1. DISTRICTS OF INNOVATION OVERVIEW PRESENTATION TO LOCAL INNOVATION COMMITTEE JULY 19, 2016 Dr. Maroba Zoeller, Chief Governmental Relations Officer

2. LOCAL INNOVATION COMMITTEE Robin Bullock, Asst. Supt School Leadership Ken Gregorski, Asst. Supt. H.R. Jennifer Wilhelm, Asst. Supt. Learner Services Martha Bahnman Mary Jane Barnes Margaret Benner Terri Cooper Cheryl Drennan Julie Garrett

3. LOCAL INNOVATION COMMITTEE Richard Jordan Becky Leach David Noll Mindye Piepenburg Carrie Rivera Jennifer Tinsman Jim Waldauer

4. What is a District of Innovation? A District of Innovation is a concept passed by the 84th Legislative Session in House Bill 1842, that gives traditional 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 Texas Education Code chapter 12A.

5. What is a District of Innovation? Districts of Innovation HB 1842 provides Allen ISD with the opportunity to design a comprehensive education plan according to the needs and resources of our district while maximizing local control

6. DISTRICTS OF INNOVATION Created by House Bill 1842 in the 84 th Legislative Session Board Policy AF (LEGAL) Gives local school districts flexibility Greater local control as decision makers over the educational and instructional model for students: Districts must adopt an Innovation Plan that includes exemptions from state laws and parts of the Texas Education Code

8. High Level Overview of the Process Board of Trustees passes a resolution to study the concept and the opportunities provided; District Improvement Team (DIPC) is acquainted with the District of Innovation opportunity; Board of Trustees holds a public hearing and appoints a district level committee to develop a Local Innovation Plan

9. High Level Overview of the Process Local Innovation Plan is developed by committee with updates to and input from Board; DIPC holds a public meeting to vote on the plan; Board votes to notify TEA of its intention to vote on adopting the plan; plan is posted for 30 days; Board votes to adopt final Plan.

10. What Might Be Included in the Local Innovation Plan? The plan must provide for a comprehensive education program for the district which may include innovations in curriculum, instructional methods, community & parent involvement, campus governance, modifications to the school day or year, budgeting and sustainable funding, local accountability and other innovations prescribed by the Board.

11. Examples of Exemptions 90% attendance rule Class size ratio Uniform school start date Minimum minutes of instruction Student discipline provisions (campus behavior coordinator) Teacher certification, teacher contracts, teacher benefits, teacher appraisal system

12. COMMISSIONER’S RULES Term of designation as District of Innovation may not exceed five (5) years; Plan may be amended, rescinded, or renewed if approved by vote of Board and DIPC with 2/3 voting requirement; Districts must use form developed by the commissioner to indicate major items from which an innovation may exempt itself;

13. COMMISSIONER’S RULES Districts are limited to one Innovation Plan at a time; changes to be handled through amendment process rather than adopting multiple plans; District must post the Innovation Plan on the District website for the term of the designation as an innovation district (5 years); To rescind plan district is required to notify TEA and provide a date for compliance with TEA provisions to begin no later than the following school year.

14. TIMELINE FOR AISD BECOMING A DISTRICT OF INNOVATION May 2 Board Workshop Overview Presented May 11 DIPC meeting Overview Presented May 16 Board adopts Resolution/holds public hearing & delegates Superintendent to appoint committee June 6 Board Workshop –members of planning committee named July 19Local Innovation Committee meeting to develop plan July 25Board meeting – committee provides plan update; gets input from Board August 10 Committee meets to finalize plan Sept 13 Joint meeting of DIPC & Innovation Plan Committee to review plan October 24Committee presents Plan to Board; Board votes to notify Commissioner of intent to adopt NovemberPlan posted on District website for 30 days; Dec 6 DIPC Public Meeting to pass plan by majority vote January, 2017 Board votes on plan – 2/3 vote required

15. Prohibited exemptions include (but not limited to): District Governance Curriculum State Assessment System State Accountability System School Finance Federal Requirement Other requirements in state law outside of the Education Code

