JE Terry Elementary closure approved

Published 3:41 pm Wednesday, June 4, 2025

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The Dallas County Board of Education unanimously approved two resolutions that resulted in the JE Terry Elementary closure and consolidation of Bruce K. Craig Elementary and Southside Primary School during a special called meeting Tuesday.

In front of a packed room at the Dallas County Learning Resource Center, there was no discussion prior to the vote.

Board President Melvin Flanagan-Brown entertained a motion after Superintendent Anthony Sampson made the recommendation for each school closure.

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Board Member Leroy Miles made the motion both times for the closure. It was seconded both times by Board Member William Minor.

Next steps after JE Terry Elementary closure

What this means is that students from J.E. Terry Elementary School, which was a pre-K-6 school, will go to Valley Grande for grades pre-kindergarten through fifth grade and to Martin Middle School for sixth grade.

The resolution also affects Valley Grande Elementary and Brantley Elementary schools, which will now become pre-kindergarten through fifth grade schools. Valley Grande will accommodate the students coming from J.E. Terry from pre-k to fifth grade.

However, the sixth graders will all be transferred to Martin Middle School, which will now house all students in the Northern Zone for grades six through eight.

For the students in the Southern Zone, their resolution will almost be no change from the 2024-2025 school year because students from Southside Primary School were moved to Bruce K. Craig Elementary while they performed mold remediation, construction and repairs at Southside Primary.

The only difference is that the students and teachers will now move back to Southside Primary campus as one school with grades pre-kindergarten through fifth grade. The name of the new school was not included in the resolution.

After no discussion, the board approved both resolutions without any opposition.

Personnel transfers

The only other action item from the meeting was to approve the personnel report. After an executive session for the purpose of discussing the general reputation and character of an individual, the board returned to open session and approved the personnel report.

Most of the action items were transfers for teachers who were teaching at the affected schools. Twenty of the persons were listed as Bruce K. Craig Elementary employees, and they were reclassified under Southside Primary.

That included Elizabeth Young (PreK Aide), Lafrieda Johnson (third grade teacher), Ryann Smith (third grade teacher), Shereva Purifoy (fourth grade teacher), Quinetta Dixon (fourth grade teacher), Jonnae Miles (fifth grade teacher), Charlotte Reeves (PreK Teacher), Lasharn Thomas (fifth grade teacher), Timothy Richburg (CNP manager), Sandra Smith (CNP worker), Monica Savage (Nurse), Christine Duran (special education), Barbara Anderson (Paraprofessional), Ricky Austin (Physical Education Teacher), Lequita Carter (Interventionist), India Hester (Reading Specialist), Shemiko Moseley (Math Coach), JaNautica Jones (Counselor), Ken Coleman (Bus Driver), Tasha Hopkins (Bus Driver), Charles Moody (Bus Driver) and Tyrone Hatcher (Bus Driver).

The following were transfers to different schools:

  • Karen Dismukes, gifted teacher at Martin Middle to Brantley.
  • Kimberly Moppins, paraprofessional from Northern Zone to paraprofessional itinerant Dallas County High.
  • Wendy Mull, paraprofessional at J.E. Terry to Dallas County High.
  • Sheri Radford Lindsey, special education at J.E. Terry to Valley Grande.
  • Towanda Friday, sixth grade teacher at Brantley to Martin Middle.
  • Lakesha Pope, reading specialist at Southside Primary to Valley Grande.
  • Charlotte Lace, front office clerk at J.E. Terry to Valley Grande.
  • Elena Mayhand, custodian at J.E. Terry to Valley Grande.
  • Shirley Goodwin, CNP manager at J.E. Terry to cook at Martin Middle.
  • Shaniya Moore, kindergarten teacher at J.E. Terry to Valley Grande.
  • Susan Copeland, second grade teacher at J.E. Terry to Valley Grande.
  • Alyssa Hall, third grade teacher at J.E. Terry to Valley Grande.
  • Brandi Draime, fourth grade teacher at J.E. Terry to Valley Grande.
  • Amber Webb, fifth grade teacher at J.E. Terry to Valley Grande.
  • Melanie Snow, interventionist at Bruce K. Craig to Valley Grande.
  • Whitney Fray, sixth grade teacher to first grade teacher at Valley Grande.
  • Rosemary Wade as a CNP manager to a cook at Southside Primary.

Other Personnel items

New hires included Collins Pettway III as an English language arts teacher at Keith and Kimberly Jefferson and Tameka Milhouse as cooks at Dallas County and Keith, respectively.

Resignations included Mary Jones as a Dallas County English teacher, Kaitlyn Jones as a J.E. Terry first grade teacher, Samantha Robinson as a JE Terry reading specialist and Hunter Steiner as a Martin Middle TEAMS science teacher.

Additional transfers included Alicia Seaver’s from fourth grade teacher to second grade teacher at Brantley, Temeasha Martin from second grade to fourth grade teacher at Brantley and Jacqueline Montgomery as a cook from Bruce K. Craig to Tipton-Durant.

Valley Grande bus driver Shareka Moore was granted family medical leave.