CSISD staff urge District of Innovation exemption to preserve current grievance timelines ahead of Sept. 1 SB12 changes

College Station ISD staff recommended Aug. 19 that the board add a District of Innovation (DOI) exemption to avoid adopting certain grievance-process changes in Senate Bill 12 that take effect Sept. 1 unless a district opts in.

Ms. Goolsby told trustees the new state guidelines would lengthen filing deadlines (from 15 days to 60 days for some grievances), permit parents to bypass campus-level administrators and take matters directly to central office, and allow the board to appoint a subset of trustees to hear level‑3 grievances rather than the full board. She said district attorneys advised that the district can retain its current grievance timelines and full-board level‑3 hearings by adopting an exemption through the DOI plan.

"The concern is if we receive a grievance 60 days outside of the event, we worry about the investigation" at the campus level, Ms. Goolsby said, adding that skipping the campus administrative steps could impair the thoroughness of investigations. Goolsby said the bill also requires digital access to grievance forms and staff will make grievance forms and instructions accessible on the district website if the board moves forward with any changes.

Multiple trustees said they preferred preserving the district’s existing process because it gives campus administrators and the full board the opportunity to address concerns in a timely, fact-based way. Because the Sept. 1 effective date is imminent, Goolsby said the DOI exemption requires prompt board action if the board wishes to opt out of those specific SB12 grievance provisions; the item will be on the regular-meeting agenda for a formal vote.

No formal action was taken at the workshop; staff will return the DOI exemption for a decision at the next regular board meeting so the board can meet the statutory timeline if it chooses to adopt the exemption.