R.I.P. Wilmer-Hutchins I.S.D. (1927-2006)

[TexasStooge]

State to replace WHISD school board

22 teachers face discipline in cheating scandal

By DAN RONAN / WFAA ABC 8

HUTCHINS, Texas - State education officials said Thursday they will install a new superintendent and board of trustees in the troubled Wilmer-Hutchins Independent School district.

The move follows a "no confidence" vote from taxpayers in last Saturday's election and a state investigation that confirmed widespread cheating on state-required tests last year.

At a news conference to introduce the new board at WHISD headquarters, Texas Education Commissioner Shirley Neeley said the six members face a serious and complex task. "They must determine whether this school district can be transformed to become an exemplary school district. One that is a model for the great state of Texas and the nation.," Neeley said, noting that the alternative would be to shut down the school district.

There was an audible gasp in the room when Neeley announced that 22 teachers will face disciplinary action following the seven-month state investigation into cheating on the TAKS test. Those teachers risk being fired and losing their teaching certificates.

Neeley named Eugene Young, an assistant superintendent in the Lancaster ISD, to fill the superintendent's position.

She said she hopes the new board will be in place by June 1.

The Wilmer-Hutchins ISD serves about 3,000 students at ten school facilities.

[TexasStooge]

Wilmer-Hutchins gets new leaders

State ousts trustees, picks manager board and superintendent

By JOSHUA BENTON / The Dallas Morning News

HUTCHINS, Texas - For the fourth time since November, Wilmer-Hutchins teachers will have a new superintendent to call boss.

But this time they'll have an entirely new board of managers, too.

State Education Commissioner Shirley Neeley swept into the troubled district Thursday and swept out the seven-member school board that has overseen the district's financial collapse.

The district's new leadership has been assigned a pressing task: Determine quickly whether there's anything salvageable in Wilmer-Hutchins schools, which are swimming in debt, indictments and scandal. Otherwise, Dr. Neeley said, the district will be shut down, perhaps very quickly.

"This community no longer trusts the sitting board with its children or its money," she said. "Whatever decision the team makes, the decision will be one of permanency. No more Band-Aids. No more quick fixes."

Eugene Young, an assistant superintendent in Lancaster, will become the new superintendent June 1. He replaces interim Superintendent James Damm, whose contract will expire at the end of the month. Some say it'll take a miracle for Mr. Young to save the district, which took another blow Thursday when a bank filed a lawsuit to recover a $2.8 million loan.

"Are you all ready to walk on water?" Mr. Young asked a crowd at district headquarters. "If you are ready, I ask you to engage in a little water walking and step out of the boat and step out into the storm with me."

Dr. Neeley had first proposed the housecleaning in March, when a Texas Education Agency investigation found that 22 of the district's elementary school teachers were helping students improperly on the state's TAKS test. That investigation was prompted by stories in The Dallas Morning News that alleged widespread cheating in the district.

"This is inexcusable, illegal, unprofessional, unethical and unacceptable behavior," Dr. Neeley said.

Throwing out an elected school board requires approval from the Justice Department, which had to determine whether such a move improperly violated the voting rights of district residents.

When Dr. Neeley arrived at district headquarters Thursday morning, she said she was hopeful that approval could come by the month's end. Instead, it came via fax just after 1 p.m.

The old seven-member board will be replaced with a five-member board of managers, all appointed by Dr. Neeley. Two are familiar faces: Dallas businessman Albert Black Jr. and former TEA administrator Michelle Willhelm. Both have been working in the district since November as a state-appointed management team.

The other three board members are fresh to district politics: Sandra Donato, an educator who works with recent immigrants in Dallas schools; Donnie Foxx, a technical support specialist with Exxon Mobil; and Saundra King, a financial analyst and portfolio manager.

While Mr. Foxx has spoken at school board meetings before, none of the three has been major players in the factional tug-of-war that has defined the district's politics in recent years.

Finding people willing to sign up for duty wasn't easy. The agency contacted dozens of people starting in March, and many weren't willing to get involved. "Some people hung up on us," said Ron Rowell, the agency's senior director of school governance.

The job is likely to be a stressful one. TEA officials have advised the three new board members not to give their phone numbers to the public until special phone lines can be arranged. But the appointees say there's hope for the district.

"I'm optimistic we can make some changes," Ms. Donato said.

The three new board members will not be paid. But Mr. Black and Ms. Willhelm will continue to draw their previous salaries of $480 a day. Mr. Young's annual salary will be $125,000 – assuming the district is still in existence a year from now.

Mr. Young, a former Dallas principal and teacher, faces an immediate fiscal crisis. The district does not have the money to repay the $2.8 million loan from Wells Fargo. It also doesn't have the money to meet payroll this summer. In all, the district will need to find $5.7 million by August to meet its obligations.

Even if it does, Wilmer-Hutchins will have 40 percent less per-student funding this fall than nearly every other district in the state. That's because the district has been setting its tax rate illegally since the 1970s, and voters overwhelmingly rejected a chance last Saturday to allow a higher tax rate.

Pressure will be strong to dissolve the district quickly and merge it with one or more neighboring districts: enormous Dallas or smaller Lancaster or Ferris. A merger would solve the tax rate problem immediately.

"If need be, I feel we would be willing to help out the children of Wilmer-Hutchins," said Dallas trustee Lew Blackburn. Dr. Blackburn is also human resources director in Wilmer-Hutchins, which means a merger with Dallas probably would leave him without a job.

It's been a very long school year for Wilmer-Hutchins. Its former Superintendent, Charles Matthews, has been indicted twice for fraud and document tampering. Its schools are literally falling apart. A suddenly vaporized fund balance led to the layoffs of nearly 20 percent of the district's staff.

And the cheating scandal has put the district into academic freefall. For this year's spring TAKS testing, more than 80 monitors oversaw the process to prevent cheating. It worked. The district's passing rate on the fifth-grade reading test, for example, dropped from 89 percent last year to just 39 percent with monitors in place.

It's unlikely the debate over who's running Wilmer-Hutchins is permanently closed. At Thursday's news conference, Brenda Duff and Cedric Davis both objected to the takeover. Both were elected to posts on the school board Saturday, but neither now will be able to take their seat.

Ms. Duff argued that she and Mr. Davis, who is her son, are actually now members of the new board of managers. Dr. Neeley firmly rejected that notion.

"I'm going to protect my rights," said Ms. Duff, who said she would start having her own school board meetings without the state appointees.

Ms. Duff and Mr. Davis said they are considering taking legal action to be seated on the board. Mr. Davis said he is seeking advice from representatives of Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton.

But the outgoing board president, Luther Edwards, says he won't be trying to cling to power. "This is like a burden lifted off my shoulders," he said.

He has argued repeatedly that he and the board should not be blamed for the district's myriad problems. Instead, he said, the culprits are an array of powerful state and business interests who want to see the all-black school board pushed aside to increase the value of the district's land.

Mr. Edwards said he knew this takeover was coming because, in January, he asked an undercover plainclothes officer to watch over Mr. Black and the other state-approved leadership in the district. He said they planned the removal of the board even then.

Dr. Neeley said scrapping the board was the strongest medicine she could give the district. But some said anything that keeps Wilmer-Hutchins alive – even for a few months – is not strong enough.

"How much longer is this going to go on?" asked Wilmer Mayor Don Hudson. "We have that Wilmer-Hutchins stigma. How can you turn it around? I think getting rid of the district is the way to do it."

