Texas Innovation Partnerships established in Senate Bill (S.B.) 1882 provide school districts like Crowley ISD the opportunity to identify and develop its own solutions and ensure that every educational option that families want is available within the district.

In these Partnerships, school districts identify a need, evaluate potential partners to determine which has the right model and expertise to meet the community need, and then enter a multiyear agreement with the selected partner to operate the school according to its model. Districts maintain ultimate authority over the Innovation Partnership, selecting the operating partner and holding them accountable for school success. The district defines what success looks like for the school, including academic, financial, and operational performance and other measures that reflect community priorities, such as college persistence or teacher retention. 

The operating partner manages the day-to-day decisions to achieve that vision of success, with sole responsibility for personnel, curriculum, the school calendar and the budget. Innovation Partnerships are an opportunity to change the lives of students, particularly those in districts that have historically been under-resourced, by matching community demand with ideas and resources.

Innovation partners will create or re-imagine a school program complementing the district’s innovative programming. Innovation Partnerships can be used to launch a new school or model or to replicate or strengthen an existing model. They can even help improve existing schools that, for example, may be performing well overall but struggling to meet the needs of certain groups of students.

Crowley ISD Innovation Partnerships Slide Deck

1. Select Qualified Partner
Crowley ISD will release the application to recruit and select eligible and qualified partners(s) seeking to open in Fall 2025.

2. Identify Partnership Campuses
Crowley ISD will identify target middle school campus(es) for fall 2025 partnerships.

3. Match Qualified Partners with Campuses
Crowley ISD leadership will work with school communities to recommend match decision to the Crowley ISD Board of Trustees.

4. Authorize Partnership Performance Agreements
Crowley ISD and selected partner(s) will negotiate performance agreements, and Crowley ISD Board of Trustees approves partnerships as partnership schools.

5. Planning Year 2024-2025
Crowley ISD will work with partner(s) and school communities to support transition activities for successful opening in fall 2025.

Applicants who do not submit the MANDATORY Letter of Intent by 5 p.m. CST on March 20, 2024 will NOT be eligible to submit a full proposal.

Action Required: To be eligible to submit a full proposal, all interested parties must submit the mandatory Letter of Intent to Apply using this form. Please note that the Notice of Intent is mandatory to proceed, but non-binding should an applicant decide not to submit the full application.

Application Live Link:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf38d9ecGk5kokGIv-1ohCd5cbJ1Op02nPK1v2RY_j3gH6mqw/viewform

Application Deadline:
April 15, 2024

Application PDF Version:
Operator Application

As Crowley ISD receives specific questions about our Call for Quality Schools, we will answer them in this FAQ document so that all applicants have access to the information provided. As new questions are asked and answered, we will notify applicants who have submitted the Letter of Intent that there are new FAQ answers available. The last day to submit questions is April 10, 2024.

Question 1: Are applicants being asked to create a separate discipline policy, or can we propose to follow Crowley ISD’s policy?

Answer 1:

Answered on April 4, 2024

Crowley ISD welcomes applications that adopt Crowley ISD’s current discipline policy, and we are also open to considering applications that propose a different framework in this area while still following all relevant state laws.

Question 2: Are applicants being asked to create a separate salary scale, or can we propose to follow Crowley ISD’s salary scale? Should we be creating separate staff recruitment and hiring plans?

Answer 2:

Answered on April 4, 2024

Crowley ISD welcomes applications that adopt Crowley ISD’s current salary scale, and we are also open to considering applications that propose different compensation frameworks (for example, frameworks that move away from tenure-based compensation, and/or those that supplement the current salary scale with additional stipends or differentiated leadership roles).

Regarding staff recruitment and hiring, Crowley ISD has strong leaders and educators working across our middle school campuses and we anticipate that Operating Partner applicants will plan to source a high share of staff from the current campus teams. To meet ongoing recruitment and hiring needs, Operating Partners are welcome to leverage Crowley ISD’s existing systems and processes for staff recruitment and hiring, and/or applicants may propose new and different plans for staff recruitment and hiring, including for example Teacher Residency programs, apprenticeships, and more.

Question 3: How do we know what the Operating Budget is for each campus? What are the parameters we should consider in creating the campus budget?

Answer 3:

Answered on April 4, 2024 

1. Calculating the overall campus budget for each campus

Each year Crowley ISD will provide the Operating Partner with an estimate of the campus budget(s) (by Fund type including general operating funds and grant funds) for each partnership campus.

During each partnership year, Crowley ISD will provide the Operating Partner with an estimate of the campus operating budget for each partnership campus. Applicants may seek approval from the CISD Human Capital Department to distribute any additional external revenue to District staff in accordance with the CISD Compensation Manual Guidelines.

All inaugural campus budget estimates will be refined based on the most up-to-date demographic projections and model-specific revenue drivers during the contract negotiation process in May 2024. 

2. Allocating the campus budget for each campus

Crowley ISD will provide a detailed menu of contracted services, including non-negotiable services that are required expenditures for all CISD schools (e.g., facilities maintenance, transportation, custodial, and food services, etc, no later than June 2024.

Question 4: In terms of Audited Financial Statements, what are typically required there?

Answer 4:

Answered on April 4, 2024

Previous three year’s:

1. Entity Audited Balance Sheet
2. Entity Audited Income Statement
3. Entity Audited Cash Flow Statement
4. Audited identification and/or confirmation of any outstanding litigation

Question 5: What curriculum are you currently using at the middle schools for Reading/ELAR, Math, Social Studies, and Science?

Answer 5:

Answered on April 4, 2024

• Reading/Language Arts: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt: Into Literature
• Math: Carnegie Learning
• Social Studies:
  • Active Classroom
  • Nystrom Atlas Program
  • History Alive - 6th, 8th
• Science: Stemscopes (in adoption year)

Question 6: What curriculum are you currently using at the elementary schools for Reading/ELAR, Math, Social Studies, and Science?

Answer 6:

Answered on April 4, 2024

• Reading/Language Arts: Benchmark Reading, Amplify, Pearson SAAVAS (Dual Language)
• Math: Eureka Math
• Social Studies: Studies Weekly
• Science: Stemscopes (in adoption year) 

Question 7: What STEAM programming exists at your high schools?

Answer 7:

Answered on April 4, 2024

Associated Programs of Study in CTE:

• Health Science, Biomedical Science, Plant Science
• Information Technology Support and Services, Networking Systems, Unmanned Autonomous Vehicles and Systems (UAV/UAS), Cybersecurity, Programming and Software Development
• Applied Agricultural Engineering, Engineering
• Architectural Design, Graphic Design & Multimedia Arts, Digital Communications in Audio and Video

Question 8: Which supports/curriculum are you currently using to support EL students? What curriculum/language development resources are being used in your middle school ESOL program?

Answer 8:

Answered on April 4, 2024

 Support for Newcomer programs.pdf

Question 9: What do supports and interventions look like for students receiving Special Education services within the district? Specifically, at the middle school level?

Answer 9:

Answered on April 4, 2024

1. Assistance with Master Scheduling
2. Targeted Professional Development   
3. Interventions Provided by Special Education Staff  
4. Support During PLC Meetings 
5. Components of Collaborative Instruction
6. Flexible Grouping level and promote academic growth.
7. Ensuring Tier I Instruction
8. Behavioral Support and Training           
9. Building Teacher Capacity
10. Specialized Mentorship Programs

Question 10: Are there parent/family/community survey responses that can be shared to assist us in understanding the interests and desires of the families?

Answer 10:

Answered on April 4, 2024

Yes. Please click here to view an overview of the results from our fall 2024 climate survey.