Belton ISD staff outline Teacher Incentive Allotment plan; board told first payouts could arrive June 2027

Belton ISD staff on Monday briefed trustees on plans to enroll the district in the state Teacher Incentive Allotment, a program created by the Texas Legislature in 2019 to designate and reward high-performing teachers.

"That was a whole intent around the TIA back in 02/2019 when this came out," Todd, a district staff member, said, summarizing the allotment’s origin and goals to attract and retain highly effective teachers.

Staff described three state-designated teacher levels — recognized, exemplary and master — and said designation will be determined by a combination of the district’s teacher observation instrument (T-TESS) and validated student-growth data. The design committee recommended an initial, phased rollout that relies on Star Renaissance growth measures where the district already administers reliable pre- and post-tests.

Deanna, who leads the TIA design team, told trustees the committee included representatives from every campus and that the initial eligible teacher groups are those with established, validated growth measures in the district. Staff listed initial eligible classrooms as: K–5 dual-language Spanish (where Star is used for language development), sixth–eighth grade reading and math (including modified special-education classrooms), Algebra I and English I/II (including modified classrooms). The team said other courses such as CTE and some electives are potential future phases once valid pre/post assessments are developed.

Staff cautioned trustees that the state validates each district’s growth instrument and its correlation to observation data; Texas Tech reviews the submitted measures. "We've got to overly communicate because that is a real thing that has happened in school districts across our state where their data did not get validated the first time they submitted it," Deanna said.

Trustees asked about payout timing and tax and retirement implications. Todd said the allotment is a one-time payment from the state distributed annually; the state requires districts to pass at least 90 percent of the allotment to teachers (that is, before taxes). The district proposal is to pay eligible teachers through payroll in the June paycheck, which staff said generally results in lower withholding than issuing a separate check. Todd said the payment will be reported on a W-2 and also reported to the Teacher Retirement System (TRS).

Staff described how district estimates vary by campus socioeconomic makeup: state allotment amounts are higher for higher-poverty campuses. District staff estimated that average payouts for Belton ISD teachers at the recognized level would be roughly $5,000 and exemplary roughly $8,000, but emphasized that final amounts vary by campus and year and that exact figures are set by the state each year. Staff did not specify a firm districtwide mastery-level amount.

Trustees also asked how designations persist. Staff said once a teacher earns a state designation it is posted on the educator’s State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC) page and remains for five years; the district will continue submitting annual data, and teachers may requalify or advance while the designation remains on their record.

Staff said the district will seek board approval of a spending plan after the state approves the district application. Staff recommended approving the district spending plan before the first payouts; staff said the first statewide payments for districts that submit validated data are expected in June 2027. The district will continue calibration training for appraising administrators and expects to coordinate with Region 12 and other partners to align observations across campuses.

The presentation was information only; staff asked trustees to submit questions and said they will return with a spending plan for approval in the coming months.