District of Innovation
What is a "District of Innovation"?
House Bill 1842, passed by the 84th Legislature, provides local school districts the flexibility to obtain exemptions from certain provisions in the Texas Education Code that are currently available to open enrollment charter schools. On December 12, 2016, the Santa Fe ISD Board of Trustees unanimously adopted a resolution to initiate the process for the District to be designated as a District of Innovation as required by TEC 12A.001. Immediately following the Board’s resolution, the Board held a public hearing to receive feedback from the community regarding the DOI process. Immediately following the public hearing, the Board of Trustees delegated to the Superintendent the authority to appoint a SFISD District of Innovation Committee.
On January 23, 2017, the Board was presented with the DOI committee members and updated timeline. The Innovation Plan Committee is charged with the responsibility of developing the District's Local Innovation Plan. During January and February, DOI committee members met several times to develop, revise, and finalize the local innovation plan.
On March 6, 2017, the Local Innovation Plan was unanimously approved by the Santa Fe ISD DEIC. On March 10, 2017, the Local Innovation Plan was posted on the District's website and will be posted for more than 30 days at the time of the Board’s vote on approval of the plan, in accordance with the Texas Education Code.
The draft plan will be presented to the Board for review at the March 27, 2017 regular Board meeting and the Board will be asked to consider a vote for approval at the April Board meeting. If the Board determines that they intend to vote on approval at the April Board meeting, the Board will notify the Commissioner of Education on its intent to vote prior to the April Board meeting.
The final plan and will be presented to the Board of Trustees for approval at the April 17, 2017 Board Meeting, in compliance with the Texas Open Meetings Act. Upon adoption of the Local Innovation Plan, the District will contact the Commissioner with the link to the posted plan and the Figure: 19 TAC §102.1307(d) form.