The following four exemptions were included in both districts’ DOI plans:
- School start date: While the TEC does not allow school districts to begin a new school year any earlier than the fourth Monday in August, both EISD and LTISD are now given the flexibility to start school as early as the second Monday in August.
- Teacher Certifications: Although the TEC requires all teachers to be properly certified, DOI status allows both districts to locally govern the use of non-certified professionals or teachers from different subject areas when certified educators are not available.
- Class Size in K-4: The TEC requires that districts maintain class sizes of 22 students or less in kindergarten through fourth grade, and a waiver must be completed if a class exceeds that number. With DOI status, EISD would not need to apply for a state waiver if the student-to-teacher ratio of 22-1 was exceeded during the school year, the district's plan states. LTISD’s plan allows the district to establish its own ratios for grades K-5 and exempts them from applying for a state waiver.
- Teacher Appraisal System: Instead of following a new statewide evaluation system for school staff and administration—called the Texas Teacher Evaluation and Support System, or T-TESS—both districts have the freedom to apprise staff in ways they feel better meet the districts' needs. LTISD is currently using T-TESS, but DOI status allows the district to customize certain aspects of the system if needed. EISD will continue to use the appraisal program it already has in place, which the district’s plan for innovation and local control states is better aligned with the district’s goals.
EISD’s plan includes an exemption for instructional minutes. The TEC requires districts to provide students with 75,600 instructional minutes per year and 420 minutes per day of classroom learning time. EISD’s DOI status allows the district to not be confined to 420 minutes of daily instructional time, while keeping the goal of 75,600 instructional minutes per year.
LISD’s plan includes an exemption involving probationary teacher contracts. Beginning in 2017-18 academic year all new teachers hired in the district can be issued a one-year probationary contract for a total of three years, and could be issued a fourth year probationary contract, LTISD's plan states.
Without DOI status, teachers with five years of experience within the last eight years could only be given one probationary contract before being placed on a term contract.
LTISD Deputy Superintendent Mary Patin said the district's process to become a DOI began in September when the board approved a committee to explore options. The district held a public hearing Tuesday afternoon. The plan was approved by the committee and presented to the board at the meeting Tuesday night, she said.
Eanes ISD began the DOI process by creating a DOI committee at a June 21 board meeting.
Both districts will now submit their plans to the Texas Education Agency.
“Once the board of trustees approves the plan—as they did last night [in Eanes ISD]—we are officially a District of Innovation,” said EISD Deputy Superintendent Jeff Arnett. “Notifying the state is a secondary step, so the Texas Education Agency has record of our board's action. The TEA does not need to approve our plan; we simply submit the notification as a formality.”
