Texas SB 1882 Offers School Districts Additional Funding To Partner

According to the Texas Partnership Guide, schools in Texas have been able to partner with nonprofit organization for some years. However, very few actually do…

Staff Report

Last week, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) provided school districts with information regarding the 2018-2019 Texas Partnership (Senate Bill 1882) benefits approval process.

According to the Texas Partnership Guide, schools in Texas have been able to partner with nonprofit organizations for some years. However, very few actually do.

As a way to try to make this more enticing to districts, the state legislature passed SB 1882 in 2017 and the bill incentivizes districts to work collaboratively with new and existing partners to promote innovation and dramatically improve student outcomes.

Texas Partnerships offer districts the opportunity to expand the diversity of school options, bring in targeted expertise for innovation and turnaround support, and empower school leaders and partners with greater autonomy. Most importantly, effective partnerships give more students access to great schools.

Under a Texas Partnership, a school district authorizes a carefully selected partner to operate a school under a performance contract. The partner has responsibility for staff, curriculum, calendar, assessments and other school-level decision-making while the district holds the partner accountable for academic and financial performance.

There are two kinds of partnership schools: Turnaround Partnership schools, which include schools that received an Improvement Required (IR) rating the year prior to becoming a partnership school; and Innovation Partnership schools, which include existing district schools that were not in IR status the year prior to becoming a partnership school and newly launched schools with a new county district campus number (including early childhood programs).

Through these partnerships, school districts are eligible to receive two major benefits. Approved partnerships will receive additional state funding for the partnership school. In addition, schools identified as Improvement Required (IR) under the 2017-2018 accountability rating are eligible to receive a two-year exemption from specific accountability interventions.

Districts will have three opportunities to submit a Texas Partnership Benefits application: Dec. 13, Feb. 4 and April 1. Applications for Turnaround Partnerships or Innovation Partnerships must be submitted by either the Dec. 13 or Feb. 4 deadline. Only Innovation Partnership applications will be accepted on the April 1 deadline.

This benefit approval cycle is for partnerships which intend to begin a full year of operation in 2019-2020 and 2020-2021.

To assist school districts that may be interested in planning and implementing a Texas Partnership, TEA has posted information regarding the 2018-2019 process and timeline on the Texas Partnerships (SB 1882) webpage. The Texas Partnerships webpage also includes resources and tools to assist districts with developing partnerships and applying for benefits.

The Texas Partnership Guide – which provides all information necessary for the 2018-2019 process – can be viewed and downloaded (PDF) at https://www.centerforschoolaction.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Partnership-Guide_10.1.pdf.