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Willis ISD board adopts five-year student outcome goals, sets superintendent and board guardrails
Summary
The Willis ISD Board of Trustees approved districtwide student outcome goals for 2025–2030 at its Aug. 20 meeting, including ambitious targets for college, career and military readiness and third-grade reading and math, plus new superintendent and board guardrails to guide implementation.
The Willis Independent School District Board of Trustees approved a set of five-year student outcome goals and accompanying guardrails at an Aug. 20 workshop and board meeting. The goals set participation and performance targets for high school college and career readiness and for elementary third-grade reading and math through 2030.
The district adopted a participation-focused College, Career and Military Readiness (CCMR) target that calls for the percentage of seniors who earn a CCMR point and demonstrate college readiness in math and English to increase from a stated baseline (14%) in 2025 to 50% by 2030. The plan also sets targets to increase the share of secondary students taking the Texas Success Initiative assessment (TSIA) and to increase the percent demonstrating college readiness on that assessment from single-digit levels in 2025 to substantially higher percentages by 2030.
"Student outcomes don't change until adult behaviors change," consultant Dr. Larry Lewis told trustees during the workshop portion. He credited the board and superintendent for preparatory work that shaped the targets and described the participation and proficiency targets as intentionally challenging.
The board also adopted district guardrails for the superintendent and for trustees intended to preserve roles and ensure communication. Superintendent guardrails include a communications expectation — the superintendent must engage the community at least twice per month and increase survey response rates (from a baseline cited at 15% in May 2025 toward a target of 30% by May 2030) — and a requirement that no campus fall below a C rating by 2030. Board guardrails prohibit trustees from deviating from board operating procedures, from performing or appearing to perform superintendent duties, and from contacting staff or visiting campuses without notifying the superintendent first.
Board members approved the student outcome goals and related goal progress measures and guardrails by recorded votes during the Aug. 20 meeting (motions and votes recorded in board minutes). The district said it will develop a progress monitoring report and a board self-evaluation in September to establish baselines for ongoing monitoring.
Trustees and staff said the targets are based on a five-year historical review of assessment data and are intended to be measurable and revisited annually. The board approved the student outcome goals, specific goal progress measures, and guardrails in separate motions during the Aug. 20 meeting; each motion passed unanimously, 7–0.
The district will present periodic updates to the board on progress monitoring, and staff said they will refine baselines where assessments changed (for example, establishing a kindergarten baseline in 2026 for NWEA MAP when a previous baseline did not exist).