[TexasStooge]

NEW LEADERSHIP TEAM:

On Thursday, a new superintendent and board of managers for the Wilmer-Hutchins Independent School District was named and later approved by the Department of Justice. Here are the people who will be running the district:

SUPERINTENDENT

Eugene Young, 55, an assistant superintendent for Lancaster schools since August 2003, spent more than two decades in the Dallas school district as a teacher, coach and principal.

BOARD OF MANAGERS

Sandra Donato, a parent and educator who works with immigrant students at the Margaret and Gilbert Herrera Student Intake Center in Dallas ISD. Before that, she taught bilingual education and English as a Second Language in Dallas schools. She lives in Hutchins.

Donnie Foxx, a Wilmer-Hutchins graduate with children enrolled in the district and a computer technical support specialist with Exxon Mobil. He also served in the Navy for 10 years, managing daily operations for more than 20 divisions.

Saundra King, a former Wilmer-Hutchins student. She is an investor reporting analyst at ORIX Capital Markets and lives in Hutchins. She reports on commercial loan activity and manages portfolios.

Albert Black Jr., a Dallas entrepreneur who started On-Target Supplies & Logistics, which provides major corporations with outsourced supply chain management services. He is a former chairman of the Greater Dallas Chamber of Commerce.

Michelle Willhelm, a former superintendent of the Alief Independent School District and member of the current management team. She served as an administrator of personnel departments in the Round Rock, Alvin, Alief and Lamar Consolidated school districts in Texas. In addition, the San Antonio resident is a former chief of operations for the Texas Education Agency and has served as a teacher and principal.

[TexasStooge]

Whole school board replaced

Dallas-area district forced to find a solution

By THOMAS KOROSEC / Houston Chronicle

DALLAS, Texas - Increasing state control over a troubled, predominantly black school district, state Education Commissioner Shirley Neeley removed the Wilmer-Hutchins Independent School District's elected school board on Thursday and replaced it with appointed managers.

"No more Band-Aids. No more quick fixes. No more promises," Neeley said at a news conference in the district's board room.

She said the five-member board of managers and a new superintendent who will take office June 1 "must determine whether or not this school district can be transformed to become an exemplary school district or close this school district."

The move received clearance Thursday from the U.S. Justice Department, which reviewed the decision because it affects voting rights.

The 2,900-student system, which enrolls students from southeast Dallas and the towns of Wilmer and Hutchins, had been under the control of a state-imposed two-member management team since last year, when financial and management problems emerged. Neeley said the district's seven-member board consistently obstructed their efforts.

She pointed to an election Saturday in which voters declined to raise the tax rate and the results of an investigation into cheating on state achievement tests as further justification for taking the rare step of ousting the elected board.

Neeley said the tax election and a bond election that failed last year were proof that district residents have no confidence in the sitting school board.

"I'll tell you right now, I'm not going to stand for it," Brenda Duff, who was elected to the board on Saturday, told Neeley from the audience.

Cedric Davis, another member-elect, said he did not expect the Justice Department to approve the state's action without seating at least two elected trustees on the new panel.

School Board President Luther Edwards did not directly answer questions of whether he opposed the state action or whether he would fight the decision in court. Edwards has consistently challenged the state's moves and motives since it began closer scrutiny of the district last year.

Edwards said unnamed interests in the district want to break it up for financial gain because large tracts of land would become more valuable if they are annexed into neighboring school systems.

Under state law, a district must receive the state's lowest accountability rating — academically unacceptable — for two years in a row before it can be disbanded. Neeley said that she decided to reduce the district's rating to that level because of pervasive cheating on tests.

Testing this year, which was overseen by 80 outside monitors, would have to produce a low rating again for the district before it could be closed and its students assigned to one of four neighboring districts.

Neeley said a seven-month state investigation found that 22 elementary teachers at three campuses — or two out of three people involved in the district's testing program — were involved in cheating on state tests. She said they will be referred to the State Board for Educator Certification for possible sanctioning of their teaching certificates.

[TexasStooge]

W-H seeks help from Austin, voters

District: If all else fails, students could be sent elsewhere

By JOSHUA BENTON / The Dallas Morning News

HUTCHINS, Texas - The future of Wilmer-Hutchins will come down to two votes: one in Austin, one at the district's polling places.

The troubled school district is relying on legislative action to make its financial bind less painful – and counting on voters to extend the district a lifeline this July.

"It really is up to the citizens to determine if the district has any additional service to provide to the children of Wilmer-Hutchins," said Al Black, president of the district's state-appointed board of managers.

If things don't work out on either end, the district may be forced to turn to what Mr. Black called Plan B: keeping the district formally open but shipping its students to neighboring districts this fall.

Most pressing of the district's many problems is the result of its May 7 election, in which voters refused to authorize a tax rate above 90 cents per $100 of assessed property value.

The district had been taxing near the state-allowed maximum of $1.50 per $100, but it had been doing so illegally. The voters' decision effectively cuts the district's budget by 40 percent.

In recent weeks, interim Superintendent James Damm and other district leaders had said they were working on plans to operate the district at the lower funding level – plans that included major cuts in staffing and student activities. But on Tuesday, Mr. Damm said that effort had failed.

"We have come to the conclusion that the district just can't function under those assumptions," he said. "It cannot provide even the basic necessities of a school district."

The district is looking to Austin for help. The Legislature is considering bills that would reduce how much school districts must rely on property taxes to fund their operations. If legislators can approve such a change before the session's end Monday, it would make Wilmer-Hutchins' tax problems less crippling.

But even with the Legislature's help, Mr. Black said the district would struggle to provide a decent education. That's why board members said they wanted to put the tax rate issue back before voters, probably in late July.

Board members didn't formally approve the July revote at Tuesday night's meeting, but they asked that the issue be put on the agenda of its next meeting.

They said they would try to sell the public on the district's new face in a series of public hearings – some to be held in such areas as Wilmer and Hutchins, which have sometimes felt marginalized from the district's political center of gravity in southern Dallas.

"I'm confident we can show residents the improvements that have been made and are being made," board member Sandra Donato said.

It has become increasingly unlikely the district will be dissolved before classes begin this fall. Under state law, Commissioner Shirley Neeley can order the district's absorption into one or more neighbors – but only if the district is rated academically unacceptable for two years. That second year's rating won't come until July at the earliest.

By then, a statutory deadline for dissolution will have passed, and Dr. Neeley could not order Wilmer-Hutchins shuttered until the summer of 2006.

The board of managers is free to negotiate the district's demise itself, but that too looks increasingly unlikely. Even if the tax revote in late July fails, it would probably be too late to dissolve the district before the start of school a few weeks later.

Instead, district leaders sketched out their Plan B, which could involve divvying up Wilmer-Hutchins students among neighboring districts. For example, it's possible high school students could be lent to one district and elementary students to several others, Mr. Black said. Administrative duties could be handled by districts outside southern Dallas County, he said.

Under this scenario, Wilmer-Hutchins wouldn't be formally dissolved. But because the students would be lent to districts with higher tax rates, they could be funded at higher levels.

Mr. Damm said there was no model for Wilmer-Hutchins to follow. "We're blazing new ground here," he said. "No one's been in a situation like this before."

Even if the revenue problem is solved, Wilmer-Hutchins won't be home free. It owes $2.8 million to Wells Fargo, a loan the bank is suing to recover. That case goes to court Friday. The district also needs to borrow about $3 million just to pay its salaries and utility bills through the summer break. A teachers group sued the district Monday to stake employees' claim to that money.

[TexasStooge]

District's troubles never got W-H valedictorian down

A lesson in perseverance

By HERB BOOTH / The Dallas Morning News

HUTCHINS, Texas - Sade Dawson knows a few things about perseverance.

