What Is a District of Innovation?
Florence ISD is in the process of becoming a District of Innovation! A District of Innovation is a concept passed by the 84th Legislative Session in House Bill 1842 giving traditional independent school districts most of the flexibilities available to the state’s open enrollment charter schools. Any district with an academic performance rating of at least Academically Acceptable is eligible.
The idea behind Districts of Innovation is that a local school district may want to pursue specific innovations in curriculum, instruction, governance, parent or community involvement, school calendar, budgeting, or other areas. An innovation plan allows a district to gain exemption from many Texas Education Code requirements, which ultimately allows the district to gain more local control.
Florence I.S.D. took the first step in exploring this opportunity when the Board approved a resolution initiating the process on January 16th, 2017. The Board held a public hearing to consider whether the district should develop an Innovation Plan, at which time the Board decided to move forward in the process. An Innovation Committee was also appointed to develop a District of Innovation Plan. Our FISD Innovation Plan will be posted online for at least 30 days. In addition, our District Site-Based Committee will have to approve the Innovation Plan before it goes back to our School Board for final approval.
We encourage our students, teachers, parents, and community members to contact any of the District of Innovation Committee Members should there be any questions regarding our FISD innovations and processes!
FISD Board Approved District of Innovation Plan:
Power Point Presentation on Districts of Innovation:
http://s3.amazonaws.com/scschoolfiles/819/fisd_districts_of_innovation_ppt_final.pdf
Background Information:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/scschoolfiles/819/background.pdf
Meetings:
Agenda February 27, 2017 http://s3.amazonaws.com/scschoolfiles/819/doi_meeting_agenda_02272017.pdf
Agenda March 8, 2017 https://s3.amazonaws.com/scschoolfiles/819/doi_meeting_agenda_03082017.pdf
Agenda April 3, 2017 https://s3.amazonaws.com/scschoolfiles/819/doi_meeting_agenda_04032017.pdf
District of Innovation Signed Resolution:
http://s3.amazonaws.com/scschoolfiles/819/signed_resolution.pdf
Letter of Intent to the Commissioner of Education:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/scschoolfiles/819/letter_to_commissioner_of__education.pdf
Committee Members:
http://s3.amazonaws.com/scschoolfiles/819/fisd_doi_planning_committee.pdf
Meeting Minutes:
February 27, 2017 http://s3.amazonaws.com/scschoolfiles/819/doi_planning_committee_minutes_022717.pdf
March 8, 2017 https://s3.amazonaws.com/scschoolfiles/819/doi_planning_committee_minutes_030817.pdf