Dallas ISD is expanding an initiative that helps boost student achievement by staffing the highest-need schools with high-performing principals and teachers. The district launched the ACE program, which stands for Accelerating Campus Excellence, last school year at seven historically low-performing schools. After just one year, six of those schools met state standards this year, and all seven campuses have shown significant improvement in student achievement. Dallas ISD is looking to build on this success by bringing an additional six schools into the ACE program next school year. “We have seen a remarkable turnaround at the ACE schools in a short…

District trustees were briefed Thursday on a recommendation to proceed with phase 2 of the district’s $1.6 billion 2015 bond program. At Thursday’s board briefing, Operations Chief Scott Layne recommended a list of 23 school renovation projects for phase 2 that he said are among the district’s most critical infrastructure needs. The list includes seven high schools receiving renovations required to meet state requirements for implementation of career and technical programs. The total budget for phase 2 projects, listed below with the recommended architects, is an estimated $275 million. The proposed list of architects reflects a 50 percent participation of minority…