16. Allowable exemptions include (but not limited to): Educator Certification Teacher Contracts First and Last Day of School Length of School Day Class Size Designation of Campus Behavior Coordinator Certain Purchasing and Contract Requirements

17. District of Innovation Plan Requirements HB 1842 essentially gives districts the operational flexibility of a charter school. The following are noteworthy sections of the Texas Education Code not applicable to charter schools that should be examined as possible areas to include in a district’s innovation plan: Chapter 21 of the Texas Education Code governs how districts hire and evaluate staff, and the types of contracts, job descriptions and salary requirements for staff. School Admission and Attendance Policies, including school start date and 22:1 requirement Chapter 37 of the Education Code, which deals with student discipline

18. Writing the Plan Legislative Priorities for 84th Legislature Instructional Calendar – AISD supports flexibility in the instructional calendar regarding designation of first day of instruction as no earlier than the second Monday in August. Funding Issues – AISD supports including off-campus instruction in the calculation of the weighted average daily attendance (ADA). Teacher Certification – The legislature should provide flexibility on teacher certification requirements so school districts can hire the best qualified teacher available for such classes as bilingual education and career-technology courses.

19. TEA Districts of Innovation June 23, 2016 Commissioner of Education Mike Morath today announced that eight public school districts have adopted a local innovation plan and formally notified him of that vote. Notification to the Commissioner marks completion of the new District of Innovation designation process. To date, the eight districts that have completed the District of Innovation process and notified the Commissioner are Canton ISD, El Paso ISD, Mabank ISD, Palmer ISD, Point Isabel ISD, San Antonio ISD, Spring Branch ISD and Victoria ISD. TEA established website for District of Innovation: http://tea.texas.gov/Texas_Schools/General_Information/Innovation/Distr icts_of_Innovation/ http://tea.texas.gov/Texas_Schools/General_Information/Innovation/Distr icts_of_Innovation/

20. What Exemptions Have Other Districts Requested? El Paso – 90% Attendance for class credit or final grade – First Day of Instruction – Teacher Certification for Dual Credit & CTE – Designation of Campus Behavior Coordinator – Teacher and administrator appraisals

21. What Exemptions Have Other Districts Requested? Mabank ISD – First Day of Instruction – Teacher Certification for Dual Credit & CTE

22. What Exemptions Have Other Districts Requested? Dripping Springs ISD – Minimum Minutes of Instruction – Class Size Ratio – 90% Attendance for class credit or final grade – First Day of Instruction – Teacher Certification for Dual Credit & CTE – Designation of Campus Behavior Coordinator – Teacher and administrator appraisals

23. What Exemptions Have Other Districts Requested? Victoria ISD – Minimum Minutes of Instruction – First Day of Instruction – Professional Development

24. What Exemptions Have Other Districts Requested? Mansfield ISD – First Day of Instruction – Teacher Certification for Dual Credit & CTE

25. What Exemptions Have Other Districts Requested? Spring Branch – 90% Attendance for class credit or final grade – First Day of Instruction – Teacher Certification for Dual Credit & CTE – Designation of Campus Behavior Coordinator – Teacher and administrator appraisals

26. What Exemptions Have Other Districts Requested? Canton ISD – School Start Date – Class Size Ratio – Teacher & Principal Evaluation – 90% Attendance for class credit or final grade – Teacher Certification

27. Writing the Plan What Exemptions Should We Consider? 90% attendance rule Uniform school start date Minimum minutes of instruction Student discipline provisions (campus behavior coordinator) Teacher certification

28. Writing the Plan What Exemptions Have We Not Included? Powers & Duties of the Board District-Level and Site Based Decision-Making Teacher Contracts; Teacher Benefits including duty-free lunch and planning periods; Teacher appraisal system Class size ratio

29. Writing the Plan What Exemptions Have We Not Included? School District Employees & Volunteers Fiscal Management School District Funds

30. Writing the Plan What Exemptions Might Be Considered for Possible Future Implementation? Staff Development School Day Interruptions Others by Committee recommendation

31. Teacher Certification (T.E.C. §21.003) 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 to hire without certification, with requirement to obtain certification in a specified time. TEA then approves or denies this request. Not only bureaucracy and unnecessary paperwork are involved in the process, but delays in approvals during critical hiring times create frustrating situations for both the teacher and the district.

