Board set to vote Thursday on whether to make HISD District of Innovation
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Houston Independent School District's board of managers is expected to have a final vote Thursday night on whether to adopt a "District of Innovation" designation.
If the vote passes, and it's expected to, the DOI system would go into effect for an initial five-year term starting in January.
The designation not only gives districts more flexibility, it allows them to exempt themselves from certain state laws.
A similar proposal in HISD failed in 2021 after teacher groups opposed it, but it was brought back up this year with that state-appointed board.
HISD first voted to become a district of innovation in September. Its board has voted unanimously to move forward through every step of the process since.
Once the plan is in effect, it would trigger a number of changes, including a longer school year and earlier start to the school year.
Specifically:
- HISD would add a minimum of eight days to the school calendar year.
- School would start as early as the first Monday in August.
- HISD would raise the number of elementary students allowed per teacher.
- The district also wants to be able to hire uncertified teachers without obtaining annual waivers from the Texas Education Agency. However, according to our partners at the Houston Chronicle, a change to the final guidelines means HISD will not be allowed to hire those uncertified teachers without notifying parents first.
- The plan would let HISD develop those custom teacher evaluation systems, which were at the center of a Houston Federation of Teachers lawsuit.
Still, Districts of Innovation aren't new.
In fact, the TEA says there are currently 965 Districts of Innovation across the state. The ones in the Houston area include Pearland, Alvin, Aldine, Friendswood, and Fort Bend ISD.
