Standing in front of a room full of educators, district staff and community members, Dallas ISD Superintendent Stephanie Elizalde said Tuesday that the district needs a new vision — one that sets a higher bar for what the district is striving for.

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Dallas ISD’s vision statement says the district “seeks to be a premier urban school district.”

There’s nothing wrong with that statement, Elizalde said in her annual State of the District address. But Dallas ISD is no longer seeking to become a premier urban school district. It is one.

The district has brought the number of F-rated campuses down from 24 to 2, she said, has a higher teacher retention rate than it’s ever had and just passed the largest bond issue in state history.

Related:Dallas ISD voters approved historic $6.2 billion bond issue. When will construction begin?

Speaking from the stage at the Winspear Opera House, Elizalde said that means the district needs to set its sights higher. 

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Last year, 91% of the district’s graduates completed high school ready for college, a career or the military, putting the district nine points ahead of the state average. About a third of the district’s graduates earn college credit before they finish high school, and students have earned tens of thousands of industry certifications over the past five years, Elizalde said.

Although those achievements are worth celebrating, Elizalde said Dallas ISD can go further. Elizalde vowed to ensure that all the district’s students will not only graduate high school ready to start college, embark on a career or the join the military, but actually take one of those steps, she said. A few campuses have been able to meet that threshold, she said, but no entire school system has done so.

“I think competing against every other urban school district is a low bar,” she said. “We will compete against ourselves, because we can set that bar high.”

Elizalde thanked Dallas ISD voters for their support at the polls last weekend. On Saturday, voters passed the district’s $6.2 billion bond proposal by a wide margin. None of the four propositions included in the bond package garnered less than 70% of the vote. District leaders plan to use bond money to build 26 new schools to replace 28 aging buildings, upgrade the district’s technology infrastructure and add enough classroom space to allow every school to remove their portable classroom units, among other projects. 

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Apart from the bond issue, Elizalde highlighted other achievements from the past year. In January, district leaders announced a new partnership that will allow more than 48,000 students in select grades to go on field trips, free of charge. In March, the Dallas ISD Board of Trustees adopted a universal tuition-free pre-K program for all 3- and 4-year-olds. 

The district is also launching a pre-primer program designed for students who need a bridge between kindergarten and first grade, she said. The program will include an intensive focus on early literacy, conceptual math and social development, she said.

Related: Dallas ISD looks to offer universal free pre-K. Research shows it could be a game-changer

Although the district can point to many accomplishments over the past decade, Elizalde said it’s critical that leaders and supporters treat the district as a work in progress, not as a completed mission.

“At Dallas ISD, we are always getting better because we’re not building for today,” she said. “We’re building the future.”

The DMN Education Lab deepens the coverage and conversation about urgent education issues critical to the future of North Texas.

 The DMN Education Lab is a community-funded journalism initiative, with support from Bobby and Lottye Lyle, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, Garrett and Cecilia Boone, Judy and Jim Gibbs, The Meadows Foundation, The Murrell Foundation, Ron and Phyllis Steinhart, Solutions Journalism Network, Southern Methodist University, Sydney Smith Hicks, and the University of Texas at Dallas. The Dallas Morning News retains full editorial control of the Education Lab’s journalism.

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