Houston Independent School District Superintendent Millard House II on Thursday shared details of the district’s five-year strategic plan with the Board of Education.
“We sought out extensive community engagement in the shaping of this plan. We listened to our parents, families, students, and staff to inform us in the best path forward for our schools and our district,” said House.
As a result of what was learned through that engagement and the district’s core values, the plan outlines six foundational commitments:
Read the entire strategic plan here.
“Every HISD student deserves access to a school that meets all of their needs, all of the time,” said House.
Under the plan, HISD will create a baseline of expectations for student experiences by defining and funding essential positions/functions that guarantee a basic standard for student health, safety, and well-being at every campus. All schools will have counselors, social workers, librarians, media specialists, nurses, fine arts, co-curricular activities, and athletics.
“We know that great talent can make the difference in cultivating classrooms and schools where students thrive,” said House. “Meanwhile, we are in a unique moment when a pandemic has shocked the workforce – teachers, principals, and support staff across many job categories.”
The plan will build a talent culture in HISD that compensates employees fairly and increases the base compensation for all employees to be competitive with surrounding districts. All HISD employees will see a pay increase through this plan. New teachers will be offered a monetary incentive to commit to the district. Teachers and other staff in critical shortage positions will be offered stipends. In addition, a new educator evaluation system will be implemented for teachers to have clear expectations and benchmarks and recognize excellent instruction.
Numerous community engagement opportunities with the HISD community helped inform the strategic plan, including Listen and Learn events, focus groups, roundtables, and surveys.
Additional details on the strategic plan will be revealed in the weeks and months to come.
“It is a new day in HISD,” said House. “The hard work to make HISD a reliable community partner and asset starts now.”
