001Welcome to the House Bill 2 Content Academy stipen requirements webinar. This presentation will cover statutory changes, implementation requirements, and practical examples to support districts in applying House Bill 2 provisions regarding contentmy's stipens. My name is Nicholas Keith, associate commissioner of curriculum and instruction at the Texas Education Agency. I oversee the teams responsible for Texas readingmies and mathematics achievementmies at TEA. This session will cover four main areas. We will review House Bill 2 and relevant statutory references, explain the content academy stipen amount, share practical examples and scenarios, and provide information on implementation timelines. If you would like additional information or a full overview of the 89th legislative session, you can click the link or scan the QR code on this slide to access the related web page. The content academy stipen guidance was published in a
002to the administrator addressed letter on August 7th, 2025. This TAA serves as the primary reference for implementation requirements. If you would like to review the letter, you can click the link or use the QR code provided on this slide to access the document directly. The information in this slide deck is provided asformational guidance only. TEA does not provide legal advice to school systems. School systems should therefore consult with their own legal counsel regarding local implementation of the requirements of HB2 and associated legal requirements. Now we will move into the explanation of House Bill 2 and the related statutory references that establish the requirements for the content academy stipen. House Bill 2 is a comprehensive school finance bill that supports students by infusing more dollars and resources into Texas public schools than ever before, providing critical
003support in several key areas. For this video, the focus is on House Bill 2 stipened requirements for teachers participating in readingmies and mathematics achievement. This includes eligibility criteria, exceptions, allowable funding sources, and implementation requirements. We will also cover the implementation timeline later in the presentation. Texas Education Code section 21.4552 as amended by House Bill 2 outlines the new stipen requirements for teachers completing teacher literacy achievement. Changes from HB2 are shown in bold. Classroom teachers in kindergarten through third grade who complete a literacy achievement academy are entitled to receive a stipend in the amount determined by the commissioner from appropriated funds. A district may also provide a stipen to a classroom teacher in a grade above third grade. A stipend received under this section is not counted toward the state minimum monthly salary requirement. A school
004district is not required to provide a stipend if the teacher attends the readingmies as part of an educator preparation program in which the teacher is enrolled, attends during days or hours of service already included in the teacher's contract, or is not directed or approved by the school district to attend. Please pause here if you would like to review the statute text in full. Texas Education Code section 21.4553 4553 as amended by House Bill 2 outlines the new stipen requirements for teachers completing a mathematics achievement academy. Again, changes from House Bill 2 are shown in bold. The provisions are very similar to those for readingmies with one main distinction. There is no specific grade level requirement for eligibility. A classroom teacher who completes a mathematics achievement academy is entitled to receive a stipen in the amount
005determined by the commissioner. This stipend is also not considered in determining whether the teacher is paid the state minimum salary. A school district is not required to provide a stipend if the teacher attends the mathematics achievement academy as part of an educator preparation program in which the teacher is enrolled, attends during days or hours of service already included in the teacher's contract or is not directed or approved by the school district to attend. Please pause here if you would like to review the statute text in full as shown on the slide. This section of the Texas Education Code section 48.108 addresses the use of funds allocated as part of the early education aotment. It authorizes districts to use these funds to support teacher attendance at readingmies and mathematics achievement as well as pre kindergarten programs
006and early grade literacy and mathematics programs. And finally, since the Math and Reading Academy stipen requirements only apply to classroom teachers, this slide is a reminder that in Texas Education Code, a classroom teacher is defined as an educator employed by a school district and who not less than an average of 4 hours each day, teaches in an academic instructional setting or a career and technology instructional setting. The term does not include a teacher's aid or a full-time administrator. Now that we have reviewed the statutory framework, we will turn our attention to the content academyy's stipend. The purpose of the content academy stipend is to save and honor teachers time, a need surfaced by the teacher vacancy task force. Remember, a district is not required to provide a stipend if a classroom teacher attends an academy
007as part of an educator preparation program in which the teacher is enrolled, attends an academy on a day or during hours of service included in the term of the teacher's contract, or is not directed or approved by the school district at which the teacher is employed to attend the academy. Based on this change in House Bill 2, districts now have two options for classroom teachers who are completing an academy. Option one, pay teachers a stipen for any academyy's work completed outside of contract days and hours. Or option two, provide teachers with adequate time to complete academyy's work during contract days and hours. This slide shows historical and projected numbers for inservice educator training in reading and mathematicsmies. In school year 2020 2021, the first year of the House Bill 3 readingmies, almost 30,000 teachers completed
008the training. In 2122, participation rose to around 55,000 teachers. You can see from the graph that the numbers decreased significantly starting with the 2023 2024 school year. Although beyond the scope of this webinar, House Bill 2 has also instituted a new requirement that all kindergarten through third grade teachers, administrators, math interventionists, and math instructional coaches attend the mathematics achievement by the 2030 2031 school year. Additional information on this requirement will be shared in a future webinar, but for now you can see that the orange bars represent projected attendance at House Bill 2 mathmies by inservice teachers from the 2026 2027 school year and beyond. It's important to note that the early education allotment began flowing to districts annually starting with House Bill 3 in 2019. Beginning in the 2025 2026 school year, an additional allotment
009for each kindergarten through third grade student in average daily attendance was added. This source of funds is recurring while the cost for academy attendance including possible stipens is a one-time expense per teacher. Over time, as reading and mathematicsmmies are integrated into educator preparation programs, which is also a requirement of House Bill 2, the number of inservice educators requiring training and therefore the number of stipens will continue to decrease. Per the authority granted by House Bill 2, the Commissioner of Education has set the stipen rate at a minimum of $50 per hour for approved training completed outside the days or hours of service included in the term of the teacher's contract. The content academy stipend is hourly. By setting a per hour stipen amount, a district has more flexibility in various academy implementation models. Next, we
