The Ehrhart School's Spending Plan 

During the district’s Teacher Incentive Allotment stakeholder committee meetings, input was gathered on the development of The Ehrhart School’s TIA spending plan. The district included the Superintendent, other district personnel, teachers, and principals in the decision-making process. In an effort to retain the district's top talent, the stakeholders elected to provide the majority of the Teacher Incentive Allotment funds to the teacher who earned the Designation. Therefore, The Ehrhart School will provide 90% of the TIA funds to the teacher who earned a TIA Designation and reserve 10% of the funds for supporting the TIA initiative at the district level. The district will provide the TIA compensation to teachers through a lump sum payment (as supplemental pay added to the August monthly check/EFT) in each year that a teacher generates funding for a TIA designation. 

• If a Designated Teacher leaves the district prior to Winter Roster Verification (generally in February of each school year) then the Designated Teacher will not receive any TIA funds because no TIA funds will be generated to the district from the state. 

• If a Designated Teacher moves campuses within The Ehrhart School during the school year, then The Ehrhart School will provide the funding to the Designated teacher based on the campus where the Designated Teacher worked during Winter Roster (generally in February).

• If a Designated Teacher moves to the district prior to Winter Roster Verification then the Designated Teacher will receive the allotment of funds generated by the state at the campus where the teacher is teaching during Winter Roster Verification. The spending plan will be the same for newly hired Designated teachers.

Note that The Ehrhart School cannot recommend a teacher to the state for a TIA Designation if they do not remain in an eligible teaching position the year following the data capture year. For example, if a teacher is Designated as a result of data collected in the 2025-26 school year, but the teacher moves into an Assistant Principal position in the 2026-27 school year, the state will not approve the TIA Designation.

The district has a board approved compensation plan that provides approval for the TIA payments. The school board will approve the expenditure of TIA funds as part of the annual budgeting process. As previously mentioned, the TRS contributions and fringe benefits will be deducted from the 90% in part to ensure the TIA compensation is considered creditable compensation under TRS. Below is an example of a teacher’s TIA payout:

Sample calculation: A teacher receives a TIA designation of Exemplary and the allotment amount provided to the district by the state is $11,352. According to the The Ehrhart School TIA spending plan, the district will provide 90% of the funds to the teacher who earned the designation ($11,352 x 90% = $10,216.80). The district will deduct the TRS contribution and fringe benefits, which are calculated at $1,642.35 for this specific teacher, (note that these numbers will vary by teacher based on a number of factors) from the 90%. Therefore, the teacher’s actual TIA payout will be $10,216.80 - $1,642.35 = $8,574.45.

The district will request that teachers currently employed with the district notify the HR Specialist upon completion of National Board Certification. For new hires, this will be a question asked during the intake process. The teacher will be required to show proof of active status with the NBPTS' National Board Certification. 

To look up the TIA allotment provided to each campus under this initiative, please visit www.TIATexas.org.

Note: If a TIA Designated teacher is not employed by The Ehrhart School at the TEA winter roster date (typically in February of each year), then The Ehrhart School will not be responsible for paying the TIA funds to the Designated Teacher. In order for a Designated Teacher to receive funds under the TIA in this instance, the Designated Teacher will need to work with the new Texas school district or charter school to be compensated under TIA. In this case, the amount of funds earned under TIA would follow the new district’s TIA spending plan and allotments provided by the state for the particular campus based on “rural/non-rural” and “economically disadvantaged” Tier status.