Sam Tasby, a civil rights pioneer who fought to desegregate Dallas ISD schools, has died at the age of 93. Dallas ISD named a school after Tasby, who was also a World War II veteran. Sam Tasby Middle School is open in northeast Dallas at 7001 Fair Oaks Ave. Dallas ISD Interim Superintendent Dr. Michael Hinojosa said the city of Dallas lost a pioneer with the passing of Tasby. “Mr. Tasby drastically changed our school district for the better by standing up for what is right,” Hinojosa said. “Our thoughts are with his family as they mourn and remember this great…

In June, Dallas County Records, following the lead of the Texas Department of State Health Services, stopped accepting the Mexican Consulate-issued identification card, known as a matrícula consular, as an acceptable form of identification when requesting a birth certificate. This change in policy regarding the acceptance of the matrícula consular as a form of identification has resulted in questions regarding its impact on Dallas ISD. The district compiled the following Q&A to provide answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about this situation as it relates to Dallas ISD. Q: Does Dallas ISD accept the Mexican Consulate-issued matrícula…

For three days this week, teachers from across the district gathered for training on the Teacher Excellence Initiative, the district’s innovative pay-for-performance teacher evaluation system. These teachers, known as TEI campus experts, then train the teachers at their schools on TEI and provide related updates to their campus throughout the year. But, equally important, the TEI campus experts continually provide feedback to district administrators on what is working—and what isn’t—with TEI. “Teachers have helped shape the formation and continual improvement of this evaluation system, and their feedback is invaluable as we continue to improve TEI in the upcoming year,” TEI…

Dallas ISD officials announced this week that the district earned the maximum score of 30 and a rating of “Pass” under the state’s school financial accountability rating system known as the School Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas (FIRST) for 2014-2015. A Pass rating, which is the state’s highest possible rating for 2014-2015, demonstrates the high quality of Dallas ISD’s financial management and reporting, district officials said. This is the 13th year of School FIRST, which is a financial accountability system for Texas school districts developed by the Texas Education Agency in response to Senate Bill 875 of the 76th…