By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 1B After months of turmoil in Wilmer-Hutchins schools, the state is ready to take over. Texas Education Commissioner Shirley Neeley said Tuesday that she had decided to send a state management team to run the district’s operations. “We want everyone to have a positive feeling about Wilmer-Hutchins at the […]
Category: DMN | Education
Judge’s order cancels W-H trustee meeting
By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 5B The Wilmer-Hutchins administration building was silent Monday night after district officials unsuccessfully tried to convince a judge that its school board should be allowed to meet. State District Judge Merrill Hartman refused to rescind the temporary restraining order he issued Friday, preventing trustees from meeting or making any […]
W-H scores suspicious; Exclusive: News analysis triggers cheating concerns
By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 1A On this year’s third-grade TAKS reading test, an unlikely school finished No. 1 in the state. Wilmer Elementary – a perennial underachiever in a district many consider the state’s worst – beat out the scores of 3,212 other elementary schools. But substantial evidence, including a Dallas Morning News […]
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Claims of inflated attendance inspire criminal inquiry; W-H stood to gain more funding than most districts
By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 13A Wilmer-Hutchins schools are under criminal investigation over allegations that they reported false attendance information to the state – which could have been a way to get more state funding than the district deserved. James Damm, the district’s interim superintendent since Monday, confirmed that Texas Education Agency auditors are […]
Scores have spiked before in district; In 1999, Alta Mesa Elementary was cleared after investigation
By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 13A Wilmer-Hutchins has seen one of its schools’ test scores jump unexpectedly before. In the late 1990s, passing rates on the old Texas Assessment of Academic Skills test soared at Alta Mesa Elementary. From 1994 to 1997, the fourth-grade passing rate rose by 53.1 percentage points. In 1999, the […]
W-H board hit with restraining order; Move to halt school actions leads to confusion over superintendent
By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 1B The Wilmer-Hutchins school board is supposed to meet Monday night. That is, if it’s allowed to. A Dallas County district court judge issued a temporary restraining order Friday preventing the school board from doing anything for at least the next 10 days. The highly unusual move left confusion […]
Petition seeks vote on future of W-H; Group has obstacles to overcome on proposition to abolish district
By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 1B Wilmer-Hutchins schools weren’t on the ballot Tuesday. But they weren’t far from it. Outside polling places throughout the school district, a group of activists gathered hundreds of signatures on a petition to abolish Wilmer-Hutchins altogether. “Everybody realizes this needs to happen,” said Frances Churchill, who spent Tuesday morning […]
W-H chief is put on leave with pay; Interim superintendent expects state agency to take over district soon
By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 1B Charles Matthews is out as superintendent of Wilmer-Hutchins schools, and his replacement says the Texas Education Agency probably will take over the district by the end of the month. Dr. Matthews, who was indicted last week on felony charges of tampering with evidence, was put on paid administrative […]
Column: Vision care in schools deserves second look
By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 1B A big bold E, followed by F P T O Z. And, if all is well, L P E D, P E C F D, and E D F C Z P. Bring back any childhood memories? At some point, someone slapped a poster on a wall, stood […]
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Superintendent of W-H indicted; He calls tampering case misunderstanding; 2nd official also charged
By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 1A Charles Matthews, superintendent of the troubled Wilmer-Hutchins schools, was indicted Thursday on charges that he tampered with evidence in an ongoing investigation. The district’s maintenance director, Wallace Faggett, also was indicted by a Dallas County grand jury on the same charge. Evidence tampering is a third-degree felony with […]