Texas School Procedures is an unusual business. A subscription service providing professionally researched and written documentation for the state’s school districts and open enrollment charters – you won’t find something quite like it anywhere else in the US. Yet, its origins are as classic as it gets. You’ve probably heard this one before: a dedicated employee spends years in the trenches, learning the industry inside and out, before one day asking, “Shouldn’t there be a better way?”
Today we’re happy to share our interview with Debby Moore, founder and CEO of Texas School Procedures. Debby took her passion for making the lives of educators easier and turned it into a one-of-a-kind service to the state of Texas.
TxSP: What is your professional history? What came before TxSP?
Debby: I am one of those jack-of-all-trades educators. When I first started in education, all I ever wanted to be was a special education teacher working with students who faced academic and behavioral challenges. But along the way, I also had the opportunity to grow in my experiences and expertise by serving as a school counselor, a director of an alternative education program, a special education counselor / behavioral specialist, a campus principal, and a district director over student and administrative services.
TxSP: Wow, so you really did it all?
Debby: I welcomed the challenge and it was important to me. You can’t be a great teacher if you don’t yourself love to learn. I just kept pushing forward.
TxSP: What inspired you to start TxSP?
Debby: When I was at the central district office, one of my responsibilities was to write campus regulations for the district. It had been a fairly small district, but we were at the beginning of a very LARGE growth spurt.
As in many school districts, we had some written procedures and common forms to use, but they were not saved in any one place or in any consistent way. So as always happens, we ended up with multiple versions of our procedures, none of them dated, none of them vetted and aligned with current laws, and without any idea who wrote them.
After I retired from that district, colleagues who I had worked with and moved to other districts asked me if I would come write protocols and documents for their new districts. Thus began the idea of developing a website that any size district would benefit from using not just the regulations or protocols, but all the documents needed to implement the protocols as well.
TxSP: How long have you been building your library?
Debby: The library started about seven years ago with two sections – one for campus administrators and another section for professional school counselors. At the request of our partnering districts we began to add other sections, and now we have almost 2000 protocols and accompanying documents for seven sections. We add, modify, or delete information on a regular basis due to state and federal laws, district requests, as well as research-based practices to support unfunded mandates.
TxSP: Is there an element of school operation that you really love serving or writing about?
Debby: I’m glad you used the term school operation, because when we began, we only wrote protocols and documents aligned with board policy. What we found out in our work was schools wanted more protocols and documents that dealt with the day-to-day operations in every area of school life that extended beyond board policy. My favorite area that I really enjoy serving or writing about is any area that has to be implemented at the campus level, because that is where the “rubber meets the road” and the real work for students happens. Anything TxSP can do to help support that work or make it easier – that is the goal of our work.
TxSP: Where do you see TxSP growing next? Are there still more topics you want to cover?
Debby: There are always new topics to cover as the laws change on a regular basis, and our districts always challenge us to help them develop procedures for new ventures such as drones, behavior support, trainings, etc. We are currently working on the requirements for HB 18 and the school counseling program to be implemented in the 2020-21 school year, new federal guidelines on prayer in schools, and have recently added information on immigrant students, transgender students, and a large section for secondary counselors on transcripts, graduation requirements, etc.
TxSP: What do you think is the biggest challenge administrators face in terms of regulations and protocols?
Debby: The biggest challenge administrators face is in not having regulations or protocols at all provided by their districts. Our experience has shown us that whether you are a very small or very large district, most districts do not have a bank of “how-to” protocols and prepared documents and letters to use. Therefore, administrators and school staff are having to make time to research and develop these on their own – which takes time away from being in the classrooms and building relationships with students.
We have not found a single district which has a designated district staff member who has the time, knowledge, or experience to develop these protocols and documents and keep them updated along with all their other responsibilities. Viola – Texas School Procedures!
TxSP: What do you think the future holds for school administration in Texas? What do you think districts should be expecting over the next 5-10 years?
Debby: With SB 11 and HB 18 being signed into law this last legislation, I believe that we will continue to see more legislation on safety, mental health, and support services. We will also continue to see an emphasis on college, career, and military readiness and closing the gap in learning for our students. I also have worked with TEA on a project and see support and movement towards originality and thinking outside of the box.
TxSP: What are you the most proud of regarding Texas School Procedures?
Debby: TxSP prides itself on truly being service oriented and responsive to our districts’ needs. I believe our website really makes jobs easier for campus administrators, counselors, nurses, and support staff and brings peace of mind to district staff that everyone is consistent in application of the law and best practices.
If you’d like to learn more about Texas School Procedures, how it works and the incredible benefits it can offer your district, start here.
