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La Porte ISD selected for Texas Reads Texas Leads cohort, awarded $250,000 to support structured literacy
Summary
La Porte ISD will use a two-year $250,000 Texas Reads Texas Leads grant to shift early-reading instruction toward structured literacy aligned with the science of reading and to expand coaching, materials and classroom supports in K'3.
La Porte Independent School District announced on Tuesday that it had been selected as one of 16 Texas districts to participate in the Texas Reads Texas Leads (TXRL) initiative and received a $250,000 grant to accelerate adoption of structured-literacy practices across kindergarten through third grade.
District leaders described the grant as funding for a two-year implementation (2025-26 and 2026-27) that will support professional development, instructional materials alignment, coaching, and classroom manipulatives such as magnetic letters and whiteboards for every K'3 classroom. Angie Viator, who introduced the item during the board's administrative report, said the grant is funded by the Moody Foundation and the Charles Butt Foundation through the TXRL program.
Meredith Halvedere, La Porte ISD's reading/language specialist who led the grant effort, said the district's work will align the district's high-quality instructional materials (HQIM) and expand coaching and data-reflection practices so teachers deliver explicit, systematic instruction in phonics, phonemic awareness and fluency. "We will provide equitable classroom materials and professional learning, expand coaching and host a showcase visit for other districts," Halvedere said.
The district piloted structured-literacy practices at La Porte Elementary in spring 2025; staff reported teachers found the new approach simpler to implement than traditional guided-reading groupings and saw preliminary gains in decoding and reading skills. The TXRL selection will allow the district to scale the model across early-grade classrooms and to host peer visits in 2026.
Board members pressed staff to plan for sustaining the initiative after the two-year grant period. Trustees asked that staff return with options for long-term funding so successful practices can be maintained once the grant ends.
District administrators also emphasized parent and community outreach as part of the work: the district will share classroom-level changes with families and invite board members to the planned showcase visit. TXRL participation will also include administrator training so campus leaders understand evidence-based expectations for classroom literacy instruction.
