Increased support for teachers and partnerships with outside organizations frame the “Blueprint for Excellence” that Pedro Martinez, superintendent of the San Antonio Independent School District, will begin presenting today in a series of community meetings.

“We’ve raised the bar for everybody,” Martinez said. “For central office, principals and teachers.”

The strategies support a five-year turnaround plan Martinez laid out last fall.

The plan calls for 70 percent of SAISD schools to achieve “A” or “B” letter grades by 2020 under a new state rating system, increased passage rates on state and national standardized tests, more options for gifted students and increased college attendance among graduates.

Martinez said he finalized the strategies last month based on national best practices and feedback from district employees and community members.

As part of the plan, several district high schools next year will launch or expand new magnet programs.

Jefferson High School is a candidate for International Baccalaureate, a program already in place at Burbank High School.

Students also can choose engineering programs at Sam Houston, Highlands and Lanier High Schools or health programs at Fox Tech and Edison High Schools.

All high schools will have more dual credit and advanced placement options.

IB programs also will be introduced at Longfellow Middle School and Harris Academy, joining one already in place at Woodlawn Academy, Martinez said.

Middle schools will begin offering pre-AP courses in English, he said. A middle school science, technology, engineering and math program through Rice University is also being considered, he said, and a new literacy initiative is in the works.

SAISD will offer more prekindergarten-through-eighth-grade academies next school year, and more will be dual-language, similar to Bonham Academy, Martinez said.

About 10 elementary schools could incorporate the sixth grade next year, based on research that says sixth-graders develop better academically and socially when placed with lower grades. The selectins of expanded elementary schools will not be finalized until the end of the month.

Martinez said he wanted the majority of lower-level schools to eventually become pre-k-8 models, noting about half of SAISD’s middle schools last year failed to meet state academic accountability standards.

“Every year for at least the last decade, we have lost the most children in the transition from fifth to sixth (grades),” Martinez said. “They leave the district or go to charter schools. They don’t feel that we have high-quality options.”

The district is also planning two K-12 gifted academies, which will require money from funding sources that are not yet finalized, Martinez said. They will double as “laboratory schools,” where teachers work alongside master’slevel university students. More details are expected within two weeks.

With a $2 million grant over three years from H-E-B, the district is developing a residency program to train at least 15 future principals, all educators who will be mentored under lead principals. Other urban districts nationwide have implemented the model successfully, Martinez said.

SAISD’s overall plan means dramatic changes for some teachers and instructional support staff. The district hires about 400 teachers a year, and this year the process is being sped up, with the goal of having half of next year’s positions staffed by the end of April. Teachers are getting three-year professional development plans that emphasize leadership possibilities. By the late spring, some underperforming teachers could be terminated, Martinez said.

“We have more people now on growth plans or being coached than ever before, at least the last five years,” Martinez said. “Some are responding very positively, and they are getting better.”

According to an email sent recently to employees, the way English-language learners and special education students are served will also change. To implement all the changes, 200 instructional support positions are being restructured, spokeswoman Leslie Price said. New job descriptions are being developed that emphasize sending instructional coaches to schools to work directly with teachers, Price said. The restructuring will not affect the budget or number of positions, but employees will decide whether to apply for the new positions.

“Some of them will be very different, and some of them will have less change,” Price said. “The idea around this is to provide more support to the campuses.”

The overall amount of money required to execute the “Blueprint for Excellence” has not yet been determined, Martinez said. Trustees and administrators just began the planning and budgeting process for the next school year.

“That’s the challenge that we have, because I wish we had more resources,” Martinez said. “Everything requires us to look at our dollars.” amalik@express-news.net