The valedictorian at Wilmer-Hutchins High School had to have plenty of it during a chaotic senior year that could be the last for the troubled Wilmer-Hutchins district.

"If we wouldn't have endured the traveling from school to school and the poor decisions by district officials, then we couldn't be as proud of ourselves as we are today," Sade said in her valedictory address to classmates.

The Wilmer-Hutchins school district may not survive to August. The district recently had about $70 in its bank account. It owes more than $2 million on a Wells Fargo Brokerage Services loan and doesn't have the money to make payroll this summer.

Sade carries a sense of history in perhaps being the last valedictorian from Wilmer-Hutchins High School.

"It's truly an honor," she said. "If I am to be the last one, it's sad, too. Everyone wants a place to come back to, someplace to visit teachers, counselors and friends."

Sade – along with 101 graduating classmates – started the 2004-05 school year at the Wilmer-Hutchins Performing Arts High School because the regular high school had suffered damages during summer storms that had not been repaired. Students were moved back into Wilmer-Hutchins High School, but the building still faces several hundred thousand dollars in repairs this summer.

"It was awkward being in the smaller school," Sade said of the school year's beginnings. "It was crowded. It never got me down, though."

Through all of this, Sade established a 3.67 grade-point average to take valedictorian honors. She received a full scholarship to Texas A&M University, where she will major in English and minor in journalism.

Sade's teachers and friends said determination got her to the top of her class.

LaToya Johnson, assistant varsity volleyball coach, said Sade had her eye on the valedictorian prize as early as her freshman year.

"You could tell even back then that she was going to reach her goals," Ms. Johnson said. "You can tell the kids who are going to strive to be the very best. Sade is definitely one of those students. If she was vice president of something one year, she was going to try to be president the next."

Sade was an effective president in the National Honor Society, said Simone Gilbert, the academic group's adviser.

"She knows how to control a crowd," Ms. Gilbert said. "She demands the attention of her peers. She knows how to lead and then executes."

Ms. Johnson and Ms. Gilbert both believe the adversity Sade faced this school year helped motivate her. She even used negative publicity as an incentive.

"There are some good things coming out of the school," Ms. Johnson said. "She might have gotten down this school year, but she's not a student who is going to fold. If I had a daughter, I'd want my child to be that way."

Sade's best friend, Karisa Castille, who also will attend Texas A&M, said Sade "took care of business" despite the district's struggles and her responsibilities at home.

"She's inspirational," Karisa said. "She's overcome some family challenges, takes care of her younger sister. She just does the right things."

Sade's mother died several years ago. Her grandmother, Mercedes Dawson, is her guardian.

"I'm just so very proud of her," Ms. Dawson said. "She's always led her class from first or second grade. She's always wanted to be the best."

Still, Sade knows that challenges remain. She scored an 840 on the SAT, above the school district average of 715 but well below the state average of 989.

Sade said of her score: "It's not something I'm proud of. I don't do well at standardized tests. I do well on regular tests because I talk to the teachers if I have questions."I think I'll have the resources at A&M to do well."

Her teachers and coaches agree.

"When you take into account her overall character, what goes down in numbers becomes less important," Ms. Gilbert said. "She can make it and compete with the best of the best because of that character and determination."

Former school board president Luther Edwards said Sade's SAT score is irrelevant.

"Kids coming out of Wilmer-Hutchins schools scoring 700 or above are doing a great job. They just didn't have as many opportunities as kids in other districts. How many physics classes and pre-med classes do Plano schools have? How many does Wilmer-Hutchins have? You see what I mean," Mr. Edwards said. "People don't need to get tied up on a score. You can make it with ability."

Last month Texas Education Commissioner Shirley Neeley replaced Mr. Edwards and the rest of the school board with a board of managers.

Sade said she doesn't blame one person for the district's shortcomings.

"Do I think I was cheated? No," she said. "I do think it could have been a better education, though."

[TexasStooge]

Troubled district may be out of options

Wilmer-Hutchins: State opposes tax election, cites lack of trust

By JOSHUA BENTON / The Dallas Morning News

HUTCHINS, Texas - Wilmer-Hutchins leaders said last week that there were only two lifelines that could keep the beleaguered school district alive much longer: an act of the Legislature or a new emergency appeal to voters.

The first lifeline has disappeared. And Tuesday night, state officials asked the district not to reach for the other.

If district officials follow the suggestion of the Texas Education Agency, it could be the beginning of the district's final chapter.

"I don't want there to be any false hope," said Albert Black, president of the district's state-appointed board of managers. "We don't know what's going to happen."

At issue is the district's property tax rate. For years, it charged an illegally high tax rate of about $1.50 per $100 of assessed value. The district's voters had never formally approved a rate above 90 cents per $100.

In May, the district asked for exactly that approval, and voters rejected it overwhelmingly. That move has left the district with a tough choice: Gouge about 40 percent out of its budget, seek some other source of income or shut the district down.

Had the Legislature passed school finance reform this session, the size of the cuts would have been reduced. But lawmakers went home Monday with no such bill passed.

The other hope was putting the tax issue back before the voters. Under state law, a school board must call an election at least 62 days in advance. That means that the earliest another tax authorization vote could be held is Aug. 6, assuming the board makes that decision at its next meeting on Friday. That date is already perilously close to the scheduled start of school, Aug. 10.

But Ron Rowell, the head of TEA's governance division, told board members that the agency did not want another vote. "We feel it is too early to call another election," he said. "We feel there has not been enough trust established with the community to go that route."

The district's board of managers is not legally obligated to follow the agency's desires. But the managers were all appointed by the agency last month, when TEA threw out the previous school board for being too dysfunctional. Commissioner Shirley Neeley has the power to remove board members who do not follow her wishes.

If there is no new vote, it would guarantee that if the district opens this fall, it will be at the 90-cent tax rate. Interim Superintendent James Damm, whose last day on the job was Tuesday, has said the district can't operate at that level.

Board members have said the district's best option under that scenario may be to subcontract nearly all district operations to neighboring districts such as Lancaster and Dallas.

Business manager Bill Goodman said Tuesday that a 90-cent tax rate is theoretically possible, although "it's really not pretty." He said the district could compress itself to just three schools – cramming grades six through 12 into the Wilmer-Hutchins High, moving about 1,200 elementary students into the dilapidated Kennedy-Curry middle school and keeping one smaller campus open.

The district would also have to trim nearly all its administration, cut back severely on nonteaching staff, and consider eliminating bus service and other essentials.

[TexasStooge]

Wells Fargo yields to W-H teachers

Bank won't contest pay for near-bankrupt system's workers

By HERB BOOTH / The Dallas Morning News

HUTCHINS, Texas - Wilmer-Hutchins employees waiting in line for pay this summer from their near-bankrupt school district won't be fighting Wells Fargo for that money after an agreement was reached Thursday.

The school district owes the bank $2.8 million, but Wells Fargo will let district employees be paid first – although it is still unclear where officials will get that money.

"We are not contesting the payment to the teachers," said Walt Herring, the attorney representing Wells Fargo.

Late last month, a Dallas County district judge ordered the district and Wells Fargo to find a way to settle their loan dispute without judicial intervention. The results of the successful mediation are still being worked out and will be discussed at Tuesday's Wilmer-Hutchins board of managers meeting.

Eric Allen, spokesman for the Association of Texas Professional Educators, said the agreement is meaningful because if the school district receives any money this summer, "the school district employees won't be hung out to dry."

The school district has the funds to make June payroll – but not July and August, said Debbie Graves Ratcliffe, Texas Education Agency spokeswoman.

