Conroe ISD board of trustees on July 21 reviewed a report from Hedith Sauceda-Upshaw, the CISD Assistant Superintendent of Governance & Leadership Programs.
The framework is a draft of the district's initial priorities ahead of the 90th Texas Legislative Session, which begins in January.
The plan
Sauceda-Upshaw said that the reason CISD is beginning its priorities report early is that “if they wait until the lawmakers show up in Austin, then they are already behind.” Starting as soon as possible allows MISD the advantage of establishing relationships and dialogue with administrators, the community and lawmakers.
After discussing their needs with district administrators and teachers, CISD drafted five priorities for the upcoming 90th Texas Legislative Session:
- Employee pay and retention
- School funding “buckets"
- Student discipline
- Accountability subgroups
- Local school facilities impact fees
Employee pay and retention is one of the higher priorities for CISD, as the district wants to prioritize keeping its staff and compensating them well for their work.
As previously reported, CISD recently approved a new compensation plan without across-the-board teacher raises due to a lack of funds. CISD is also requesting a change to the current school funding allotment model the district operates under. Instead of a basic request for more money, CISD would focus on specific funding gaps and needs.
Sauceda-Upshaw said that CISD would also like to restore local discretion for student disciplinary decisions, along with accountability reform for school ratings. The proposed reform would focus more on student growth groups rather than “oversimplifying complex school systems.”
Every school system is different and the district would like to focus on a system tailored to its specific issues rather than its current iteration. As it currently stands, Conroe ISD has a “B” rating from the Texas Education Agency for its accountability rating.
Dates to know
As part of the report, Sauceda-Upshaw also provided a rough timeline of the legislative report process. July 21 marked the initial legislative priority draft, which focused more on presenting the information to the greater Conroe community. The next steps begin later in the summer—when they will receive feedback and information from legislators on the report itself.
Then later in the fall, officials will officially formalize priorities and develop policy language. This will mostly determine where CISD stands regarding their priorities and the specific language they will use in the drafts. Lastly, in the fall, they will host coalition considerations where people will be allowed to give feedback and recommendations before CISD prefiles its request in November.
CISD will host four public meetings at the CISD administration building that locals are encouraged to attend to provide feedback and recommendations to the board. Those dates and times are:
- July 28, 9:00 a.m
- Aug. 5, 1:00 p.m.
- Aug. 24, 5:00 p.m.
- Aug. 25, 1:00 p.m.
“We are inviting our constituents and our community to participate with us and have their voice heard and have these conversations,” Sauceda-Upshaw said.
