Tomball ISD trustees review TEA waiver to count staff development minutes toward student minutes

TOMBALL — Tomball ISD staff outlined a Texas Education Agency waiver that would allow the district to count certain staff professional-development time toward required student instructional minutes for the coming year.

Superintendent Dr. Z told trustees the first considered-item on the agenda was “to approve the annual TEA waiver for staff development,” and staff later provided details about how the waiver works and how the district would apply it.

The waiver, as described by staff member Amy, “provides for a maximum of 2,100 total minutes to use for professional development, that can be counted into our operational minutes.” Amy said the state shifted from measuring required attendance in days to minutes, and the waiver lets districts apply specified staff development days (up to 2,100 minutes) toward those required student minutes, provided the development “pertaining to instructional strategies that affect learning for students.”

Board members asked clarifying questions about what the waiver allows and how it affects the school calendar. One trustee asked staff to “drill down a little bit though too on the staff development … with respect to the number of hours that are number of days,” and Amy elaborated on how the waiver interacts with instructional and operational minutes. The transcript records the explanation but does not record a vote or final approval on the waiver during this workshop segment.

The discussion took place during the workshop portion of the meeting, before the district’s regular meeting. Staff said the waiver is the only TEA waiver currently due for the year; other commonly used waivers (for things such as flexible school day schedules at alternative programs) follow multi-year cycles and may return for action later. No deadline for final approval was noted in the workshop discussion.

Trustees and staff indicated the waiver would be used only for staff development tied directly to student instructional strategies, and Amy described that the district must identify the specific calendar days it will apply toward the 2,100 minutes when submitting the waiver application to TEA.

The workshop record shows the item was discussed and clarified for trustees; it does not contain a formal motion or recorded vote on the TEA waiver in the excerpts provided.

Looking ahead, staff said the district will return with the item for the regular meeting agenda or provide the waiver paperwork as required by the Texas Education Agency.