Wilmer-Hutchins borrowed $3.3 million from Wells Fargo in March 2003. The district, which has paid back about $500,000 of that loan, missed payroll twice this school year.

It was learned in court late last month that the district had $70 in its bank account.

"We were very pleased that the bank was supportive of the educators," said Mark Robinette, who represented the ATPE in the talks. "They took an approach that treated Wilmer-Hutchins and its employees as a special case, and we appreciate that."

John Cole, spokesman for the Texas Federation of Teachers, said a relief fund is being established.

"We feel confident if we ask members around the state and nation that we'll get a response," Mr. Cole said. "But nothing we do will be adequate. It is highly unlikely they will be paid on time this summer, but we feel that in the long-term process they will get their salaries."

[TexasStooge]

For W-H, options pointing to an end

Top plans include shutting down district now or in a year

By JOSHUA BENTON / The Dallas Morning News

HUTCHINS, Texas - The Wilmer-Hutchins school district may be in its final days as an independent, functioning body.

At the urging of state Education Commissioner Shirley Neeley, the district's board of managers is expected to meet early next week to make a final decision on Wilmer-Hutchins' future. And the two top options under consideration both involve the troubled district's dissolution.

"We've got to figure out what to do with the kids very quickly," said Kevin O'Hanlon, a Wilmer-Hutchins attorney who was among the district leaders who met with Dr. Neeley. "She wants us to have a plan by the first of July."

Texas Education Agency officials have been concerned that the district's board of managers wasn't moving quickly enough to determine the district's future. Dr. Neeley appointed the board last month after tossing out the incumbent school board, which had overseen the district's financial collapse and a cheating scandal.

Wilmer-Hutchins faces a summer cash crunch. It owes $2.8 million to Wells Fargo, which the bank is suing to recover. It needs about $3 million to pay teachers and keep its offices open for the next two months. It has money for neither.

In addition, last month voters rejected a tax authorization that would have allowed the district to keep funding essentially flat from last year. Instead, the district's revenue will be cut by about 40 percent.

When she appointed the board of managers last month, Dr. Neeley asked its members to evaluate whether the district was worth saving. Wilmer-Hutchins has been a troublesome thorn in TEA's side for decades, and the agency has been criticized in the past for not doing enough to combat local mismanagement.

The managers have held a series of public forums to discuss the district's future, with two more scheduled for this month. But in a meeting with district leaders in Austin on Wednesday, Dr. Neeley said she wants a decision more quickly – particularly if students will have to be moved to another district in the fall.

"The commissioner let them know the urgency of the matter," TEA spokeswoman Suzanne Marchman said.

TEA officials say there are two major options being considered:

•Shutting down the district immediately. Wilmer-Hutchins would be merged permanently into one or more of its neighboring districts, Dallas and Lancaster, and students would start attending classes there in the fall.

•Waiting a year to formally shutter the district, but temporarily contracting out the job of educating Wilmer-Hutchins students to Dallas or Lancaster. Under a quirk of state funding law, such a move would free up more money to educate Wilmer-Hutchins students and allow the district to pay off its debts with local property-tax revenues.

Dallas school officials have said they would be willing to take Wilmer-Hutchins students if necessary. Many of the schools in Dallas' southern sector have low enrollment and would have the space to deal with a sudden spike in admissions.

Staying open a possibility

Ms. Marchman said it is possible other options – including keeping Wilmer-Hutchins alive in a crippled state – could be considered.

But district officials have said Wilmer-Hutchins would have to make draconian cuts to remain open. At Tuesday's board meeting, officials proposed a budget that would cut the number of teachers from last year's 187 to 126. The number of teachers' aides would drop from 36 to four.

In all, Wilmer-Hutchins would have to eliminate nearly half of all district jobs, cutting payroll to only 182 people. That's an enormous drop from the 406 employees Wilmer-Hutchins had at the start of last year, before the scope of the economic collapse became clear.

"We want you to see what it's going to look like if we go in that direction," Superintendent Eugene Young told the board Tuesday. "We don't need to look at a fairy tale. This is reality."

The board could also choose to put the tax-authorization issue back before voters and ask them to raise their taxes back to prior levels. Such an election could only take place after school starts in the fall.

But Dr. Neeley has let it be known that she does not support such an election, and most board members have followed her wishes. At Tuesday's meeting, scheduling another election was listed on the board's agenda, but the board voted 4-1 to table it. Only Donnie Foxx, who has been vocal in his support for another election, opposed it.

"If the people in this community think the district can be saved, I don't think we have a choice but to put it back before the voters," Mr. Foxx said Tuesday.

Optimism fading

The newly appointed board members could not be reached Thursday, but some of the early optimism they showed about the district's survival has waned at recent public meetings. Board President Albert Black – who only a month ago said he was very confident the district would survive – said Tuesday night that "the district is in a financial state where we don't know what will happen."

Even if the board decides not to dissolve the district, the matter could be out of its hands. On July 8, official results from this spring's TAKS tests will be released to Dr. Neeley. Wilmer-Hutchins' results are among the worst achievement test scores the state has ever seen, and they are expected to earn the district the label "academically unacceptable." When that happens, Dr. Neeley will have the legal authority to dissolve the district herself, effective in July 2006.

The district, which enrolls about 2,700 students, owes about $9 million to a variety of sources. That includes $2 million in tax anticipation notes whose existence was discovered only in the last few days.

On Thursday, the Texas State Teachers Association formally asked TEA to loan Wilmer-Hutchins the money needed to meet payroll so educators can be paid. Ms. Marchman said the agency is evaluating the request, but it appears that state law prevents the agency from issuing such a loan.

The district normally could count on receiving well over $1 million a year in federal dollars. But the U.S. Department of Education has frozen access to those funds because Wilmer-Hutchins' financial records are in disarray and haven't been audited for the last two fiscal years. The district has tried to hire an outside auditing firm to do the work, but none have proved willing.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE OPTIONS FOR WILMER-HUTCHINS ISD:

Wilmer-Hutchins leaders will meet next week to determine the district's future. The board of managers has two main options, according to Texas Education Agency officials:

OPTION 1: SHUT DOWN THE DISTRICT IMMEDIATELY

Permanent merger with Dallas, Lancaster, or both

All Wilmer-Hutchins debts would transfer to the new district

New districts could choose to use W-H campuses or bus students to their own schools
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OPTION 2: HIRE ANOTHER DISTRICT TO EDUCATE W-H KIDS THIS YEAR

Dallas and/or Lancaster would teach children, but W-H would exist as an empty shell for one more year

Would allow W-H to use this year's property tax revenues to pay off some of its $9 million debt

District would be formally dissolved on July 1, 2006

If district leaders choose neither and decide to open school this fall, the district will have to eliminate nearly half of its staff positions and shut down two more of its schools. Also, in less than a month, state education commissioner Shirley Neeley is expected to gain legal authority to dissolve the district if she chooses.

SOURCES: Texas Education Agency; Dallas Morning News research

[TexasStooge]

W-H puts off decision on future

Meeting turns raucous over proposal to merge with Lancaster

By JOSHUA BENTON / The Dallas Morning News

HUTCHINS, Texas - The five members of the Wilmer-Hutchins board of managers are ready to dissolve the troubled district and merge with Lancaster schools.

But the board didn't take action at Monday night's meeting because a sometimes rowdy crowd made it clear it wanted a chance to speak its mind.

"We have run out of time," Superintendent Eugene Young said.

The board put off action for more than a week, but Lancaster's superintendent said the delay could prevent his district from being able to take Wilmer-Hutchins' students.

