Dallas students greeted with cheers and music on first day of school

Ikia Harding sat on a bench outside John J. Pershing Elementary School, watching students walk through the front doors with tears in her eyes Monday morning.

She had just dropped off her 5-year-old daughter, Delilah, for her first day of kindergarten at the same elementary school she attended.

“She’s an only child and now she’s going to be able to go out with her friends,” Harding said. “She was very excited all week.”

Delilah is among the 140,000 students the Dallas Independent School District welcomed back to school on its first day. At Pershing, students were greeted by Hillcrest High School’s drum corps, cheerleaders, drill team members and other athletes.

Photos: Dallas Independent School District students at John J. Pershing Elementary School were greeted with greetings and music on the first day of school

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Parent Analine Llamas said she was excited for her daughters, a second-grader and a preschooler at Pershing, to experience the routine of school again after a summer of painting, swimming and spending time outdoors.

“It’s the beginning of structure, the beginning of becoming responsible and becoming a member of society and really knowing what that is,” Llamas said.

Pershing is one of 240 DISD schools in the district. All campuses opened Monday without problems, Dallas schools spokesman Sebastian Saucedo said.

Superintendent Stephanie Elizalde, who visited Pershing classrooms Monday, noted that there was extra security at Wilmer-Hutchins Middle School that morning. District officials took the precaution after a “non-functioning device” was found on campus Saturday.

“No real harm was ever done, but it was very scary,” he said. “We will investigate how someone created a device to scare people, because we take that very seriously.”

During a news conference, Elizalde said the Dallas Independent School District has filled more than 99% of its teaching positions. The district had 70 vacant teaching positions as of Monday.

He added that administrators are working to fill vacant full-time armed officer positions at elementary schools.

The district has added 30 to 40 armed officers. The officers will rotate through schools that do not already have one. The vacancies are expected to be filled within two years, Elizalde said.