District of Innovationper HB 1842

Dallas Independent School District

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House Bill 1842 provides for the opportunity for

Texas school districts to pursue the designation of

District of Innovation.

House Bill 1842:

“Gives traditional independent school districts most of the

flexibilities available to Texas’ open-enrollment charter

schools” (TASB)

Allows for more flexibility and local control to activate

innovative programming

Enables the conditions for innovation to better meet the

needs of our students

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What is a District of Innovation (DOI)?

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• Elected board of trustees

• Powers and duties of school boards, superintendents, and principals

• PEIMS

• Criminal history record checks and educator misconduct reporting

• Curriculum and graduation requirements

• Bilingual education

• Special education

• Prekindergarten

• Academic accountability, including student assessments

• Financial accountability and related reporting

• Open meetings

• Public records

• Public purchasing under the Texas Local Government Code and conflicts of

interest

• Nepotism

• Other state and federal laws outside of the Texas Education Code

Source: TASB FAQ

A DOI proposal cannot change:

Examples of Pursued Exemptions

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Source: Texas Education Agency

Sample District First Day of

School

Length of

School Day

Compulsory

Attendance

(90%)

Teacher

Certification

Class Size

Sec. 25.0811 Sec. 25.081 and

25.082

Sec. 25.092 Sec. 21.003 Sec. 25.112 and

25.113

Austin ISD ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

El Paso ISD ✓ ✓ ✓

Grand Prairie

ISD✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Point Isabel

ISD✓ ✓

San Antonio

ISD✓ ✓ ✓

Date Action

December 1st, 2016 Board of Trustees discussed District of Innovation Resolution

December 14th, 2016 Board of Trustees approved ‘Resolution to Initiate the Process of Designation as a

District of Innovation’

January 12th, 2017 Board of Trustees discussed process for appointing members to the District of

Innovation Committee as well as the charge to the Committee

January 26th, 2017 District of Innovation Public Hearing

Board of Trustees appointed the District of Innovation Committee

February 1st, 2017 District of Innovation Committee Meeting #1

February 15th, 2017 District of Innovation Committee Meeting #2

February 22nd, 2017 District of Innovation Committee Meeting #3

March 1st, 2017 District of Innovation Committee Meeting #4

March 6th, 2017 Final Version of Local Innovation Plan posted on Dallas ISD website

April 25th, 2017 Districtwide Advisory Committee voted to approve Local Innovation Plan

May 11th, 2017 Board of Trustees discusses final version of Local Innovation Plan

May 25th, 2017 Board of Trustees votes on final version of Local Innovation Plan

Dallas ISD DOI Timeline

DOI Committee Members

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Committee Member Appointment

Patricia Arvanitis Superintendent Hinojosa

Karry Chapman Superintendent Hinojosa

Thom Chesney Superintendent Hinojosa

Ivonne Durant Trustee Flores

Michael Gagne Trustee Micciche

Nicole Gipson-King Trustee Blackburn

Mita Havlick Trustee Marshall

Stacey Hodge Superintendent Hinojosa

Rena Honea Superintendent Hinojosa

Daisy Jamaica Trustee Solis

Michael MacNaughton Trustee Foreman

Rene Martinez Superintendent Hinojosa

Alba Ramirez Trustee Resendez

Dr. Kristie Vowels Trustee Pinkerton

Bob Weiss Trustee Nutall

Board Resolution

The Board charged the District of Innovation

Committee to explore the following exemptions:

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Resolution Language Statutory Reference

“The law prohibiting the District from

beginning instruction before the

fourth Monday in August”

• Texas Education Code (TEC)

25.0911

“The laws that limit the ability of the

District to hire professionals in

certain trades and vocations to

teach the crafts of those trades and

vocations (such as welding, fine

arts, etc.) in career and

technical/STEAM courses”

• TEC 25.003

• TEC 21.053

• TEC 21.044

• 19 Texas Administrative Code

Chapter 231

*Source: Dallas ISD Board of Trustees Resolution to Initiate the Process of Designation as a

District of Innovation (adopted on December 14th, 2016).

Local Innovation Plan Tenets

Following testimony and resource-sharing by subject

matter experts as well as committee deliberation

across 8+ hours of meetings, the DOI Committee

approved a Local Innovation Plan that includes the

following requested exemptions:

Flexibility to begin the school year before the fourth

Monday in August

Flexibility on teacher certification requirements in the areas

of career and technical education and dual-credit

coursework in grades 9-12 only

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Local Innovation Plan Tenets

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Flexibility Advantages

Flexibility to begin the school

year before the fourth Monday in

August

*Better-balanced semesters and six weeks

*More balanced distribution of instructional time for one-semester

courses

*Completion of fall exams before winter break

*More instructional days in advance of standardized assessments

*More time after the last day of school for students retaking STAAR

exams in the summer

*Opportunity for students to take advantage of full array of summer

dual-credit coursework

Flexibility on teacher

certification requirements in the

areas of career and technical

education and dual-credit

coursework in grades 9-12 only

*Ability to fill hard-to-staff courses in career and technical education

with candidates who have industry experience

*Opportunity to more easily hire credentialed postsecondary

instructors to also teach 9-12 dual-credit courses

*Opportunity to increase the number of career and technical and

dual-credit course offerings to high school students

Local Innovation Plan Tenets

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Flexibility Concerns Mitigation Strategies

Flexibility to

begin the school

year before the

fourth Monday in

August

*Communication to stakeholders regarding

new calendar

*Don’t want to start too early so as to

imbalance the semesters

*Don’t want to adversely affect the budget

*Calendar changes may not go into effect

until 2018-19 school year;

Communications team will immediately

begin communication campaign regarding

potential changes upon adoption of Local

Innovation Plan by Board of Trustees

*Winter Break should serve as the

midpoint of the school year

*Adjustments to the student and staff

calendars must be budget-neutral

Local Innovation Plan Tenets

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Flexibility Concerns Mitigation Strategies

Flexibility on

teacher

certification

requirements in

the areas of

career and

technical

education and

dual-credit

coursework in

grades 9-12 only

*Don’t want to overlook certified teachers

for vacant positions

*Don’t want to lower barriers to entry so

much so that there are little to no

prerequisites to teach – desire to ensure

quality

*Worry around level of preparation of non-

certified instructors – desire to ensure that

non-certified instructors are well-prepared

*The District must first consider high

quality, certified teachers

*The District must establish criteria for

selection of high quality, non-certified

candidates

*The District must implement a rigorous

on-boarding and training program for

newly-hired, non-certified instructors

Future Amendments

The Local Innovation Plan (LOI) is valid for five years

from the date of adoption.

The LOI may be amended or changed after adoption

only by the same process that is required to create

the original plan.

Any proposed amendments must be submitted to a

District of Innovation committee and then to the

school board for approval by a super-majority vote of

the board.

After five years, all sections of the plan must be

reviewed and the original adoption process must be

followed to renew a plan.12