Mr. Young was appointed Wilmer-Hutchins superintendent barely a month ago, when state Education Commissioner Shirley Neeley threw out the elected school board. Until then, Mr. Young was an assistant superintendent in Lancaster.

He proposed a number of other options for the district but rejected them all. Merging with Dallas schools would require busing the district's students north, he said. Splitting the district into parts would unnecessarily divide the community, he argued. And keeping the district alive in its current state is a financial impossibility.

Instead, he proposed outsourcing the job of running Wilmer-Hutchins schools this fall to Lancaster. Students would be taught on Wilmer-Hutchins campuses, but Lancaster would provide the teachers and principals. Nearly all Wilmer-Hutchins employees would lose their jobs, although Lancaster could choose to hire some of them.

Wilmer-Hutchins would continue to exist on paper for one more year, collecting tax money and putting it toward some of the district's debts. Then, next June, the district would be formally dissolved and merged with Lancaster. For local children to get a good education, Mr. Young said, "the district has to die."

All five members of the Wilmer-Hutchins board said after the meeting that they considered the Lancaster merger the best option available to the district.

"This change is coming," board president Albert Black said.

Board member Michelle Willhelm said the merger could help the two districts, both of which are traditionally low-achieving. In this spring's TAKS testing, Wilmer-Hutchins had the worst scores of 52 North Texas districts surveyed by The Dallas Morning News. Lancaster had the second worst.

"I think this is a merger where the whole will be greater than the parts," Ms. Willhelm said. "This will help both districts with resources."

Board members may have a tough time convincing Wilmer-Hutchins residents of the wisdom of the move, however. The roughly 100 who gathered at Monday night's meeting were vocal in their opposition to anything that would dissolve Wilmer-Hutchins.

"This is a modern-day lynching," said Wilmer-Hutchins alumnus and parent Michael Rodgers, one of several residents who yelled at board members intermittently throughout the meeting.

While there were no physical confrontations, tensions approached the boiling point several times – including a 15-minute delay in the start of a closed board session when some audience members verbally confronted board members and Texas Education Agency officials.

The district's head of curriculum and instruction, B. Ellen Johnson, broke down crying at one point after Mr. Young said "severe problems with instructional leadership" was one of the district's biggest problems.

The crowd reaction was so negative that Mr. Black proposed pushing back a final decision on the district's fate until after a public hearing could be conducted.

Mr. Black proposed three additional meetings: a public hearing this week, a workshop for board members to go over options, and a final vote near the end of next week, on or about June 30.

That schedule doesn't work well for at least three district leaders, including Mr. Young, all of whom are scheduled to be out of town on vacation or other trips at some point over the next two weeks. Mr. Black said they could be included via conference calls.

The schedule also doesn't work for Lancaster. Its school board must vote on whether to accept Wilmer-Hutchins' students before a deal can be finalized, and Lancaster Superintendent Larry Lewis said the proposed timetable doesn't leave enough time for that to happen.

"If we don't find out their decision until that late, there's no way we can know where the students are going to be in time," he said.

Despite that issue, Dr. Lewis said he believed the marriage between Wilmer-Hutchins and Lancaster would be "a good match."

Carolyn Morris, a Lancaster school board member who attended Monday's meeting, said she believed Dr. Lewis would be able to get the votes to approve a merger. But she said she was not convinced the move was a good one.

Wilmer-Hutchins ISD official site

Lancaster ISD official site

[TexasStooge]

Wilmer-Hutchins Parents Outraged By Takeover Proposal

Lancaster ISD Could Soon Takeover

DALLAS, Texas (KXAS NBC 5) -- Parents and teachers of the Wilmer-Hutchins Independent School District faced the grim possibility that the district would disappear. After months of troubles, district leaders considered all options and came up with an interesting proposal.

In fact, Superintendent Eugene Young recommended that the Lancaster ISD take control of the struggling district, while allowing students to stay in four Wilmer-Hutchins schools.

Parents were visibly upset by the proposal, and the fact that W-HISD is nearly $6 million in debt.

"So now all of a sudden, we're going to become Lancaster [when] our superintendent just been appointed from Lancaster," parent Michael Rodgers said.

Carolyn Morris, who has served on the Lancaster board for 10 years, also opposed the idea.

"To bring on such a large responsibility in our district, our economic development is just not here to support it," she said.

As the crowd shouted out against the idea of Lancaster taking over, the board of managers unanimously voted for more time to decide, but leaned toward accepting the proposal.

"Mr. Superintendent, I think it's a big vote of confidence for what you presented to us tonight," board member Albert Black.

"It just seemed like a buddy-buddy deal with it already being set for Lancaster to take over," Wilmer-Hutchins resident Eric Barnett said.

If Lancaster does take over, the district would receive state and federal funds that could be used to make repairs ay W-H schools.

Board members are expected to make a decision by next week, but a final decision must be reached by July 1.

[TexasStooge]

Students oppose merger of W-H, Lancaster

Athletics, gangs, dress codes among the issues

By KAREN OSTERGREN / DallasNews.com

HUTCHINS, Texas - Senior Allan McDowell had planned to play football and basketball at Wilmer-Hutchins High School next year when he returned to the district to live with his grandmother. Now he’s concerned he may not get that chance.

“The [Lancaster] coaches don’t like us,” the 17-year-old said.

That is just one of the anxieties many students have about the school board’s upcoming vote. The board was supposed to make a final decision on the future of the district Monday night, but postponed the vote until June 30 because of an outspoken crowd at the meeting, demanding to have their opinions considered.

“They need to recognize other people’s feelings,” Allan said. “A lot of good people came out of that school. They made people want to shine.”

Despite the delay, Superintendent Eugene Young has maintained that the best option is to outsource the job of running the schools for a year to Lancaster, who will send teachers and principals to Wilmer-Hutchins campuses. Then the district would continue to exist on paper for a year so it could collect taxes to help pay off its debts before fully dissolving.

The students, however, want nothing to do with the plan. They say staying where they are will create fewer problems than merging Wilmer-Hutchins and Lancaster.

“I don’t know anybody who thinks it’s a good idea. They don’t like each other,” said 15-year-old sophomore Ladarion Sims.

Others cited the possibility of gang problems between the schools.

Commented senior Douglas Culton: “There’s going to be a bit of conflict.”

Merging rival school districts isn’t the students’ only objection.

“Lancaster’s bad enough. It’s crowded now, so if they move everybody, it’ll be more crowded,” Allan said.

Fifteen-year-old Hado Zepeda has another worry. Lancaster ISD regulates the clothes students can wear, allowing only certain colors for shirts and slacks. An incoming eighth-grader, Hado would be allowed to wear only white, yellow or gray polo shirts or turtlenecks. Boys also must wear belts.

“I don’t want to wear a uniform,” he said.

Still, competitive sports seem to have the most potential for conflict. If the two districts merge, more students will be trying out for each team. In a district with no typical teen hangouts – no mall, no movie theater – sports are a big deal.

“For some guys, that’s the only thing they’re good at. Some of them only go to school to play sports,” Allan said.

Junior Bryant Micany, 16, on the other hand, is not bothered by lack of decision about the future. He plans to transfer to Lancaster next year, even if Wilmer-Hutchins stays open one more year.

For most students, however, the general opinion is to keep Wilmer-Hutchins open as long as possible.

“I’d rather keep our teachers if they can,” Ladarion said.

[TexasStooge]

W-H merger proposal a tough sell

By HERB BOOTH / The Dallas Morning News

LANCASTER, Texas – Few at a Lancaster school district workshop Wednesday night liked the idea of merging with the troubled Wilmer-Hutchins district.

