By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 1B 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 […]
Category: DMN | Education
Some in Lancaster rail against helping W-H; ‘Take care of our own first’ the message as 200 gather for merger hearing
By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 1B Lancaster schools are in too delicate a position to be taking on the massive problems of Wilmer-Hutchins, more than a dozen residents argued at a public hearing Tuesday night. “If your boat is already sinking, you don’t put another rock in the boat,” resident Herman Tucker said. Mr. […]
Questions and answers on Wilmer-Hutchins district; Future of students, staff at shuttered schools remains uncertain
By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 11B On Monday night, Wilmer-Hutchins managers voted to shut down the district’s schools for the coming school year. Here are some common questions and answers about what happens next: Who will be teaching Wilmer-Hutchins’ students next school year? It’s unclear. The top choice of district leaders is the Lancaster […]
Wilmer-Hutchins closing for a year; District employees out of jobs; where students will go is undecided
By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 1A 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. […]
Column: Can cash buy good schools?
By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 1B It may cost $20,000 a year or more. But is private-school tuition really worth the big bucks? An interesting new study by two University of Illinois researchers seems to indicate it often isn’t. And it gives further evidence that many folks can’t spot a “good” school when they […]
W-H puts off decision; Meeting turns raucous over proposal to merge with Lancaster
By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 1A 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 […]
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W-H nears a decision on its fate; District might shut down this year or next, send kids to DISD, Lancaster
By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 1A 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 […]
15% of fifth-graders down to one last chance on TAKS; Final shot to move on is this month; districts vow an all-out effort
By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 1A Ending social promotion isn’t turning out to be as easy as state education leaders may have hoped. After two tries, about 40,000 Texas fifth-graders still haven’t passed the math and reading sections of the TAKS test. That means a summer full of stress and, for many, another year […]
Troubled district may be out of options; Wilmer-Hutchins: State opposes tax election, cites lack of trust
By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 8B 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 […]
W-H, bank urged to resolve debt outside court; With $70 to its name, troubled district can’t pay $2.8 million loan
By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 7B The Wilmer-Hutchins school district has $2.8 million in bank debt, $3 million more in teacher salaries it can’t pay and $70 in the bank. That grim financial picture is why a Dallas County district judge ordered the district and Wells Fargo to find a way to settle their […]