Clear Creek ISD officials presented the district’s strategic staffing plan at the board of trustees’ April 13 meeting, outlining efforts for teacher recruitment and retention through certification pathways that develop educators from within the district.
“We’re dedicated to ensuring that CCISD has a robust strategic staffing plan, to address both recruitment with the ‘grow our own’ pipeline, as well as retention with national board certification and the teacher incentive allotment,” Executive Director of Human Resources Britani Moses said at the meeting.
The approach
Grow Your Own is a Texas Education Agency-supported approach that helps districts develop teacher pipelines from within their communities and aims to address teacher shortages while building interest in the profession among high school students, according to TEA’s website.
The district’s strategy operates through two primary pathways within the staffing plan, according to district documents.
The first is a child guidance and teacher education pipeline, developed with the Career and Technical Education, or CTE, department, that provides CCISD high school students with early exposure to education careers and a pathway to return to the district as teachers.
Students who complete two years in the program may serve as substitutes at elementary campuses at teacher pay rates, and participants in the pipeline are guaranteed a CCISD interview after earning a bachelor’s degree, Moses said at the meeting.
Over the past two years, over 80 students have earned their State Board for Educator Certification, or SBEC, education aide certification, and nearly 40 former students were hired as substitutes during the same time period, according to district documents.
Also of note
The second pathway supports paraprofessionals currently working in the district who are pursuing teacher certification or bachelor’s degrees.
CCISD partners with Grand Canyon University to provide an online degree pathway, which was supported by $52,980 in scholarships and $110,925 in grants from the university for the 2025-26 school year, according to district documents.
The partnership allows the district’s paraprofessionals to pay less than $2,000 per year in tuition, Moses said at the meeting.
Under Texas House Bill 2, passed by the 89th Texas Legislature, the district will be eligible for funding tied to educator retention, including support for paraprofessionals earning bachelor’s degrees beginning in the 2026-27 school year, Moses said.
More details
The district is also expanding retention strategies through increased participation in National Board Certification programs, which is an advanced credential that requires teachers to demonstrate expertise through a performance-based assessment process, according to the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards website.
CCISD ranks second in Texas for total National Board Certified Teachers, with 20 currently certified educators and nearly 80 additional teachers in the certification pathway, according to district documents.
One more thing
In addition, the district will submit an application for the Teacher Incentive Allotment, or TIA, local designation system, which is a state program that allows districts to evaluate teachers based on effectiveness and connect those ratings to additional compensation, according to the TEA website.
The district submitted the application April 15, with TEA approval expected in August.
Before approval, the district will begin working with administrators on T-TESS calibration, or Texas Teacher Evaluation and Support System, data collection standards and preparing the TIA website and handbook, Moses said at the meeting.