But people might have to get used to it.

Although some Lancaster school trustees say they want state Education Commissioner Shirley Neeley to give them more time to make a decision on the potential merger, she can force the district to take in Wilmer-Hutchins.

"I don't like making a last-minute decision," Lancaster trustee Russ Johnson said before the meeting. "You can blame Wilmer-Hutchins on the situation it's in, but blame the state on dragging its feet and not getting it solved quicker."

Suzanne Marchman, a Texas Education Agency spokeswoman, said that if Wilmer-Hutchins' scores on the state-mandated Texas Assessment of Academic Skills are graded unacceptable for a second consecutive year, Ms. Neeley can require the merger.

But a state-forced merger would not take hold until 2006-07 – and Wilmer-Hutchins needs financial relief now.

That's why Lancaster discussed the merger before its July 1 district vacation break. Wilmer-Hutchins' board of managers is conducting a public hearing on its future Friday and another meeting Monday.

Lancaster is considering taking on its troubled neighbor while it's facing its own problems. Lancaster's TAKS results, though not as poor as Wilmer-Hutchins', are among the lowest in the area.

And the district is awaiting the results of a yearlong audit because of financial deficits in previous years and lagging student achievement.

Eugene Young knows the challenges in both districts. He was appointed Wilmer-Hutchins' superintendent barely a month ago, when Dr. Neeley threw out the elected school board. Until then, Mr. Young was an assistant superintendent in Lancaster.

Merging with Dallas schools would require busing, and keeping the district alive in its current state is a financial impossibility, Mr. Young said.

Merging with Lancaster would be the best option, he said, because it would allow Wilmer-Hutchins to keep its campuses and let Lancaster operate them.

Under that option, Wilmer-Hutchins would continue to exist on paper for one more year, collecting tax money and putting it toward some of the district's debts. Next June, the district would be formally dissolved and merged with Lancaster.

The Wilmer-Hutchins board of managers unanimously backed the Lancaster merger as the best option.

The plan is a much tougher sell outside the board, though.

Longtime community volunteer Mary Sykes worries that Lancaster would have to absorb Wilmer-Hutchins' financial problems, including about a $4 million debt.

"It's not a good move academically or economically," Ms. Sykes said.

Wilmer Mayor Don Hudson said the proposed merger might be best for some kids, but not necessarily for his town.

"Our kids need to go to Ferris school district," Mr. Hudson said. "You can throw a rock and hit Ferris ISD. I think that'd be best for Wilmer kids."

Others see benefits to a merger.

"I think it'd be a good thing because property values in Hutchins have gone up 40 percent this year," said Kimberly Lankford, the Lancaster mayor pro tem and a 1985 Wilmer-Hutchins High School graduate. "Of course, I didn't want to see Wilmer-Hutchins dissolved, but if we keep the high school up and running and the name still there, I think it would be OK."

Lancaster board President Nannette Vick hopes that any decision will be based on what's best for the children – both Lancaster's and Wilmer-Hutchins'.

"We live next door to them," Ms. Vick said. "We'd certainly want something that would be workable for everybody. And I'd like to think we'd do it for education and not with someone pointing their finger and saying, "You better do it.' "

Lancaster Mayor Joe Tillotson said he has always believed Lancaster children should attend Lancaster schools. Students in a portion of northern Lancaster are in the Wilmer-Hutchins school district.

"We'd be more than happy to get those children back in the fold," Mr. Tillotson said.

However, the mayor thinks the short-term impact on the Lancaster school district would be negative.

"It's probably not going to help our TAKS scores, but in the long run, it could be a tremendous boon for LISD," Mr. Tillotson said, because Lancaster schools' tax base would include property along Interstates 20, 35E and 45. "The property value would go up tremendously. As far as I'm concerned, go for it."

[TexasStooge]

Wilmer-Hutchins closing for year

District employees out of jobs; where students will go is undecided

By JOSHUA BENTON / The Dallas Morning News

HUTCHINS/LANCASTER, Texas - Wilmer-Hutchins schools will shut down for the next year, district leaders decided Monday night, and their teachers, principals and librarians are out of work.

But the district received an unexpected lifeline from its state managers that could bring the district back from the dead in one year's time.

"This is a very, very difficult decision," said Albert Black, the board president. "But I think it's the right one for the children of Wilmer-Hutchins."

Monday's vote by the board of managers finally answered one question Wilmer-Hutchins residents have asked in the last few turbulent weeks, as it became increasingly clear the district's financial chaos would not allow it to open its doors as usual this fall.

The answer to their other question – where all the district's 2,700 students will go instead – is still unclear. Lancaster is the preferred choice of Wilmer-Hutchins leaders, but it's far from clear that Lancaster wants them.

Two Dallas school board members said they would be willing to reconsider a key sticking point – the survival of Wilmer-Hutchins High – that could make a merger with Dallas schools more likely.

Jobs lost

What is clear is that roughly 300 Wilmer-Hutchins employees lost their jobs Monday night. For them, it was a maddening end to a bewildering school year.

"The reward I get for my hard work is 'Find another place to go work'?" asked Joe Tave, a science teacher at Kennedy-Curry Middle School.

The major surprise came from a twist supported by Mr. Black. The board had been expected to consider giving Lancaster operational control over Wilmer-Hutchins for the upcoming school year, then shutting down Wilmer-Hutchins entirely next June. For a number of legal reasons, such a move would allow the district to pay off most of its roughly $9 million in debt. It would also allow students to remain at Wilmer-Hutchins campuses.

But Mr. Black proposed reviving Wilmer-Hutchins next summer if three hurdles can be overcome by the end of the 2005-06 school year.

First, district voters must approve a maximum property tax rate of $1.50. In May, voters agreed to only 90 cents, which immediately killed about 40 percent of the district's budget and made operating the district untenable.

Second, voters must agree to a bond package to renovate or rebuild all of the district's schools. Voters overwhelmingly rejected such a package in September, but that was when the widely unpopular Charles Matthews was superintendent and the elected school board was still in control. Dr. Matthews has since been indicted, and the school board was thrown out of office last month.

Finally, the district's test scores – currently by far the area's lowest – must improve. District officials did not specify by how much.

There is probably a fourth requirement: action from the Legislature. Under a quirk of current funding law, by shipping away its students for 2005-06, Wilmer-Hutchins would become a so-called Robin Hood district in 2006-07. That means it would not be able to receive any state funding and would have to give up most or all of its local property-tax revenue to other districts around the state.

It's unlikely Wilmer-Hutchins – or any district – could operate under that near-zero funding level, so the Legislature probably would have to make a one-time exception for Wilmer-Hutchins.

Mr. Black's proposal passed 3 to 1. Mr. Black, Michelle Willhelm and Saundra King voted in favor. Sandra Donato and superintendent Eugene Young were absent.

The lone voice of opposition was Donnie Foxx. He said he agreed with the broad strokes of the plan but wanted the district to have two years to overcome the various obstacles.

"There's no reason we can't take more time," he said. "Rome wasn't built in a day."

As they have at past meetings, Monday night's audience members rallied against the proposed shutdown, calling managers heartless and, in some cases, traitors to their race. Unlike at last week's board meeting, security officers were on hand.

Alternative proposed

The audience reacted most positively during a presentation by Bill McIntyre, a Dallas legal researcher who said he could single-handedly save the district's finances by getting a multimillion-dollar loan from a bank, passing a $100 million bond issue, and getting grants from the National FFA Organization.

