No change in school start date for HISD
Panel defeats plan that also would allow changes involving vocational teachers
Houston Independent School District’s school year will continue to start in late August after a district committee resoundingly rejected a proposal that included the option to begin classes earlier in the month.
Members of HISD’s District Advisory Committee voted 21-10 last week to shoot down a new District of Innovation plan, which would have allowed HISD to opt out of state laws related to school start dates, the hiring of noncertified vocational teachers and minimum requirements for in-class participation. The group is composed of HISD staff members, parents and community leaders, about half of whom are appointed by school board trustees.
HISD Interim Superintendent Grenita Lathan had pushed for adopting the plan despite calls to focus on the COVID-19 pandemic and resistance among leaders of the Houston Federation of Teachers, the district’s largest employee union.
HISD administrators argued that the plan would give them more flexibility to move up the first day of school, balancing out the number of days in each semester.
HISD’s first semester typically lasts nearly 80 days, while its second semester approaches 100 days.
District leaders also said the calendar change would provide students more time with teachers before spring standardized tests, such as the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness and Advanced Placement exams.
In addition, HISD administrators said the certification exemptions would help in the hiring of hard-to-staff vocational teaching positions, while the participation waiver would give students more options to attend unique programs outside the classroom.
The proposal faced strong opposition from some employee groups, who argued that it set a bad precedent that could lead to future changes they opposed. Other critics said HISD administrators failed to provide enough information about the plan, including why the changes were necessary.
Maria Fernandez, a District Advisory Committee member ap
pointed by HISD Trustee Anne Sung, said it was “not clear to me what the actual problem was we were trying to solve.”
“I began to feel that the DAC was being considered as a rubber stamp,” said Fernandez, the mother of two sons attending HISD schools. “We asked for additional information, we asked for additional meetings, we asked if we could vote just on changing the calendar date. And we weren’t given a clear answer.”
August Hamilton, HISD’s general manager of strategy and innovation, said he gave committee members the final plan in early March, held a 90-minute briefing with time for questions and answered follow-up queries by email. Also, the exemptions sought by HISD have been public since last May.
“To me, I just feel like it’s kind of disingenuous to say none of our questions were answered, because there were so many opportunities to do that,” Hamilton said.
Texas legislators created the District of Innovation framework in 2015, allowing school and community leaders to seek exemptions from certain state education laws in the spirit of greater local control. Plans must garner majority support from a district-appointed committee and approval from twothirds of school board members before taking effect.
All the Houston area’s largest districts have approved District of Innovation plans, with the exception of HISD and CypressFairbanks ISD. Each district sought an exemption to start the school year earlier — state law says districts cannot begin before the fourth Monday in August — and many included other provisions related to teacher certification, attendance requirements and class size limits.
HISD trustees voted 7-2 last May to begin the District of Innovation process, despite early opposition from the Houston Federation of Teachers and reticence from some board members.
Much of the criticism centered on the proposal to allow the hiring of noncertified vocational educators, with some teachers arguing the move undermined their credentials.
Although the plan specified that the exemption would apply only to career and technical education teachers, some committee members questioned whether HISD would have to legally opt out of certification requirements for all teachers under the state’s District of Innovation law.
“I don’t think the district’s intention necessarily matters when you look at the law,” said HISD teacher Coretta Mallet-Fontenot, an employee committee member who voted against the plan.
Hamilton said HISD administrators received assurances from legal counsel that the exemption could not spread to certification requirements of nonvocational teachers.
Throughout the monthslong process, some District of Innovation critics said HISD would dramatically expand the scope of the plan if it passed. At a hearing ahead of the committee vote last week, an opponent falsely claimed that approval would lead to the elimination of class size requirements and termination of employee contracts.
Under state law, districts must restart the District of Innovation process before changing, renewing or rescinding a plan.
Durrel Douglas, the executive director of the advocacy group Houston Justice and a District Advisory Committee member who voted for the proposal, said the misinformation fueled opposition to the proposal.
“Compared with what some other districts are doing, I didn’t figure it would be that controversial,” said Douglas, who was appointed by Trustee Kathy Blueford-Daniels. “I thought it was well-explained by folks in the district. These are the experts, this is what they recommended and there’s truth behind each of these points that makes common sense.”