Education
The Cy-Fair ISD board of trustees voted unanimously to approve a District of Innovation plan during its regular board meeting Jan. 18. Some trustees voiced concerns before ultimately voting to approve the plan by a vote of 7-0. The vote was the last step in a process considering the merits of adopting a plan to gain more local control over district operations per state law. The DOI plan was recommended by CFISD’s Districtwide Education Improvement Council, which includes teachers, parents, and community and business leaders. CFISD approves DOI plan
What else?
What they’re saying
According to the Texas Education Agency, 976 districts across the state have the District of Innovation designation. Neighboring DOIs include Katy, Tomball, Klein and Spring Branch ISDs. CFISD trustees said they had heard concerns about allowing teachers who are not yet certied to teach in Texas to work in CFISD as well as the plan’s component that allows teachers to teach grades other than the ones they are currently teaching. Trustee Natalie Blasingame said she believes the state’s insistence on state certication is the exception nationally, often hindering districts from attracting top talent. She believes teacher experience has proven to be more important than being certied in the state. Chief Academic O cer Linda Macias said the most widely accepted teaching credentials are from the National Board Certication, rather than state certications, and many prospective teachers applying to the district have that certication instead.
“We’re going to level the playing eld, just like other districts were, which is going to be great for a district that has to be more competitive. We’re going to hopefully reduce some of the long-term
sub situations, which is a good thing for our district.” SCOTT HENRY, CYFAIR ISD BOARD PRESIDENT
“I [was] actually an emergency permit person. I taught rst grade without [certication but] with a degree only and an emergency permit, and one of the things that really saved me was the support of the district.”
Pillars of innovation First day of instruction: The
DOUG KILLIAN, CYFAIR ISD SUPERINTENDENT
district will have more control of the school calendar. Career and technical education certi cation: The district can expedite the approval process for hiring CTE teachers. Flexibility for teaching outside of content or grade level: The district can allow certied teachers to provide instruction in classes outside of their content area or grade level. Out-of-state certi cation: This exemption will expedite the approval process for hiring teachers certied out of state.
What’s next?
The board could vote to approve the district’s 2024-25 academic calendar as soon as the Feb. 12 meeting.
Under the DOI designation, CFISD will now be exempt from the state law requiring districts to start school on the fourth Monday in August.
SOURCE: CY FAIR ISDCOMMUNITY IMPACT
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