He supported his proposal with statistical data that TEA officials said seemed wildly inaccurate – such as saying Wilmer-Hutchins' spending was nearly $70 million one year in the mid-1990s and barely $1 million the next, or that only 5 percent of the district's funds go to teacher salaries.

Mr. McIntyre, whose law firm has sued Wilmer-Hutchins several times in the last year, refused to name the bank or any other institution willing to back his proposal. He said that would improperly "tip his hand" and would lead to TEA officials interfering with his work to save the district.

In reality, Wilmer-Hutchins has not been able to find a bank willing to hold its main checking account – much less loan it millions of dollars. The last bank to loan Wilmer-Hutchins money, Wells Fargo, is suing. Mr. Foxx called Mr. McIntyre's proposal "cotton candy – all fluff." But the audience reacted with spirited applause and shouts of approval.

The saga of Wilmer-Hutchins is by no means over. Mr. McIntyre promised a lawsuit. So did a group led by civil rights activist Lee Alcorn, who had its own meeting Monday night in downtown Dallas and called the board's move a violation of their voting rights.

The Lancaster school board has been less receptive to a merger than some had hoped, and many area residents have opposed the move. The board is expected to vote on the matter Friday.

Wilmer-Hutchins leaders had earlier rejected Dallas' merger offer because Dallas wanted to shutter all of Wilmer-Hutchins' schools and bus students to underpopulated existing Dallas schools.

But Dallas trustees Ron Price and Hollis Brashear both said Monday that they would be willing to consider keeping Wilmer-Hutchins High School open.

Staff writer Paul Meyer contributed to this report.

[TexasStooge]

Board Votes To Dissolve Wilmer-Hutchins District

DALLAS, Texas (KXAS NBC 5) -- Wilmer-Hutchins school district employees are jobless and where its students will go is unclear after a vote to close the district for at least one year.

District leaders voted Monday night to effectively dissolve the district to give it time to fix its financial and educational problems.

The district has been rocked by extensive cheating on standardized tests and allegations of financial mismanagement.

Albert Black Jr., is president of the district's state-appointed board of managers. He called the decision a very difficult one -- but he thinks it the right one for the children of the suburban Dallas district.

Where the district's 2,700 students will attend school next year is undecided. The board of the neighboring Lancaster school district will meet Tuesday on whether to take in the Wilmer-Hutchins district.

The board is expected to vote Friday.

Dallas had offered a merger, but Wilmer-Hutchins leaders didn't like the proposal to divide the students among underpopulated Dallas schools.

[TexasStooge]

Lancaster won't take W-H kids

Decision makes it likely district's students will join DISD for a year

By HERB BOOTH and PAUL MEYER / The Dallas Morning News

LANCASTER, Texas – Lancaster school board members voted 4-3 Friday to reject a proposal for the district to house Wilmer-Hutchins students for one year.

Lancaster school board member Russ Johnson said the state put the school board in a difficult position with a short timetable.

"There are too many uncertainties. My mother told me if ever in doubt, don't," he said.

The plan had faced intense opposition from many in the Lancaster and Wilmer-Hutchins districts.

Lancaster's decision makes it likely that the Dallas Independent School District will be asked to take in the 2,700 Wilmer-Hutchins students.

Ron Rowell, head of the Texas Education Agency's governance division, said the agency will call Dallas school officials next week to devise a plan to take Wilmer-Hutchins students. DISD officials have said they would take Wilmer-Hutchins students if Lancaster did not.

Dallas trustee Hollis Brashear said Friday that he expects the district to decide quickly whether to absorb Wilmer-Hutchins, if called upon. Other options, he said, include dividing the district, with some students going to Ferris schools.

"I'm only speaking for myself, but I would favor Dallas stepping up and negotiating with either the Wilmer-Hutchins school board or the state," he said. "We can't leave those kids hanging out there. They're students trying to get an education."

Dallas school board President Lois Parrott said it's up to Wilmer-Hutchins' board of managers to contact DISD Superintendent Michael Hinojosa.

Dallas schools spokesman Donald Claxton, speaking on behalf of Mr. Hinojosa, reiterated the district's willingness to help after Friday's vote.

"We have said all along that we're ready to help if we're called upon," he said. "The vote tonight doesn't change that stance."

What happens to Wilmer-Hutchins after 2005-06 remains unclear. If several hurdles aren't cleared, Wilmer-Hutchins could be dissolved next summer and merged permanently with Lancaster or Dallas. Voters must agree to raise the district's tax rate, and the district must pass a bond proposal to rebuild its schools.

Also, test scores must increase – though it's unclear by how much. It's likely the Legislature would have to approve a number of one-time changes to state funding law.

If the district is dissolved, Dallas or Lancaster could decide to permanently absorb Wilmer-Hutchins, or state Education Commissioner Shirley Neeley could require them to do so.

Lancaster was the board of managers' choice to teach the students. Melding Wilmer-Hutchins into Lancaster schools for a year would have allowed Wilmer-Hutchins to keep up to four campuses, and Lancaster could have hired some Wilmer-Hutchins teachers.

But some Wilmer-Hutchins residents were happy with Lancaster's refusal to take in their students.

Lionel Churchill, a Wilmer-Hutchins activist, said that now the state can go to the Dallas district to see what it can offer.

But Dallas trustee Ron Price said it may take a while before the board could meet to consider options, given that many trustees are on vacation.

"We won't have an opportunity to come together as a board to address this issue until probably the second week of July," he said.

Mr. Price said he favors a plan that would shift some students into the Ferris ISD with others joining Dallas.

"At the end of the day, any city, any school district, any state or nation should be judged on how it treats its children," he said. "That's the question we're going to face as the city of Dallas and as North Texas."

Lancaster residents had been reluctant to take on Wilmer-Hutchins because of its own troubles with state-mandated testing. Lancaster ranked near the bottom in a Dallas Morning News analysis of the early release of results from the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills test.

Wilmer-Hutchins' financial failure culminated in that district's board of managers voting Monday to shut down schools for the upcoming year and have its students taught by other districts. Also Monday, the board of managers laid off all campus-based employees.

The financial undoing of Wilmer-Hutchins includes a lawsuit from Wells Fargo after the district defaulted on a $2 million loan.

The district missed payroll when it overlooked the fact that the Legislature had delayed the August 2004 payments to school districts a month to help balance the state budget.

Plus, the Dallas County district attorney's office, the Texas Rangers and the FBI have launched investigations of the district.

Former Wilmer-Hutchins Superintendent Charles Matthews has been indicted, and the elected school board was ousted by Dr. Neeley.

[TexasStooge]

2nd choice to decide W-H's fate

DISD: Trustees to discuss whether to take in students from ailing district after rejection by 1st pick, Lancaster

By JOSHUA BENTON / The Dallas Morning News

DALLAS, Texas - Having been spurned in its first attempt at courtship, the Wilmer-Hutchins school district now turns to Dallas.

Dallas Independent School District trustees are to meet today to discuss taking over the job of educating Wilmer-Hutchins' 2,700 students – either for the next school year or permanently.

"I openly welcome the children of Wilmer-Hutchins into the district," said Dallas trustee Nancy Bingham, who represents an area bordering Wilmer-Hutchins' boundaries. "But I don't want it to be a temporary fix. These children deserve stability."

Wilmer-Hutchins' extensive financial problems have left it so deep in debt that officials say it cannot open for classes in the fall. Last week, the district's state-appointed board of managers voted to hand Wilmer-Hutchins students off for the next school year to another district, where they can receive a better education than Wilmer-Hutchins can provide.

