Fort Davis ISD has established Early Childhood Education Partnership agreements with various private schools across the state. These partnerships are recognized legal agreements that allow FDISD to increase our student enrollment in an effort to increase state funding. The partnerships are mutually beneficial to both FDISD and the partner organization. Extra funding that these new students generate with their attendance is split with the partnering organization, while FDISD supports that organization with staffing and/or other resources.
Each partnership is negotiated and finalized with elements unique to the needs of the partnering organization. Agreements are generally for one school year at a time, with options to renew thereafter. These agreements do not fundamentally change the partnering organization education planning and curriculums, nor their administrative operations; rather, these agreements help to facilitate the access to additional resources for these partners, including staff, materials, professional development and funding.
State laws that allow for these partnerships have been around for many years, with the most applicable statutes in the Texas Education Code Chapters 11, 29, and 49, and include 11.157. 11.167, 29.171, and 49.002 (4).
This article in Texas Monthly helped bring awareness of FDISD's financial position, which then led to new connections and the opportunities to partner with private schools: https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/rural-school-districts-are-facing-financial-ruin-some-state-officials-prefer-it-that-way/
Here are some links to recent news articles regarding our partnerships:
Austin Chronicle - https://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2023-10-27/preschool-funding-loophole-has-tax-dollars-going-to-religious-schools-who-benefits/
Big Bend Sentinel - https://bigbendsentinel.com/2024/06/12/fort-davis-isd-raises-state-allotment-from-70k-to-1-5m-through-private-early-childhood-school-partnerships/
Odessa American - https://www.oaoa.com/local-news/fort-davis-isds-future-looking-brighter/
More information can be obtained by calling the Superintendent's office at 432-426-4440, or by visiting the TEA website: https://tea.texas.gov/academic...