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Clear Creek ISD board renews District of Innovation plan with grievance and probationary-contract exemptions under review
Summary
Trustees approved the district's 2026'131 District of Innovation renewal, which maintains several longstanding exemptions and seeks new authority on probationary contracts and grievance timelines pending policy redlines.
Trustees voted to renew Clear Creek ISD's District of Innovation (DOI) plan for 2026–31 after staff summarized proposed exemptions and changes.
Leila Czarmecanek, who summarized the proposal, said the DOI renewal would preserve existing exemptions the district has used for years — including a first-day-of-instruction exemption, flexibility on minimum attendance seat-time rules, district-level class-size waiver procedures and targeted educator certification provisions for hard-to-fill positions. "So as doctor Engel mentioned, the DEIC did unanimously approve this proposed plan at a public meeting on March 18, and then it was brought to the board policy committee for consideration and then posted on the website," Czarmecanek said.
The proposed renewal also seeks to add two targeted exemptions: probationary-contract eligibility and grievance-procedure timelines. Czarmecanek explained the probationary-contract exemption would allow CCISD to apply a three-year probationary contract to all new hires regardless of prior years of service elsewhere and permit consideration of a fourth year in limited cases to support coaching and retention. On grievances, she said recent legislative changes (Senate Bill 12) extended filing timelines and moved to calendar days, which the district said hampers timeliness; the DOI would let CCISD restore its prior business-day timelines through local policy drafting.
A trustee asked whether the DOI would be used to exclude the state's expanded grievance filing allowances; Czarmecanek said the policy committee will review redline language and the board will pick which provisions to retain. Trustee McKay moved to approve the DOI renewal; the board voted "all in favor" with no opposition.
The renewed DOI will remain in effect for up to five years, and staff said the district posted the plan and solicited public comment in accordance with legal requirements before the board vote.
