Oh, joy. Among the candidates for interim DISD superintendent is none other than Nolan Estes. For eight halycon years in the late 70’s, Estes increased the DISD budget by ten times while enrollment fell by more than 10,000 students. That was great salesmanship, and Nolan Estes is nothing if not a great salesman. But it was his novel sense of personal entitlement that charmed me. There was the 75-horsepower outboard motor he borrowed from the district: it turned out he had “borrowed” it for eight years. There was the auction of valuable antique schoolhouse furniture: except the auction was never publicly announced, and the only bidder was Nolan Estes. And then there were the land buys next to sites where DISD was about to buy or expand. Former political reporter Phillip Seib published the details of those in the September, 1981, issue of D Magazine. An excerpt:
It isn’t easy to determine how much money Estes made or will make on these deals, since the deeds for many of the properties merely indicate “all cash.” One holding for which complete financial records are available shows that Estes knows how to turn a profit; a property he purchased in November 1978 for $4250 was sold in September 1979 for $18,000. The property is three blocks from J.H. Reagan School -a school that in the summer of 1979 received an allocation of $2.2 million, using almost half of the remaining funds from the 1976 bond money to renovate several schools.
Then there was the Foundation for Educational Quality, a scam Estes founded with the late James Bond. It was supposed to build a private-public complex called the Eastern Gateway. It ended up costing the district hundreds of thousands, but Estes somehow managed to use it to get a personal contract with EDS for software development. And, of course, we can’t forget the consultant scam. Estes would hire as a “consultant” a superintendent from another big-city school district. Soon enough, that district would find a pressing need to hire Estes as a consultant. But no worries: he assured us his “consulting” was done on private time.
Now its board is seriously thinking of inviting this fox back into the hen house? Fabulous! The good times, they are coming back!
12 comments
Ron Chapman once said that he was not sure if the Estes Learning Center near I30 and Highway 67 split was named after Billie Sol or Nolan Estes.
Wick, I thought you and the late Judy Lott ran him out of town – for good – decades ago.
Don’t forget the times that maintenance staff worked on his properties using DISD vehicles, tools, etc. I worked for eight years during his reign. Might as well elect him to the Dallas City Council. Dallas just doesn’t get it.
Then there was the famous administrator who had girls stealing clothes out of department stores and then selling it out of her house. Nothing happened to her either. As I remembered she was promoted.
People don’t forget what it was like back then. God Help DISD. I have always loved Ron Chapman – now I know why.
Well, if nothing else, it will make people reconsider their opinion of Hinojosa’s term as superintendent.
@Amy S – Maybe that’s the goal of the Board? Bring in someone who will make previous superintendents look good in comparison.
It’s too bad that school districts are basically stuck turning to the same ol’ search firms that just regurgitate their standard list of possible contenders while collecting their exorbitant fees. We can’t get a Manpower temp?
YIKES…….DISD just doesn’t get it. Find some HONEST,loyal,moral,intelegent, hard working person that will work for the district and not themselves. The kids and tax payers demand this !!!!!
This would be funny, except I’m so sad for the students of DISD. You know, the children that they are supposed to be teaching and protecting.
The 10,000 students who left DISD were the whites fleeing the court ordered desegregation plan ordered by Judge Barefoot Sanders……
We the People of Seagoville, hope the People of Dallas will understand that when we organize to leave DISD,… why. Not to mention, we think leaving will also help DISD in their work toward being a national attraction (if they so desire).
So, that’s what happened to the hundreds of antique bentwood chairs which were taken out of Woodrow during the Estes reign…
I’ve been wondering if anyone would remember this huge blemish in Estes’ past, and am hapy that someone has resurrected the details on his shady dealings…
To whom it may concern: I am Nolan Estes niece and I was shocked to read your article not and not because I am related to him but that your article has no foundation of truth. It is easy to link one person who works under someone who embezzles to wrong doing i.e. Enron but growing up around this man I can assure you that he has never been fantastically wealthy as your article would imply. He is a modest and humble man who lead great strides for equal rights in education and is a staunch supporter education for the masses today. You are entitled to your opinions but may I recommend a bit of deeper fact checking next time!