Temple ISD to pay teacher incentive allotments; 134 teachers certified for 2024–25 payout

Doctor Ward updated the board Aug. 11 on Temple ISD’s Teacher Incentive Allotment (TIA) program, including recent payouts and the near-term reapplication schedule.

Ward said the state program, created under House Bill 3, designates teachers as Recognized, Exemplary or Master; those designations carry stipend amounts that vary by district characteristics. Ward said Temple ISD paid about $517,863 in the 2022–23 payout year, about $1.3 million in 2023–24, and will distribute about $1.5 million this year to 134 teachers who qualified under the local designation plan. "We get the privilege of handing out dollars $1,500,000 to our teachers, which we will do on August 18," Ward said.

Ward described the district’s local designation process: teachers must meet minimum thresholds in both teacher performance (using the district’s appraisal system) and student-growth measures (MAPS, STAR or district-created assessments depending on grade and course). He noted that designations last five years unless a teacher requalifies at a higher level, and a requalification resets the five-year period. Ward said Temple ISD will begin the TIA reapplication work this fall, with stakeholder feedback collection in October–December and an application submission targeted for April 2026.

No board vote was required; trustees asked questions about requalification and the administrative workload required to sustain the program. Ward said the district plans to reapply and that doing so will require appraiser coverage the following year and significant cross-departmental work on assessments and scoring.