Leila Cubriel, coordinator for the Teacher Incentive Allotment local designation system, told the Pearland Independent School District Board of Trustees on Dec. 9 that the district is in year three of its local TIA program and is pursuing a cautious expansion of eligible teaching categories.

Cubriel said TIA — funded through House Bill 3 — gives teachers two pathways to designation (national board certification or a district-created local designation system) and requires that at least 90% of allotment funds go to teacher pay, with up to 10% retained by the district for implementation costs. "Once a teacher earns a designation, that designation is valid for five years, as long as they remain in a teaching role," Cubriel said during the presentation.

The presentation listed the district's current eligible categories for the 20256 year (grades 1 reading and math via I-Ready; grades 4 reading and math, Algebra I, and ELA I/II via STAR) and described a pilot to add certain secondary subjects (grades 5 science, biology, grade 8 social studies, and U.S. history) with an application to the Texas Education Agency planned for April 2026 and potential designations in 2027 if TEA validation succeeds. Cubriel emphasized Pearland will not expand categories unless the district can demonstrate valid and reliable assessment data: "If we submit data one year and we're not validated, then none of the teachers will receive their allotment for that school year."

Trustees pressed staff on how to include fine-arts and other hard-to-measure courses (art, band, theater). Cubriel said district committees, DEIC representatives and statewide cohorts are researching appropriate measures and sharing best practices across districts. She said there is not a comprehensive public list of other districts' plans because TEA holds the authoritative plans, but some districts have expanded sooner and faced validation risks.

On funding, Cubriel reported Pearland designated 165 teachers in 20245 that generated $1,555,298 in allotments and estimated the 20256 allotment generation could exceed $2,000,000 pending TEA approval. She also noted TEA will add a new "acknowledged" designation next year to broaden potential eligibility. The district retains up to 10% of generated funding to cover implementation expenses (assessments, consultant fees, platform costs), which staff said could help underwrite any needed purchases to validate expansions.

On portability, the board learned that a teacher who earned a designation in another district and then is hired by Pearland would continue to generate the allotment for Pearland as long as the teacher remains in a teaching role; after five years the district must resubmit data for renewal.

Board members encouraged staff to continue seeking valid models from other districts while avoiding premature adoption that risks losing designation status. Cubriel closed by asking for continued board support as the district develops assessment rubrics and an implementation timeline.