The Midlothian ISD board of trustees Monday night reviewed and unanimously approved proposed changes to MISD’s District of Innovation plan.

The District of Innovation program was created by the 84th Texas Legislature and is intended to give traditional school districts most of the flexibilities that are available to open enrollment charter schools, including exemption from many requirements mandated in the Texas Education Code.

MISD adopted its current DOI plan in January 2023, and the plan is set to expire in August 2027. However, MISD executive director of administration and student services Krista Tipton informed the board that several changes enacted in the most recent legislative session requires some changes to the plan.

Tipton said a District of Innovation Committee met last month to review the plan and recommend changes, and those amendments were approved and reviewed by a school board subcommittee.

Existing topics that were updated include more flexibility in class sizes in grades K-4 for a 30-day period if a class size limit is exceeded, and notification of parents when a teacher is not certified. The existing topics of competency-based learning and campus behavior coordinator were removed.

Newly added topics included the option to revoke student transfers in mid-year, disclosure of instructional plans, and maintaining current parent grievance procedures.

Other action by the board included approval of a resolution regarding hazardous traffic conditions around the district, a targeted improvement plan for Frank Seale Middle School, and accepted the auditor report for the 2024-2025 school year.

Trustees also recognized the district’s principals in honor of National Principals Month as well as Midlothian Education Foundation scholarship recipients, Jean Coleman Award recipient Sherry Leonard of Coleman Elementary, and National Merit commended students.

Also during Monday night’s meeting, the Midlothian ISD Athletics Hall of Honor announced its Class of 2025 inductees. The class will be inducted on Saturday, Jan. 21 at Midlothian Heritage High School.

This year’s class recognizes the outstanding contributions of five individual inductees and two teams:

• Athletes: Jack Freeman IV (Midlothian Heritage High School, Football), Makenna Henderson (Midlothian High School, Powerlifting), and Charles A. Wright (Midlothian High School, Football).
• Coach / Educators: Audrie Bowers and Craig Carpenter.
• Teams: 2006 and 2007 Midlothian High School Boys Cross Country Teams led by Head Coach Cindy Williams.