MWISD
District of Innovation
Definition
A District of Innovation is a concept passed by the 84th Legislative Session in House Bill 1842, effective immediately, that gives traditional independent school districts most of the flexibilities available to Texas’ open enrollment charter schools. To access these flexibilities, a school district must adopt an innovation plan, as set forth in the Texas Education Code chapter 12A.
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Mission
Vision
Goals
Mineral Wells Independent School District will:
- Provide effective teaching and engaging student work that result in student mastery for college and career readiness and success in life,
- Recruit, develop, and retain a highly effective staff,
- Maintain a strong, fiscally responsible financial position, and
- Implement a long-range facility plan that includes building utilization, maintenance and construction to provide a safe and secure learning environment.
Areas of Focus
Uniform School Start Date
Currently
Students may not begin school before the 4th Monday of August.
Proposed
This flexibility of start date will allow Mineral Wells ISD to annually determine, at the local level, what start date best meets the needs of the students and community.
Minutes
Currently
House Bill (HB) 2610, passed by the 84th Texas Legislature, amends the Texas Education Code TEC §25.081 by striking language requiring 180 days of instruction and replacing this language with language requiring districts and charter schools to provide at least 75,600 minutes of instruction (including intermissions and recess). TEC §25.082 specifically requires that each school day be 420 minutes long.
Proposed
Exemption from the 420-minute day requirement would allow MWISD the flexibility needed to alter the school day schedule whenever it was locally determined as beneficial to the district and its stakeholders.
Class Size Ratio
Currently
Kindergarten to 4th Grade classes must be kept at a 22 student to 1 teacher ratio according to state law. When a class exceeds this limit, the district must complete a waiver with the Texas Education Agency.
Proposed
As a district that is constantly changing, it has become a common need to Mineral Wells ISD to apply for a class size waiver. While we believe that a small class size may play a positive role for students, this must be balanced with the logistics of the timing of adding staff, and mindfulness must be given to the best teacher to student ratio that can be achieved given the total number of students.
90% Rule
Currently
State law requires students to attend class 90 percent of the school days in order to earn class credits. The law currently requires the district to award class credit to students based on "seat time" rather than based on content mastery.
Proposed
The 90 percent rule is an arbitrary percentage, which means school districts award credit based on seat time rather than based on content mastery. Abstaining from the requirement means the district will not have to penalize students who miss class due to extra/co-curricular activities, academic activities, or other extenuating circumstances.
Student Discipline Provisions
Currently
Senate Bill 107 requires the designation of a campus behavior coordinator on each campus. This designee is responsible for maintaining student discipline and the implementation of Chapter 37, Subchapter A.
Proposed
The proposal is for the district to abstain from the state requirement that each school have a designated campus behavior coordinator. MWISD’s approach to discipline is becoming more collaborative, with multiple people providing emotional and social support to students, rather than just one person. Exemption from this requirement will allow the option of increasing collaboration in regard to student discipline, as outlined in the MWISD Student Code of Conduct.
Teacher Contract Days
Currently
Current education law located in Chapter 21 defines a teacher contract as a ten-month contract equivalent to 187 days.
Proposed
This proposal reduces teacher contract days from 187 to 182 with no effect on teacher salaries. This stems from an attempt to align the teacher days to the 75,600 minutes required of students.
Teacher Contracts
Currently
Under current guidelines, probationary periods for newly hired teachers who have been in public education for at least five of the previous eight years cannot exceed one year.
Proposed
This limited time period is insufficient in some cases to fully determine the teacher’s effectiveness in the classroom. Relief from Texas Education Code 21.102 will permit the district the option to issue a probationary contract for a period of up to two years for experienced teachers, counselors or nurses newly hired in MWISD.
Planning & Prep Time
Currently
Teachers are entitled to at least 450 minutes within each two-week period for preparing to teach, conducting parent conferences, and evaluating students’ work.
Proposed
In an effort to implement PLCs and Opportunity Culture within MWISD, flexible scheduling is a requirement. Having flexibility in planning and preparation time helps in creating schedules where select teachers can reach more students and have more planning time on teacher teams. All teachers will have appropriate planning and preparation time, but flexibility is requested.
Certified Teachers
Currently
In the event a district cannot locate a certified teacher for a position or a teacher is teaching a subject outside of their certification, the district must submit a request to the Texas Education Agency. TEA then approves or denies this request. There is a lot of bureaucracy and unnecessary paperwork involved in the process.
Proposed
MWISD is committed to placing a life changer in every classroom. In order to best serve MWISD students, decisions on certification will be handled locally. By obtaining exemption from existing teacher certification requirements, the district will have the flexibility to hire community college instructors, university professors, or internal applicants seeking assignments outside of their traditional certification area for full and/or part time course loads. This will enrich applicant pools in specific content areas and afford more students the opportunity to take dual credit courses if certified teachers are not available to teach those courses.
Summary
This District of Innovation Plan will reduce restrictions and help MWISD to better support our students, employees, and families in more innovative ways. Nudging our district toward the locally-customized environment our students deserve will enable us to better prepare them according to their individualized needs and their unique talents and traits. Through HB 1842, MWISD will be able to utilize innovative approaches to making the best decisions for our children because we will be able to make them locally.
In many cases, the implementation of exemptions from the TEC will require the revision of MWISD policies. MWISD will utilize a local policy development process that includes stakeholder input. This District of Innovation Plan will be implemented upon Board approval and will be in effect for 5 years from the date of implementation. Where necessary, the superintendent of schools or designee will promulgate regulations, policies, and procedures to govern the areas for which local flexibility has been sought.
We are grateful to the legislators who campaigned for Districts of Innovation through HB 1842 and to Commissioner Morath and his team for furthering our ability to create innovative strategies. We are committed to the children of our community and pledge to implement this plan with their best interests at heart.