dallas ISD and the Dallas Achieves initiative, go to www.dallasisd.org.

Source: Dallas Independent School District