32. Teacher Certification (T.E.C. §21.003) Proposed: The current state teacher certification requirements inhibit the District's ability to hire teachers to teach hard-to-fill, high demand dual credit, and career and technical/STEAM (applied Science, Technology, Engineering, and Arts & Mathematics) courses. In order to enable more students to obtain the educational benefit of such course offerings, the District seeks to establish its own local qualification requirements and its own requirements for training of professionals and experts to teach such courses in lieu of the requirements set forth in law. This exemption directly supports the move from “highly qualified” requirements in the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).

33. Teacher Certification (T.E.C. § 21.003) Proposed: 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. 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. In addition, this exemption will afford the District the flexibility to hire professionals in certain trades or vocations to teach the crafts of those trades or vocations (such as welding, fine arts, health sciences, law, etc.) if certified teachers are not available to teach those courses.

34. First Day of Instruction (T.E.C. §25.0811) Currently: Students may not begin school before the 4th Monday of August. For many years this was the rule: however, districts had the option of applying for a waiver to start earlier. The vast majority of districts applied for the waiver and would begin the 3rd Monday, some even going as early as the 2nd Monday. The Texas tourism groups lobbied to have this stopped because they believed it was hurting their tourism business. Therefore, several years ago the legislature took away all waivers and dictated that districts may not begin until the 4th Monday, with no exceptions.

35. First Day of Instruction (T.E.C. §25.0811) Proposed: This flexibility of start date allows the district to determine locally, on an annual basis, what best meets the needs of the students and local community. This empowers us to personalize learning, increase college and career readiness, and balance the amount of instructional time per semester. In addition, by having the flexibility in the start and end of the school year, students will be able to enroll in college courses that start in early June, thereby increasing college and career readiness. Removing the uniform start date could also let Allen ISD start classes as a short week, easing the transition for students entering kindergarten, middle school, and high school. This will also allow for more flexible professional development opportunities for our staff.

36. Minimum Minutes of Instruction (T.E.C. §25.081) 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). The bill also allows school districts and charter schools to add minutes as necessary to compensate for minutes of instruction lost due to school closures caused by disaster, flood, extreme weather conditions, fuel curtailment, or another calamity.

37. Minimum Minutes of Instruction (T.E.C. § 25.081) Proposed: Exemption from this requirement will be essential in developing our STEAM Center, which is a satellite location for our high school, which will require travel time adjustment in the school day. The flexibility to adjust minutes of instruction will assist with course scheduling to allow all Allen High School students to attend classes at the STEAM center. This instructional center will not be an “academy” as many are designed. In our one high school town, students are reluctant to relinquish the Allen High School experience to have the opportunity to participate in specialized STEAM instruction in an academy setting. Being able to adjust minimum instruction minutes will allow them to be Allen Eagles as well as STEAM scholars. It also has the added benefit of allowing the possibility of an altered length of a school day, which may include, for example, a later start/early release time which will accommodate additional professional development/collaboration opportunities in our district.

38. Minimum Attendance for Class Credit or Final Grade (T.E.C. §25.092) Currently: State law currently requires students attend class 90 percent of the school days in order to earn credit. The law currently requires the District to award class credit to students based on "seat time" rather than based on content mastery.

39. Minimum Attendance for Class Credit or Final Grade (T.E.C. §25.092) 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. Exemption from the requirement means the district will be able to open opportunities to students who are eagerly exploring alternative methods of instructional delivery often to obtain rigorous, advanced instruction via online courses, video streaming and other real-time non-traditional learning. This exemption will allow the District to promote student engagement, as well as social and emotional development, by encouraging more students to participate in extra/co-curricular activities, academic activities, or other extenuating circumstances that may cause them to miss classes. It will also allow administrators to award credit to students because they can show they understand the concepts, rather than because they have attended a certain number of school days.

