Stirring trumpet and drum sounds from Hillcrest High School band members greeted Pershing Elementary students and parents on Monday as the new school year began in Dallas ISD.

Second-grader Ubaldo Cruz was ready for school because he enjoyed his first year.

“The teacher was really nice and explained so much about the school,” Ubaldo said from the back seat of an SUV.

At the wheel was older brother Ariel, who attended Pershing University years ago.

“It’s a great school,” Ariel said. “I mean, we still volunteer here from time to time and we’re still a part of the school.”

At Pershing Elementary, Dallas Superintendent Stephanie Elizalde visited several classrooms and greeted students. As Dallas ISD and other North Texas districts begin the new school year with multimillion-dollar budget deficits, she said it’s time for state lawmakers to boost the education budget, which has remained unchanged since 2019.

“We need everyone’s help to fund schools first,” Elizalde said. “Let’s focus this session on making sure we fund our public schools so we can continue to do our great work paying our teachers, paying our teacher leaders and making sure our students have all the resources they need.”

Elizalde said that for the district to return to full capacity, $1,100 would need to be provided in addition to the base allotment of $6,100 per student statewide. But, she said, “I’m a realist and I don’t expect that.”

But as for the vacant teaching positions – another problem that plagues districts every year around this time – Elizalde said that is not a problem in Dallas this semester. She said there are only 70 teaching positions available.

“This is the lowest we’ve been since we started keeping these types of records in the district,” she said. “So 99.4% of our teaching positions are filled. That’s great for the kids.”

Elizalde said the district has also hired 30 to 40 additional security guards for campus security, bringing it closer to the state’s mandate of having an armed guard at every school. She expects to reach that goal in two more years. The state has already granted the district – and many others across the state – a waiver to meet the mandate.

Other districts in North Texas are also starting classes this week, including Fort Worth and Richardson, whose first day of school is Tuesday, and Arlington and Highland Park, both of which start Wednesday. Some districts, such as McKinney, started classes last week.

Bill Zeeble is KERA’s education reporter. Have a tip? Email Bill at [email protected]. You can follow him on X @bzeeble.

KERA News is made possible by the generosity of our members. If you find this coverage valuable, please consider Make a tax-deductible donation today. Thank you very much.