Willis ISD advances College, Career and Military Readiness work; board accepts $50,000 advising grant

District leaders told the board on Oct. 8 that phase 1 work with Contigo Ed identified both strengths and opportunities in Willis ISD's College, Career and Military Readiness (CCMR) efforts, and trustees approved acceptance of a $50,000 Effective Advising Framework grant to support advising and pathway alignment.

Why it matters: CCMR metrics affect student outcomes, district accountability and possible state outcome bonus funding. Administration said improving CCMR participation and communication is both an instructional and fiscal priority.

What the Contigo Ed review found: the district reported that staff and parents generally hold positive perceptions about CTE opportunities and access to advanced coursework; the district also identified a communication gap that limits family awareness of CTE and advanced-academic options. The presentation said Willis ISD earned roughly $27,000 in CCMR-related outcome bonuses for the 2022'23 graduation year but "left $1,900,000 on the table" because many students met career-ready criteria without meeting college-readiness benchmarks required to trigger the outcome bonus funding.

Recommendations and next steps: Contigo Ed recommended a set of actions the district has already begun implementing, including: - Strengthening TSI readiness instruction in upper-level English and math courses. - Aligning K'12 program-of-study pathways and expanding dual-credit partnerships (district expanded work with Lamar State College Orange for CTE dual-credit programs). - Improving family communications and advising so students and parents understand advanced-course enrollment and CCMR pathways.

An enrollment-change proposal presented to the board would mirror policies used in other large districts: automatically enrolling qualified students in advanced coursework and allowing parents to opt out (an "opt-out" model) to increase participation in rigorous courses unless a parent requests otherwise.

Grant approval: trustees voted 7'0to'00 to accept a $50,000 Effective Advising Framework grant that administration said will help fund advising, articulation agreements and additional outreach to families. The motion to accept the grant was made and seconded on the record and carried unanimously.

Ending: Superintendent Kimberly James said the work with Contigo Ed will continue into a second phase; staff stressed that improvements will take time to appear in state data because CCMR reporting and outcome bonuses are based on lagged cohorts.