School News
Commissioner orders annexation of Wilmer-Hutchins to Dallas ISD, effective July 2006
By TEA media release
Sep 5, 2005

AUSTIN – Commissioner of Education Shirley J. Neeley announced today that she intends to annex the Wilmer-Hutchins Independent School District (WHISD) to the Dallas Independent School District, effective July 1, 2006, pending preclearance by the U.S. Department of Justice.

Neeley is taking this action under a Texas law that allows the commissioner to close a school district that has been academically unacceptable for two years. WHISD is currently the only school district in Texas to receive an academically unacceptable rating for two consecutive years.

Because of extensive financial and academic problems that have made it impossible for Wilmer-Hutchins to educate its approximately 2,700 schoolchildren in the 2005-2006 school year, it is already contracting with Dallas ISD to provide educational services.

"WHISD Superintendent Eugene Young and the Board of Managers I appointed in May have gone above and beyond the call of duty to try to save this district. I will always be indebted to them for their hard work and special effort," Neeley said.

"The decision to order the annexation was a difficult one, but a number of compelling reasons convinced Texas Education Agency staff and this commissioner that this is the right decision for the children of WHISD," Neeley said.

The district is insolvent and has no means to open school in 2006-2007. Citizens in Wilmer-Hutchins ISD have voted down, by large margins, efforts to increase the maximum tax rate the district can levy as well as a bond proposal. Even if a bond authorization was passed and the tax rate raised, WHISD will not be prepared to educate students next year because its facilities are inadequate and could not be rebuilt or repaired in time to open school next fall, she said.

The district is also overdue in paying creditors and owes the state $3 million that it was advanced over the summer in order to pay employees for work already performed. This year’s tax collections are pledged towards an existing multi-million dollar debt to Wells Fargo Bank. It is likely that WHISD will have to sell some of its facilities this year just to pay a portion of its debts.

"The district’s problems have escalated from bad to worse over decades. These students have spent their school years in a district racked by scandal and mismanagement. I cannot in good conscience allow any child to be educated in this inadequate system. I believe Dallas ISD is the best solution for the children of Wilmer-Hutchins," the commissioner said.