STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION UPDATE 

Jan. 3, 2018

New year begins with community meetings for the SBOE

Two community meetings are scheduled this month in San Antonio and Central Texas to gather public input for the new Long-Range Plan for Public Education that is now being developed.

The State Board of Education, with assistance from an 18-member steering committee, plans to adopt goals for the public education system through the year 2030.

To determine what these specific goals should be, the board is collecting comments around four broad topics:

  • Educator preparation, recruitment, and retention
  • Equity and access to funding, technology, and advanced courses
  • Student engagement and empowerment to provide effective support systems for students and prepare them for life after high school
  • Family engagement and empowerment to help parents become strong advocates for their children in the education system.

To gather information about these topics, the board is hosting nine meetings around the state and will soon release an online survey.
The following regional meetings are planned over the next two months:

Jan. 9 – 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the Region 20 Education Service Center located at 1314 Hines Ave. in San Antonio. To register, go to https://www.eventbrite.com/e/community-conversation-san-antonio-january-9th-tickets-39529430591 .

Jan. 18 – 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the Salado Civic Center located at 601 N. Main St. in Salado. To register, go to https://www.eventbrite.com/e/community-conversation-central-texas-january-18th-tickets-41108520692 .

Feb. 8 – 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the Region 4 Education Service Center’s McKinney Conference Center located at 7200 Northwest 100 Dr. in Houston. To register, go to https://www.eventbrite.com/e/community-conversation-houston-february-8th-tickets-39226591792 .

Feb. 16 – 9-11 a.m., Rio Grande Valley, location to be determined. Registration not yet opened.

Feb. 28 – 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the Region 16 Education Service Center’s Panhandle Conference Center located at 5800 Bell St. in Amarillo. To register, go to https://www.eventbrite.com/e/community-conversation-amarillo-february-28th-tickets-41257559471.

Advance registration for the community meetings is encouraged but not required.

A summary of comments received at each community meeting is being prepared. The first document, a summary of comments received at the Nov. 2 El Paso meeting, is available online at https://tea.texas.gov/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=id&ItemID=51539619467&libID=51539619468.