Nixon-Smiley CISD school board looks into ‘innovated flexibility’

Nixon-Smiley CISD held a public hearing/meeting on Monday, during which they discussed “A District of Innovation” — a concept passed by the 84th Legislative Session in House Bill 1842, effective immediately, that gives traditional school districts most of the flexibilities available to Texas' open enrollment charter schools.

Superintendent Cathy Lauer said the potential benefits of becoming a District of Innovation include letting the district decide which flexibilities best suit their local needs, creating an innovation plan for a level of school (e.g., only high schools), grade level, or a single campus and submitting a district of innovation plan to the commissioner of education, but approval is not required.

“Districts will have the flexibility to implement practices similar to charter schools, including exemptions from mandates such as school start date, a 90 percent attendance rule, a site-based decision-making processes, the use of planning and teacher appraisal requirements,” Lauer said. “The term of the designation as a district of innovation may not exceed five years.”

Also during the meeting, the monthly tax collector's report and financial/quarterly reports were presented. Total collections for the month of September 2017 were $ 42,439.26. Total commissions for the same period were $424.40. Through September 2017, $117,214.56 or 96.22 percent of the 2016 adjusted levy had been collected.

NSCISD maintains a record of the number of students who eat meals in the school cafeterias. This record forms the basis for the district's reimbursement claim for school lunch and breakfast programs which is filed monthly with the Texas Education Agency. The cafeteria was open 20 days, served 16,266 lunches, 18,820 breakfasts for a combined claim of $81,697.27.

The board also reviewed the ADA and enrollment as presented. As of the last day of September, the district had 1,074 students, exactly the same as reported in September 2016.