MANOR, Texas — Manor ISD is looking at a new way to help a failing middle school get back on track.
During a board workshop on Monday night, Manor ISD leaders talked about entering what's called an "1882 agreement" with a charter school to essentially have that group run the Manor Middle School campus.
Under 1882 agreements, the state gives districts incentives for partnering with nonprofits or charter schools. In return, they can get a bump in state funding or they can be exempted from certain Texas Education Agency accountability interventions.
The accountability interventions are what districts can face if they get low enough grades from the state for long enough.
The 1882 designation refers to Senate Bill 1882, which was signed into effect by the Texas Legislature in 2017 and "provides incentives for districts to contract to partner with an open-enrollment charter school, institutions of higher education, nonprofits or government entities," according to the TEA.
Manor Middle School has been rated as a failing campus since 2017. But district leaders say partnering with another school wouldn't stop the work they're already doing to fix things at that campus.
"I just want to make everyone remember that it's not, 'Here's a partner, we're all going to walk away and go back to business as usual,'" Manor ISD Superintendent Dr. Robert Sormani said. "It's just not, you know – we've still got two years to turn that school around."
According to the TEA, about 100 schools in Texas already have these 1882 partnerships. This would be the first one in Manor.
District leaders still have to pick a partner. They plan to revisit this in two weeks.