010will look at practical examples and scenarios for both readingmies and mathematics achievement. These examples show how stipent eligibility and amounts are determined in different implementation models. Let's begin with several reading academy scenarios. In scenario A, a teacher completes three in-person sessions during the summer and seven during the school year. Each session is 6 hours. They teach a grade level that is required to attend a House Bill 3 reading academy under Texas Education Code section 28.0062 and they meet with their cohort leader for four observation debrief sessions during the day. Because the summer sessions total 18 hours and occur outside of contract time, they are stipened eligible. The seven sessions that occur during the school year, which the teacher is given release time to complete, are not stipened eligible. The four observation debrief sessions take place
011during contract hours and are not stipent eligible. So in scenario A, the total stipen paid by the district is $900 for the completion of 18 hours of stipened eligible reading work. In scenario B, a teacher completes all in-person sessions during the school year. They teach a grade level that is required to attend a House Bill 3 reading academy and they meet with their cohort leader after school or outside of contract hours for four observation debrief sessions. The reading academy sessions completed during the school year during contract days and hours are not stipent eligible. However, because the teacher wasn't given time during the school day to meet with their cohort leader for required observation debrief sessions, these two hours are stipent eligible. So in scenario B, the total stipen paid by the district is $100. Scenario
012C pertains to the STR pathway. In this scenario, a teacher completes two in-person sessions during the summer and five during the school year. They teach a grade level that is required to attend a House Bill 3 reading academy, and they meet with their cohort leader after school or outside of contract hours for four observation debrief sessions. The summer sessions total 12 hours and are stipen eligible. The 30 hours completed during the school year during contract days and hours are not stipen eligible. The two hours of afterchool debrief sessions were outside of contract hours and so are stipend eligible. So in scenario C, the total stipend paid by the district is $700. In scenario D, a teacher completes all in-person sessions and four observation debrief sessions during the school year, all within contract days and hours.
013Because all activities occur during contract time, no stipend is paid by the district. In this final reading academy scenario, scenario E, a grade four teacher voluntarily enrolls in the biiteracy pathway, pays out of pocket and is not directed or approved by the district to attend. They also participate in four observation debrief sessions after the school day. Since attendance was voluntary and not district directed, these hours are not stipen eligible and no stipent is required to be paid by the district to the teacher. Now we'll move to the current mathematics achievementmies. In scenario A, a teacher completes a mathematics achievement academy during the summer with district direction or approval to attend. The three 6-hour summer sessions total 18 hours and are stipened eligible. So in scenario A, the stipen paid by the district is $900. In
014scenario B, a teacher completes a mathematics achievement academy during the summer but is not directed or approved by the district to attend. Because attendance was not district directed or approved, the district is not required to pay a stipend to the teacher. Finally, in scenario C, a teacher completes one 6-hour summer session followed by two 6-hour sessions scheduled as district professional development during contract days. The teacher is directed or approved to attend. Only the summer session is stipened eligible for a total stipend of $300. TEA is also providing guidance on the total number of hours they can be considered stipened eligible for each pathway based on program design. In other words, if a teacher is required to complete an entire training outside of contract days and hours, the district would only be required to pay a
015stipen amount up to the TEA approved cap. For House Bill 3 readingmies, pathway completion times are as follows. 65 hours for the ELR pathway, 65 hours for the biiteracy pathway, and 44 hours for the STR pathway. For the current mathematicsmies, the completion time is 18 hours. Although beyond the scope of this webinar and as mentioned earlier, House Bill 2 has also instituted a new requirement that all K through three teachers, administrators, math interventionists, and math instructional coaches attend a math achievement by the 2030 2031 school year. Additional information related to the Texas Education Code Chapter 28 completion requirement for House Bill 2 mathematics achievement including the total number of hours will be released in alignment with TEA's timeline for the implementation of House Bill 2. Next, we will focus on the timeline for the implementation
016of the House Bill 2 stipened requirement. All districts must implement stipen provisions as required by House Bill 2 for classroom teachers starting an academy after September 1st, 2025. Stipen provisions apply to the House Bill 3 K through3 Texas Readingmies, the House Bill 2 K through 3 mathematics achievement, and any additional TEA programs that are part of or administered through the Texas Readingmies or Mathematics Achievement. Stipen eligibility for the Texas readingmies begins with the September 2025 cohort and subsequent cohorts and only applies to classroom teachers who must attend the academy or complete related coursework outside of contract hours. >> Districts are responsible for stipen dispersement and may utilize early education aotment funds under Texas Education Code section 48.108 for this purpose as well as other available funds. Senate Bill 934 enacted by the 84th Texas Legislature
017established Texas Education Code section 21.4553 authorizing the creation of mathematics achievement and entitling eligible classroom teachers to receive a stipen in an amount determined by the commissioner of education beginning in to support a fair and consistent transition as new statutory requirements under House Bill 2 take effect. The Texas Education Agency will continue to provide a one-time stipen of $350 to eligible classroom teachers who complete a mathematics achievement academy on or before August 31st, 2025 in alignment with current policy and procedure. For questions regarding stipend implementation, please use the following resources. You can submit a ticket to the help desk for mathematics achievement. Fill out a request form on the support portal for Texas readingmies or send an email to hb2a.t texas.gov for any additional questions. This concludes our presentation. This information, including a recording and
018a copy of these slides, will be posted on TEA's dedicated web page for 89th Legislature Updates. Thank you.