On Tuesday, Texas Commissioner of Education Mike Morath announced that he has received requests to engage in the Turnaround Partnership Program from the following six districts: Austin ISD, Ector County ISD, Hearne ISD, San Antonio ISD, Victoria ISD, and Waco ISD.

During the 85th legislative session, the passage of Senate Bill 1882 (SB 1882) created Turnaround Partnerships. The Turnaround Partnership Program allows districts with campuses that are rated Improvement Required (IR) under the State Academic Accountability System to enter into partnerships with eligible organizations; such as government entities, non-profits, institutes of higher education, or state-authorized open enrollment charter schools. The partnerships provide the potential for increased funding for the partnered campus as well as a two-year exemption from some state accountability standards, with the goal of improving student academic performance at the partnering campus.

Commissioner Morath, will review each request for partnership to ascertain whether or not the districts are eligible for the accountability and funding incentives and is expected to notify each qualifying district the week of May 21st.

Under SB 1882 qualifying districts can open new schools by requesting a New Schools partnership or districts with campuses rated Met status under the accountability system can engage in Innovation Partnerships with authorized partners. The deadline for districts to apply for New School and Innovation Partnerships is July 2. You can learn more about SB 1882 and the various types of partnerships here.