Staff Listening Sessions

In 2024, Northwest ISD began a new tradition of gathering teacher and staff feedback. A member of the district’s leadership team attended every school to solicit input – positive and constructive alike – on areas where the district can improve. This page serves as a monitor of actions taken in response to this feedback.

District leaders analyzed all feedback to establish commonalities and areas that would affect the greatest number of teachers and staff. Though the goal remains to achieve the largest impact, every piece of feedback was logged, and these logs continue to be analyzed for further improvements.

Compensation

Staff were asked to provide input on district compensation, including salaries, stipends, benefits and more.

View Feedback & Action

View Feedback & Action

Feedback	Action	Date
Improvements to Veteran Teacher Pay Scale	Northwest ISD trustees adopted a 2024-2025 compensation plan that improved additional adjustments to veteran teacher pay after five years, improving the district’s rank in the region. The district will continue efforts to further improve veteran teacher pay.	April 2024
Teacher Pay Transparency	In the 2024-2025 compensation plan, Northwest ISD moved all teachers – those new to Northwest ISD as well as those already working for the district – to the same salary levels, so every teacher with the same years of service will receive the same base salary. This change, which does not include stipends, makes salaries more transparent. Additionally, the district is working on a salary letter for all employees that will detail key salary information.	April 2024
Overall Pay Breakdown	Staff mentioned a desire to have a better understanding of their pay breakdown, including base pay and stipends. HR, finance and technology are working on creating automated letters for all staff members that would provide information about base pay as well as other compensation.	In Progress
Increase Insurance Contributions	Staff expressed frustration with the state’s continued increases in TRS health care costs and asked for the district to increase its contributions to offset some of these changes. Trustees approved a $20 monthly increase in district contributions to TRS health care costs, bringing the total monthly contribution to $345 from $325.	June 2024
Continued Pay Increases	All campuses said the district must continue to enhance its compensation to remain competitive in the education sector. Because state funding has not increased, the district and trustees are evaluating a Voter Approval Tax Rate Election to generate more funding that would be used for staff salaries and student programs.	In Progress
Stipend Evaluation	Many staff members remarked that stipends have not been increased in multiple years, and that some extra-duty work outside of standard job functions should be considered for stipends. HR and finance personnel are in the process of reviewing stipends and comparing NISD levels to other area districts. Because of funding constraints, stipends could not be addressed at the same time as midpoint raises and veteran teacher adjustments, which were more highly requested among staff.	In Progress
Financial Ambassadors	Staff members at all campuses expressed frustration with financial topic transparency such as the midpoint raise system. A staff member provided the recommendation of creating a group where each campus would send a representative to provide more clarity and input on financial topics. The finance department created the Financial Ambassador group, which has already met twice and will continue to meet going forward.	Spring 2024 & Ongoing

Value

Staff were asked to provide input on what makes them feel valued in their role, whether in terms of actions that have already been taken or actions they would appreciate.

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View Feedback & Action

Feedback	Action	Date
More Teacher Input on PD	Teachers expressed a desire to have more input on the district’s professional development. C&I created the Professional Learning Advisory Committee with representatives from each campus – including teachers and administrators – to discuss a variety of areas related to professional learning and potential improvements.	Spring 2024
Professional Learning Schedule	Teachers expressed a desire for changes to the professional learning schedule at the start of the school year, and adjustments have been made based on this input as well as the Professional Learning Advisory Committee. Changes thus far include: Redesigning the beginning of the professional calendar to provide teachers with more time in the classroom, offer more planning time with teammates, and modify one district professional learning day to focus only on curriculum changes and not new learning. Providing more choice sessions in March professional learning for teachers. Offering more choice options during summer professional learning, including offering sessions that were requested from the advisory committee as well as survey responses. Some after-school PLCs will be offered on Zoom so teachers don’t have to drive to a location.	Spring 2024 & Ongoing
Childcare at March PD	Teachers expressed constraints of finding childcare during our professional learning days that take place during the school year. For the March professional learning days, the district provided daycare at no cost for NISD staff children. 126 and 138 children were served on March 18 and 19, respectively.	March 2024
Teacher Input on New School Designs	Teachers in the current elementary school design expressed a desire to provide suggestions for improvements in future schools. This coincided with plans from the facilities team to seek their input, and all staff at these schools were provided with surveys that were analyzed by architects for improvements in the next elementary school design.	Spring 2024
Current Elementary Design: Art Room Noise	Feedback from teachers at a school with the most recent elementary design expressed that art rooms are too loud. This led to an acoustics study, and acoustic treatment is being added to these spaces before the start of school.	Summer 2024
New Elementary Design: Library, Cafeteria Layout	Feedback from teachers at a school with the most recent elementary design expressed frustration with the noise level caused by the library and cafeteria being closely located. The district is currently working with architects on a new elementary design that will create a layout taking these concerns into account.	Ongoing
Elementary Activity Table Disappointment	Elementary teachers expressed disappointment in the current activity table. The district’s furniture supplier and C&I leaders met and will conduct a mock trial of a new activity table before a final decision is made.	Ongoing

Wellbeing

Staff were asked what the district can do to improve their personal and professional wellbeing.

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View Feedback & Action

Feedback	Action	Date
Challenging Student Behavior	Staff across campuses stressed that student behavior has suffered following the pandemic, decreasing the effectiveness of the learning environment. Northwest ISD will implement new standards that prohibit the personal student use of cellphones during class time as a starting point to address behavior and distractions, with more changes and expectations being evaluated.	August 2024 & Ongoing
Devices for SPED Paraprofessionals	SPED paraprofessionals expressed challenges conducting their job functions without dedicated devices. Technology leaders met with a group of SPED paraprofessionals to conduct a needs analysis and tested multiple device types. The committee of SPED paraprofessionals and teachers felt Chromebooks were working well, but they needed larger screens and faster processors. These devices have been ordered and will be available in the 2024-2025 school year.	Fall 2024
Lack of Administrator Coverage	Staff expressed frustration when all administrators (principal and AP) are off campus for district events or activities. The district has modified learning teams and DLT so principals and APs are not off campus at the same time to ensure at least one administrator is on campus whenever possible.	In Progress
Overall SPED Staffing	All campuses expressed a desire for more SPED support overall given the district’s rise in SPED populations. In 2024-2025 program staffing, new SPED positions composed the largest portion ($1.6 million) of total new staffing approved ($2.5 million). This staffing does not include growth positions, such as new teachers for enrollment increases.	April 2024
Behavior Interventionists	Campus staff stressed that student behaviors have been challenging following COVID and requested additional behavior interventionists for support in this area. Five new behavior interventionists were added to 2024-2025 program staffing.	April 2024
Instructional Coaches	Campus staff said instructional coaches provided valuable support for C&I assistance and requested additional instructional coaches for further support. The following coaches were added to 2024-2025 program staffing: 4 instructional coaches to support teachers, 2 emergent bilingual coaches, 4 emergent bilingual interventionists to support EB students, 2 SPED coaches to support unit teachers, and a SPED support specialist to support new teachers.	April 2024
Increased Staff Recognition	Common feedback mentioned to increase wellbeing by recognizing hard work. As a first step in continued recognition, the district created the SHINE Award for students to nominate their teachers for accolades.	In Progress