District of Innovation

Things to Know

"Everyone that has ever done anything significant first found themselves in the place where the status quo no longer was enough.”

In SBISD, we are committed to Every Child.

On September 28, 2015, the Board of Trustees approved a resolution to explore the opportunity for SBISD to become a District of Innovation. The Board passed this resolution based on its:

  • commitment to the success of Every Child;
  • long-standing practice of supporting innovation for the benefit of students; and,
  • belief that it can be a better decision-making body for students when it has freedom to exercise local control over the decision-making process.

What do we know about the District of Innovation (DI) Opportunity?

HB 1842 was passed during the 84th  Texas Legislative Session in Spring, 2015, and provides Texas public school districts the opportunity to be designated as Districts of Innovation.

Districts of Innovation may be exempted from a number of state statutes and will have:

  • greater local control as the decision makers over the educational and instructional model for students;
  • increased freedom and flexibility, with accountability, relative to state mandates that govern educational programming; and
  • empowerment to innovate and think differently.

What’s the process for becoming a District of Innovation?

In SBISD, the DI process aligned with the District’s strategic planning process and annual budget development process.

A high level overview of the timeline is as follows:

  • The Board of Trustees passed a resolution to study the concept and opportunities provided under the District of Innovation legislation (HB1842) (9.28.15)
  • The District Improvement Team (DIT) was acquainted with the DI opportunity (10.1.15)
  • The Board of Trustees held a public hearing and appoints a District Level Committee (DLC) to develop a Local Innovation Plan (LIP)
  • A Local Innovation Plan (LIP) was developed by a stakeholder committee appointed by the SBISD Board of Trustees. The process included feedback loops with the Board of Trustees and DIT (Oct, 2015 – Jan, 2016)
  • The DIT held a public hearing at which time it considered and then voted on the LIP
  • The Board of Trustees voted to notify the Texas Education Agency Commissioner of its intention to vote on adopting final LIP. 
  • The LIP was posted on the district website for at least 30 days 
  • Board of Trustees voted to adopt final LIP