As the nation's eleventh largest school district, Dallas Independent School District serves more than 164,500 students who come from homes where 58 different languages are spoken. Operating with a $1 billion dollar budget, DISD employs 19,234 employees including 10,500 teachers in 218 schools.
12 Nov 2001
DALLAS—The Dallas Independent School District's Board of Trustees will hold a public hearing Monday evening on the proposed $1.366 billion school bond election before the board meets to put the measure on the ballot at a specially called board meeting November 19.
The board will hold a public hearing Monday evening at 6 p.m. in the administration building at 3700 Ross Avenue.
With the passage of the $1.366 billion bond election, the district would build one new high school, 16 elementary schools and three new middle schools. The district also would construct a centralized kitchen to better serve the district's school breakfast and lunch programs, and add one major sports facility.
Contents of the school bond election pages were decided by a 21-member task force that has worked for almost five years. In addition, consultants from Heery International, Inc. provided the district with an objective assessment of the district's facilities needs.
Information about the school bond package is available on the district's web site at dallasisd.org. In addition, the board of trustees and Moses will hold a series of town hall briefings throughout the district beginning November 26. A list of the scheduled events and locations also is available via the district website.
In September, Superintendent Mike Moses pointed out that more than half of DISD's school buildings were built before 1953. He also noted that as many as 40,000 of the district's 164,000 students attend classes in portable buildings. Seventy-four DISD portables are between 40 and 50 years old.
Moses said the need for renovations and improvements increases each year. Already this school year, the roofs of two schools have become highly dangerous, including Urban Park Elementary's, which nearly collapsed during a rainstorm on the third day of school.