Mansfield ISD Becomes a District of Innovation
M
ansfield ISD is now a District of Innovation
and has adopted a local innovation plan
to better serve MISD students and create new
opportunities for them.
The District of Innovation concept was passed
by the Texas Legislature in House Bill 1842
(HB 1842) to give school districts most of the
flexibilities available to Texas’ open enrollment
charter schools.
The district’s local innovation plan
opts out of the following sections of
the Texas Education Code:
• §21.003 Certification Required
• §25.0811 First Day of Instruction
• §25.0812 Last Day of School
Mansfield ISD is among the first groups of school
districts in the state to adopt a local innovation plan.
“Our goal is to always put children first,” said
MISD Board President Raul Gonzalez. “There’s
a lot of misinformation about public schools, and
becoming a District of Innovation allows us to
compete with the other types of schools that are out
there. It will provide new opportunities that will
benefit our students, and I am excited about that.”
The flexibility in certification gives MISD
the ability to hire professionals with industry
experience to teach Career And Technical
Education (CATE) and Science, Technology,
Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM)
courses. The change will provide more students
the opportunity to take such courses and obtain
professional certifications.
By opting out of the uniform school calendar,
MISD can eliminate imbalanced six weeks
and semester schedules while still ending the
semester prior to the holiday break, align the
district’s calendar with other testing and exam
timelines, ensure requirements are met for
certification courses, and create flexibility to
pursue year-round school of choice for identified
populations. No changes will be made to the
2016-17 MISD calendar.
Mansfield School & Family 7