Houston ISD will become District of Innovation after school board vote

HOUSTON - Houston Independent School District (HISD) School Board has approved plans for HISD to become a District of Innovation (DOI) on Thursday.

In an 8-0 vote, HISD will now join other school systems in the state to have DOI status. 

"HISD is a District of Innovation," said Superintendent Mike Miles in a press release. "We are making the bold changes required to improve instruction and help students develop the competencies they will need to succeed in the future. Having the DOI designation is long overdue and will allow us to accelerate our work in important ways. I want to thank the School Board for its vote tonight. In addition, I’m grateful to the District Advisory Committee for approving the measure, the DOI Committee for developing a thoughtful plan, and our staff and community for supporting Houston’s kids every day."

HOUSTON ISD: Houston ISD releases draft plan to become District of Innovation

DOI school systems are exempt from certain requirements and have flexibility in district operations for supporting students. 

One of the exemptions for District of Innovation schools is school systems can start their school year before the fourth Monday in August, allowing the district to have an extended academic calendar. According to HISD, they plan to propose the first day of school in 2024-25 start no earlier than Aug. 7, 2024, and no later than Aug. 14, 2024.

In their press release, HISD listed other exemptions the DOI plan gives the school district the flexibility to do. They include:

• Implement more District- and division-based professional development so all teachers have greater access to high-quality training from instructional experts and opportunities to collaborate with their colleagues across HISD.
• Without a waiver from the state, hire high school teachers who do not hold a certification. This will allow HISD to fill vacancies in positions that are hard to staff and will help give all students a consistent classroom teacher. (The exemption does not apply to teachers for special education, bilingual education/English as a second language, and pre-kindergarten. Those certifications cannot be waived.)
• Implement alternate minimum attendance requirements for class credit for eligible high school students. Requirements will align attendance and course credit policies to content mastery where appropriate, and recognize students’ participation in out-of-school work or learning opportunities that may also count for credit to graduate.
• Expand postsecondary pathways for students by giving juniors and seniors more excused absences to visit colleges and universities, trade schools, and military programs before graduation.
• Handle instances of vaping and similar offenses at a student’s home campus, through counseling or other measures outlined in the District-wide, Board-approved Code of Student Conduct, as opposed to automatically enrolling the student in a disciplinary alternative educational program.
• Improve student performance overall; close existing gaps; and attract, develop, and retain high-quality teachers by creating a rigorous teacher appraisal system for implementation in the 2025-2026 school year. The system will be (a) informed by local context and aligned to specific school and District goals and (b) streamlined to reduce administrative burden so principals and teachers can focus on coaching and instruction.

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Houston Federation of Teachers President Jackie Anderson released the following statement on the vote approving HISD Superintendent Miles’ DOI plans:

"The District of Innovation plan is the latest sinister effort by Superintendent Mike Miles and his acolytes on the school board to derail and destroy the education of Houston students. Evidence of teacher expertise and knowledge apparently doesn’t matter much to the board, since this plan allows HISD to hire uncertified teachers without a waiver and conceal that from families. The secrecy shows that Miles realizes parents would not approve of this. The plan also allows class sizes to increase for elementary grades, when smaller class sizes are crucial for optimum learning; permits schools to dispense with a campus behavior coordinator, as if chronic misbehavior doesn’t impede instruction or safety; and allows for a custom teacher evaluation system with no teacher input, setting up for a punitive, subjective system.

"The District of Innovation plan is only innovative in that no other school district interested in investing in real solutions, not destroying public education, would even consider these provisions. This plan will last for five years, the entire length of time a child attends elementary school—the formative years when everything after depends on that foundation.

"Approval of this plan is a misuse of the public trust given to people responsible for the education and future of our children."

Houston ISD has stated there are other exemptions the district can apply for which are not included in their DOI plan. The DOI Committee members identified the exemptions believed to make the greatest impact on boosting student achievement, the release said. The Committee members toured schools, heard from HISD Board members and programmatic leaders, received feedback from the District Advisory Committee, and met as a group over eight convenings to craft and refine the plan, as part of their process.

According to the district, they will revise policies to align with the provisions in the DOI plan in the coming weeks.