DISD Trustee Nancy Bingham Will Not Seek Re-Flection Having served 12 years as the Dallas Independent School District Trustee for Distriet 4, Nancy Bi announced today that she will not be seeking a 5" term in this May’s election, Mrs, Bingham was first elected to the Board in 2004, shortly after she retired from a 32 year teaching career. The longest serving elected Trustee for the District, which includes Pleasant Grove, Seagoville and Balch Springs, Bingham said she never intended to stay so long. “I felt that my teaching experience would bring a different and valuable perspective on public education to the DISD and like many who go into public service, I expected changes to happen more quickly than they did.” ‘When she took office, Bingham’s district had clementary schools that were bursting at the seams and some of the worst performing high schools in DISD. But much has been accomplished during Bingham's 12 years on the Board of Trustees. Over that period, voters approved three bond projects that provided over $3 billion in funding for schools, including adding 5 new schools in District 4 (Adelfa Callejo Elementary, Ebby Halliday Elementary, Seagoville North Elementary, Ann Richards Middle School and Balch Springs Middle School) as well as major renovations, upgrades and additions to older facilities. Projects covered by the 2015 bond election are now in the design and planning stages and will begin construction within the next year. “The most rewarding aspect of my tenure on the Board” says Bingham “is that we have expanded the educational opportunities for students in their own neighborhoods with the return to neighborhood schools. 1 am also very excited that District 4 will offer the first single-gender middle schools in DISD that are open to all students who live within the neighborhood school boundaries and are not contingent on testing criteria.” According to Bingham, after an enthusiastic pilot program in 2015, Balch Springs Middle Schoo! will become an all-girls school and Fred Florence Middle School will become an all-boys school effective in fall 2016, “When we rolled out the pilot, the parents were so excited about the programs that we actually had standing room only crowds and @ waiting list for admission.” Other good news for District 4 students: graduation rates have increased tremendously, there are ‘academic increases at every grade level, and those 3 low performing high schools in District 4 have completely turned around. In 2012, Samuell High School, partnering with Eastfield Community College, opened an Early College program, the first school-within-a-school in Dallas 1.S.D. Students enrolled in the program will graduate this May with both their High School Diploma and an Associate Degree. The success of this program paved the way for 2 other Early College programs. In fall of 2015, Spruce High School launched their program offering students an opportunity to graduate with an Associate Degree focusing on Career and Technology, and the Seagoville High School Early College program will open this fall (2016), also with aan emphasis on technology. \ One of the most controversial efforts the Board has undertaken was to develop a new evaluation system for teachers and administrators. “With over 20,000 employees in the District, itis critical that we have highly effective teachers and administrators working with our children, The new comprehensive evaluation tool utilizes data to help determine effectiveness; it’s not a perfect system, but is far better than the former appraisal system” says Bingham, “There is still much work to be done” Bingham continues, “in Public Education there will always be challenges and District 4 will need to elect a representative that will continue to put the interests of the students at the center of every vote. It's time for someone else to continue the progress that we have made over the past 12 years.”