The Weslaco school district board of trustees took another step last Tuesday toward becoming a District of Innovation, a status that would give it flexibility regarding local controls more in line with an open-enrollment charter school.
The board voted to appoint a committee to develop a local District of Innovation plan last week, continuing a process that began last semester.
Several Rio Grande Valley school districts currently operate under that designation and the Donna school district is just a few months ahead of Weslaco in developing its own plan.
Weslaco’s administration told their board Tuesday that they hope for the plan to primarily affect the district’s calendar and its Career and Technical Education, or CTE, instructor requirements.
Looser CTE requirements, according to Eliza Gomez, assistant superintendent for teaching, learning & innovation, would help the district fill difficult staffing gaps.
“Because there are situations where the skills are so specialized that it’s difficult to find someone who couldn’t make more money in the industry as opposed to teaching classes,” she told trustees.
Being able to make calendar changes is a frequent aim in District of Innovation pushes, and is one for Weslaco as well.
“Really that gives us the flexibility that a lot of the open charter schools have, we can start earlier, we can have more instructional days prior to STAAR. And then that also allows us to match the schedule with STC as well,” Claudia Martinez, director of instructional programs, told the board.
Administration told the board the committee will get community feedback that could indicate other potential changes and that if ultimately approved by the board and the state, the District of Innovation plan could go into action in 2024.
District of Innovation pushes are not always successful.
Some five years ago the Edinburg school district board of trustees voted to not implement an administration proposed District of Innovation plan after significant controversy and pushback from employees.
In 2017, McAllen ISD’s District of Innovation committee recommended ending the process based on feedback it received from the community.
Weslaco Trustee Ben Castillo, who noted that District of Innovation pushes are not popular with all stakeholders, sought to allay some potential concerns at the meeting, confirming with administration that the District of Innovation push does not include looking into taking away teacher employment contracts or changing certification requirements for core teachers.
