Harlandale ISD reports stronger industry-based certification rates, details new 'earned' criteria

Harlandale ISD staff told trustees the district is increasing career and technical education participation and industry-based certification (IBC) attainment while tightening district rules for what counts as an "earned" certification for accountability.

District CTE lead Miss Guerrero said Harlandale offers 24 distinct programs of study and 35 different IBC types. As of April 28 the district reported 3,021 students enrolled in CTE courses for grades 9–12. Of 754 seniors districtwide this school year, 515 (68%) were enrolled in CTE; 469 seniors attempted IBCs and 262 of those seniors had earned an IBC, a 34.7% earned rate based on the district's criteria at the time of the presentation.

"Harlandale ISD offers 24 different programs of study, and all of which are considered very high wage and high demand," Guerrero said. She described changes to the district's earned-IBC definition: for earlier school years an IBC counted if a student took at least one level-2 course; for the 2024–25 year the district will count an IBC only when a student passes two or more Career and Technical Education courses (two credits) within the same program of study. Guerrero said the requirement will step up again next year to three or more CTE courses (four credits) for the IBC to count for college, career and military readiness (CCMR).

Guerrero outlined district steps to boost success: creating four-year program plans to keep students on a pathway, translating one-page IBC guides for families (including documentation requirements such as state IDs), paying for IBC exams and retests when students demonstrate effort, and requiring teachers to hold the certification they teach when vendor rules allow.

Trustees asked about wait lists and capacity. Guerrero said the district is working to counsel students earlier (in middle school) and to use wait lists, while acknowledging that some students sign up and later drop the sequence. She said the district has started more middle-school outreach only in the past two years and that there is not yet enough data to evaluate the program changes' long-term effects.

Board members praised the program and the recent CTE events, and one trustee said visiting superintendents from other districts attended Harlandale's CTE activities without prior notice — a sign, trustees said, of the program's growing visibility.

The presentation was informational; the board did not take an action vote on the CTE/IBC report during the meeting.