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Trustee Training Requirement and Senate Bill 1566

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DATE: April 27, 2018

TO THE ADMINISTRATOR ADDRESSED:

SUBJECT: Trustee Training Requirement and Senate Bill 1566

The purpose of this TAA letter is to provide a high-level overview of the new training requirement for school board members introduced by Senate Bill (SB) 1566.

In accordance with Texas Education Code §11.159, school district trustees are required to complete at least three hours of training on Evaluating and Improving Student Outcomes (EISO) once every two years. The State Board of Education (SBOE) adopted this training requirement in amendments to 19 Texas Administrative Code (TAC) §61.1 on April 13, 2018.

  • The SBOE shall require an EISO workshop for school district trustees to be conducted by the regional Education Service Centers (ESCs) or through another authorized provider.
  • The EISO workshop must focus on evaluating student academic performance.
    • A candidate for trustee may complete training up to one year before being elected;
    • A new trustee must complete training within 120 days of election/appointment.
       
  • Minutes from the last regular meeting of the board held before an election must reflect each trustee’s completion of the required workshop. If any trustee has not completed this workshop, the minutes must reflect that the trustee is deficient and then be posted on the district's website (within 10 business days) until the trustee meets the requirement.
  • If the EISO workshop is attended by the entire school board and its superintendent, includes a review of local school district data on student achievement, and otherwise meets the requirements of 19 TAC §61.1, this training will satisfy both the EISO workshop requirement and the team building training requirements concurrently, provided that the training complies with the Texas Open Meetings Act.
  • If the entire board and their superintendent attended an EISO workshop during February, March, and April of 2018, they receive full EISO credit as well as team building training.
  • As of March 2018, the Lone Star Governance (LSG) workshop has been refreshed to include the EISO materials as well, so boards attending LSG workshops will also be awarded EISO credit.
  • This statute does not apply to charter schools. However, it is a valuable training for all governing boards.

Please note that a person serving on the board of trustees of a school district on the effective date of this Act (September 1, 2017) must complete the required training no later than September 1, 2018.

Sincerely,

Jeff Cottrill
Director, Governance & Investigations

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