As the first day of the 2025-26 school year approaches, Dallas Independent School District is juggling policy changes, new building openings and possible increases in enrollment.
In 2024, Dallas ISD saw an increase in student enrollment for the first time in years, said Robyn Harris, a spokesperson for the district.
This year, the district is hopeful enrollment numbers will hold steady at around 140,000 students, she said.
“Our superintendent, and many of our leadership, is still, like many districts, watching those numbers closely,” she said. “We won’t know for sure until the first days of school.”
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For this upcoming Dallas ISD school year, students and families can also expect more teachers and new buildings and classrooms, as well as state law-implemented policies.
Phone bans
In June, Gov. Greg Abbott signed House Bill 1481, which bans the use of smart devices during school hours.
Dallas ISD students are not allowed to use or display cellphones, smartwatches, tablets, AirPods, laptops or smart glasses while at school or school-sponsored events, according to Dallas ISD code of conduct.
School districts can also choose how the devices are stored. At Dallas ISD elementary schools, teachers will collect and store devices in the students’ homeroom until the end of the day.
The devices will be kept in cellphone pouches at secondary schools. Students can retrieve their phones at the end of the day by using a magnetic device to unlock the pouch.
The Dallas ISD 2025-26 code of conduct has been updated to include the device ban. If students do not comply with storing their phones, the device will be confiscated and a parent or guardian is required to pick it up, according to the code of conduct.
If a smart device is confiscated a second time, the student will be charged $5 and must pay the fee before the device is returned, the code of conduct says. The price increases $5 per confiscation.
New buildings and renovations
A new school year means a new school for many students. Dallas ISD has rebuilt and opened doors this August to three schools across the district.
Oak Cliff will now have the John Lewis Social Justice Academy at Oliver Wendell Holmes. The new $80 million campus is at 3111 Bonnie View Road and will serve seventh and eighth graders.
On Tuesday, the Henry Longfellow Career Exploration Academy will also be reopening its doors. The new $63 million middle school will be at 5314 Boaz St. The original building was demolished in May.
Longfellow opened in 1947 at West Lovers Lane and Inwood Road as an elementary school. It was one of the first racially mixed schools in Dallas ISD because of the district’s decadeslong desegregation case in the 1960s.
Albert C. Black STEAM Academy, a new elementary school at 4200 Bonnie View Road in east Oak Cliff, will also be opening on Tuesday.
Multiple schools across the district, including Casa View Elementary School and H.I. Holland Elementary School at Lisbon, have also been renovated, Harris said.
“Not only are we giving our students the opportunity to succeed with wonderful and high-quality teachers,” she said, “but we’re doing so inside world-class buildings, in brand-new facilities.”
Increase in teachers
There have consistently been about 10,000 teachers across Dallas ISD for the last few years, Harris said.
This year, the district is inching closer to a fully staffed teacher workforce. As of last week, Harris said the district has fewer than 100 teacher vacancies.
She added that this is the lowest number of vacancies the district has had heading into a school year in many years.
“So that’s pretty phenomenal news,” she said.
Starting the school year with a dedicated teacher in each classroom allows the district to build a legacy of strong and prepared students, Harris said.
“Having a highly qualified teacher inside every class is the reason that we are able to be successful,” she said.
Following state laws on DEI and religion
Starting Sept. 1, all Texas schools must display the Ten Commandments after the passing of Senate Bill 10.
Under the new law, a 16-by-20-inch poster or framed copy of the Ten Commandments must be displayed in every classroom with text that can be read by anyone with average vision.
The law has already received much scrutiny since Abbott signed the bill in June.
Next Generation Action Network Legal Advocacy Fund has filed a lawsuit in the Northern District of Texas to prevent the bill’s implementation. The suit argues that SB 10 violates the First Amendment and interferes with the rights of parents and children’s religious education.
The rollback of diversity, equity and inclusion programs in schools has also been a high priority for Texas lawmakers.
Also signed into law by Abbott in June is SB 12. The bill prohibits Texas public and charter schools from creating DEI programs, following hiring practices that consider race and creating school clubs based on sexual or gender identity.
The bill also forbids schools from providing any instruction, guidance or programs that acknowledge homosexuality or transgender identities.
Dallas ISD has not said how the new law will impact classrooms, but as a state-funded entity, Harris said, it can be in compliance with laws while still considering the demographics of the students and parents it serves.
“We will continue forward with all of the efforts and initiatives and that means for us to ensure that our families and our students receive the best quality education,” Harris said. “But with that, we know that there are laws that have been enacted, so we will always follow the law.”