The Lake Travis ISD board of trustees initiated a process Sept. 20 to become designated as a District of Innovation, a school district option adopted during the 2015 state legislative session that allows districts more flexibility for start and end dates, teacher certification requirements, class size ratios and attendance requirements. “DOIs give districts local control to decide what [requirements] fit [a] district,” said Superintendent Brad Lancaster who likened the DOI concept to the flexibility charter schools have in the state. He said LTISD would not, under a DOI, move class size ratios up to 30 students per teacher but may increase the class size to 24 students from the state-mandated 22 students per teacher for kindergarten through fourth grade. The board approved class size waivers for five elementary schools in the district Sept. 20. Lancaster said, as far as changing teacher certification requirements, the district would not accept uncertified instructors for subjects, such as math or English, but may approve hiring a welding teacher who is not certified but has spent years in his or her job role. However, the change allowed by a DOI in class sizes and teacher certification requirements has met with some resistance from instructors, he said. “We are only looking at hard-to-fill courses [for hiring uncertified teachers] and not kindergarten or first grade,” Lancaster said. An extended probation period for new staff acceptable under a DOI will not apply to existing LTISD staff, he said. An innovation plan cannot exempt a school district from open enrollment; state requirements for curriculum or graduation such as the 75,600 instructional minutes required by the state per school year; and academic and financial accountability, Lancaster said. A public hearing was held during the meeting to discuss whether the district should develop its own local innovation plan, but no speakers came forward. The board convened an Innovation Plan Committee—which is composed of parents, staff, civic leaders and board secretary Alex Alexander and president Lisa Johnson—to develop a plan for select changes from the state school mandate LTISD would seek in its DOI pursuit. Alexander and Johnson will serve in an ex-officio capacity without voting on proposals put forth by the committee. The IPC’s first meeting is set for today, Sept. 22. If all goes according to a draft timetable for the project, a proposed plan will be posted Nov. 11 and its first reading before the board will be Nov. 15, Lancaster said. A public meeting to consider the plan as well as a board vote on the plan is set for Dec. 13, he said. Nearby Eanes ISD formed a committee June 21 to develop its DOI plan and Dripping Springs ISD was designated as a DOI in June.