40. Proposed: The proposal would allow counselors and administrators to refocus efforts on students who are truly at risk, while simultaneously providing rigor and relevance in the curriculum. Exemption from this requirement will provide educational advantages to students of the District by promoting learning through innovation in the methods, locations, and times instruction may be delivered to students, thereby accommodating students with legitimate scheduling conflicts, reducing dropouts, and increasing the number of qualifying graduates. Allen ISD will also explore other innovative ways to demonstrate mastery, given this exemption. This exemption supports the goals of our strategic plan to implement tools, resources, and training that support personalized learning for both students and teachers. Relief from Section 25.092 does not in any way impact or alter existing compulsory attendance requirements or University Interscholastic League ("UIL") rules. Moreover, opting out of Section 25.092 in no way limits or modifies a teacher's right to determine the finality of a grade in accordance with Texas Education Code Section 28,()214, nor does it restrict or alter a teacher's right to assign grades in accordance with Texas Education Code Section 28.0216. Minimum Attendance for Class Credit or Final Grade (T.E.C. §25.092)

41. Proposed: This exemption will allow the District to promote student engagement, as well as social and emotional development, by encouraging more students to participate in extra/co- curricular activities, academic activities, or other extenuating circumstances that may cause them to miss classes. It will also allow administrators to award credit to students because they can show they understand the concepts, rather than because they have attended a certain number of school days.

42. Minimum Attendance for Class Credit or Final Grade (T.E.C. §25.092) Proposed: The proposal would allow counselors and administrators to refocus efforts on students who are truly at risk, while simultaneously providing rigor and relevance in the curriculum. Exemption from this requirement will provide educational advantages to students of the District by promoting learning through innovation in the methods, locations, and times instruction may be delivered to students, thereby accommodating students with legitimate scheduling conflicts, reducing dropouts, and increasing the number of qualifying graduates. Allen ISD will also explore other innovative ways to demonstrate mastery, given this exemption.

43. Minimum Attendance for Class Credit or Final Grade (T.E.C. §25.092) Proposed: This exemption supports the goals of our Strategic Plan to implement tools, resources, and training that support personalized learning for both students and teachers. Relief from Section 25.092 does not in any way impact or alter existing compulsory attendance requirements or University Interscholastic League ("UIL") rules. Moreover, opting out of Section 25.092 in no way limits or modifies a teacher's right to determine the finality of a grade in accordance with Texas Education Code Section 28,()214, nor does it restrict or alter a teacher's right to assign grades in accordance with Texas Education Code Section 28.0216.

44. Designation of Campus Behavior Coordinator (T.E.C. §37.0012) 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.

45. Designation of Campus Behavior Coordinator (T.E.C. §37.0012) Proposed: The proposal is for the District to seek exemption from the state requirement that each school have a designated campus behavior coordinator. A foundation of our secondary structure is the House concept, in which students of all grade levels are grouped under a House Principal, Counselor, Academic Advisor, and Attendance Clerk. Within that House, all discipline procedures are carried out, with administrators who know the students, having worked with them in their House for as many as three years. Allowing the administrator who knows the student and the parents contact the parents to notify them of discipline or behavior concerns, rather than having a call from a campus behavior coordinator, who cannot possibly know all the students, offers a much more individual and personal approach.

46. Elements of the Plan Introduction Term of Plan Comprehensive Educational Program Vision Mission Strategic Plan Objectives District Goals Innovations Exemptions Requested Summary of Plan

47. WRITING THE PLAN: NEXT STEPS Review Sections of Texas Education Code in groups Determine if exemptions identified are appropriate to include in Plan Determine if other exemptions should be considered for inclusion in Plan Report out to committee

48. WRITING THE PLAN: NEXT STEPS Provide update to Board on Committee work Seek Board input to Plan Revise Plan to include Board additions/changes LIC Meets August 10 th to Finalize Plan LIC Meets Sept 13 th Jointly w/ DIPC to obtain DIPC approval of Plan Present Plan to Board October 24 th

49. Dr. Maroba Zoeller Chief Governmental Officer maroba_zoeller@allenisd.org 972-236-0618