But on Friday, their top choice – Lancaster schools – said no thanks. The school board there voted 4-3 not to accept the job of managing Wilmer-Hutchins' schools, even though it could have meant a financial gain for Lancaster.

Dallas, with nearly 160,000 students, would be in a much stronger position to absorb Wilmer-Hutchins than the much smaller Lancaster.

Dallas officials initially said they would take Wilmer-Hutchins students only if they could bus them to 12 existing Dallas schools. That created resistance among Wilmer-Hutchins residents who said they want to keep students close to home. But in recent days, several Dallas trustees have said they would be willing to reconsider that stance.

"I'm hoping the district would do what it can to assist in whatever way Wilmer-Hutchins might need," said Dallas trustee Lew Blackburn. Dr. Blackburn is in the stickiest position of any Dallas board member because his day job is being Wilmer-Hutchins' human resources director. If the two districts merge, he would have to give up either his board seat or his source of income.

Dallas school district spokesman Donald Claxton said the board is not expected to make a final decision tonight. Another meeting would have to be called for that, perhaps next week.

"This meeting is to put information on the table, hear the reactions of the trustees and find out what questions they want us to answer," he said.

But continued delays – the merger with Lancaster was supposed to be wrapped up more than a week ago – are making the transition more difficult. New Dallas teachers are due to report for training in less than three weeks. Classes start Aug. 15.

"It's incredibly unsettling for parents and students who don't know where they'll attend next year," said Debbie Graves Ratcliffe, a spokeswoman for the Texas Education Agency, who said time is running out for important repairs to dilapidated Wilmer-Hutchins buildings.

Mr. Claxton said that because of the delays, it's likely that Dallas would keep Wilmer-Hutchins students in those crumbling schools this year because there wouldn't be time to move them to Dallas schools before school starts.

One remaining wildcard is the state's education commissioner, Shirley Neeley. Sometime in the next few days, she is expected to officially receive Wilmer-Hutchins' test scores from this spring, which will be among the worst the state has seen in years. When that happens, she will gain the legal authority to merge Wilmer-Hutchins with one of its neighbors unilaterally. Such a merger would take effect in July 2006 – and officially end Wilmer-Hutchins' hopes of reopening the district.

"It all still hinges on what the commissioner wants to do," Mr. Claxton said.

Dr. Neeley would not have the power to affect where students go for the upcoming school year. But if she orders a merger for 2006, the districts involved could choose to move up the wedding date on their own.

Public opposition to a merger in Lancaster was strong, ultimately derailing the efforts of Lancaster Superintendent Larry Lewis to bring the districts together. But TEA officials said they did not expect as many difficulties from Dallas.

"I haven't talked to all the board members, but I'm thinking they would try to help," Dr. Blackburn said.

But what happens if DISD says no? It's unclear. Wilmer-Hutchins simply won't have the money to open its doors this fall. And Ferris schools, the district's only other contiguous neighbor, has not expressed interest, Ms. Ratcliffe said.

One option being floated around TEA headquarters: asking a charter school to take over district operations.

"We don't have a lot of history to go on here," Ms. Ratcliffe said. "State law just doesn't anticipate everything going wrong in a district at the same time. This is unique."

[TexasStooge]

Wilmer-Hutchins students heading to DISD?

BRAD WATSON / WFAA ABC 8

DALLAS, Texas - Wilmer-Hutchins students need somewhere to go this fall because their district has no money. Lancaster turned them down and it appears Dallas is ready to accept them.

"We must step up to the plate and help these children," said Ron Price, Dallas school board first vice president.

However, educating Wilmer-Hutchins 2,700 students will cost $17.5 million and board members want an assurance the state will cover the cost, not Dallas taxpayers.

"Now we don't have assurances that that money is available right now," said Michael Hinojosa, Dallas school board superintendent. "But, that is what we see, that we would not burden our taxpayers."

All Wilmer-Hutchins students would go to Dallas schools, except juniors and seniors who would stay at the high school.

That means enrollment at 21 Dallas schools would increase at some schools by 300 students.

"We have to make sure that this does not adversely affect the children that we were elected and are neighbors expect us to do," said Jerome Garza, Dallas school board second vice president.

The Dallas district said they believe if the board approves, the state will make annexation permanent angering some Wilmer-Hutchins residents.

"To give us the opportunity, you know for us to become solvent again, that was supposed to have been the deal," said Claudia Fowler, former WHISD board member.

[TexasStooge]

W-H residents leery of plan to join DISD

Concerns include busing, treatment of students by others

By HERB BOOTH / The Dallas Morning News

DALLAS, Texas - The Dallas school district may be ready to take in Wilmer-Hutchins students soon, but residents in the troubled school district aren't ready to climb on the bus just yet.

Several at a Wilmer-Hutchins board of managers meeting Tuesday night spoke against the proposed DISD merger, which could require busing students to Dallas schools.

"Why can't my babies stay here?" said Betty Williams, a Dallas resident who has nine grandchildren in the Wilmer-Hutchins district.

"Right now I can make it to the school in less than five minutes. They are going to be mistreated; they're going to be put down."

Dallas is being asked to accept the transfer of Wilmer-Hutchins' 2,650 students for the coming school year. Wilmer-Hutchins would remain open only so it could collect taxes that would be used to pay down the district's debts.

Starting in the 2006-07 school year, the districts would be merged into a united Dallas district. The decision to merge could come from the two districts' boards or from state Education Commissioner Shirley Neeley.

Wilmer-Hutchins district resident Sharon Hopkins said she's tired of hearing the board of managers say the district is a work in progress.

"When do we find out?" Ms. Hopkins said. "When do we get some kind of date on when? What do we do with our kids? We need school clothes. What do we buy?"

In other business, the board approved asking the Texas Education Agency to advance enough money to pay off obligations such as June, July and August payroll.

Board member Michelle Willhelm said the amount needed is about $3 million. However, that money would have to be paid back to the state through Wilmer-Hutchins property tax revenue in 2005-06.

Ron Rowell, head of the Texas Education Agency's governance division, said Wilmer-Hutchins would have to repay the money or the move would set a dangerous precedent.

[TexasStooge]

Dallas ISD would keep high school closed

By JOSHUA BENTON and TAWNELL D. HOBBS / The Dallas Morning News

HUTCHINS, Texas - The Wilmer-Hutchins High Eagles may have flown for the last time.

Dallas school officials have decided that Wilmer-Hutchins High is too dilapidated to keep open – even just for the next year.

"We've concluded and notified trustees that we're not going to use Wilmer-Hutchins High School," Dallas spokesman Donald Claxton said.

That decision means every school in Wilmer-Hutchins will be closed if Dallas agrees to take the district's students. Wilmer-Hutchins' other schools, in various states of disrepair, had been marked for closure.

Instead, all Wilmer-Hutchins students would be bused to Dallas campuses: Carter, South Oak Cliff and A. Maceo Smith high schools, plus the lower schools in their feeder patterns.

The high school's closure would affect University Interscholastic League events such as football. Wilmer-Hutchins athletes will be allowed to compete on Dallas teams, UIL athletic director Charles Breithaupt said.

Dallas school facilities officials inspected Wilmer-Hutchins High on Monday to see whether it could be salvaged, despite needs for a new roof and air-conditioning system.

"We just felt it would be impossible to get the building ready before Aug. 15," the first day of school, Mr. Claxton said. "It's not in any condition to educate kids, in our opinion."

The schools' closures depend on the Dallas school board's willingness to take on Wilmer-Hutchins students.

Wilmer-Hutchins is in woeful financial shape, and its leaders say there isn't enough money to operate on their own this fall.

Dallas trustees are expected to vote on the issue next week.