DeISD 2024 Teacher Incentive Allotment Awardees

DeSoto ISD Announces 2024 Cohort of High-Flying Teachers As Based on TEA’s Teacher Incentive Allotment Program
Posted on 06/03/2024
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The DeSoto Independent School District’s Board of Trustees and administrative team visited campus classrooms before the end of the year. This round of visits were not centered on observations or site visits, but to surprise a select and special group of high-performing teachers with bonuses courtesy of the Texas Education Agency’s Teacher Incentive Allotment–an incentive program designed to keep great teachers in the classroom.

Watch TIA Prize Patrol Recap Video


DeSoto ISD is proud to announce the district’s 2024 cohort of Texas Education Agency Teacher Incentive Allotment awardees:

Amber Terrace ECLC

  • Natasha Neely 
  • Tiffany Moline

Katherine Johnson TMA 

  • Lakesha Jackson 
  • Sabrina Mayberry

Moates Elementary School

  • Rodney Flannigan  
  • Olivia Horsley 
  • Kristi Hunter 
  • Michelle Kelly 
  • Catherine Chavez Fields 

 McCowan Middle School 

  • Erick Jemerson 

 Cockrell Hill Elementary 

  • Cheryl Taylor 

West Middle School 

  • Chenique Moore 

See Prize Patrol Photos 


Created by the Texas Legislature as part of House Bill 3 in 2019, The Teacher Incentive Allotment (TIA) was established with a stated goal of a six-figure salary for teachers. TIA allotment funds help Texas school systems reward, retain, and recruit highly effective teachers and is a critical strategy for the district to live up to strategic plan commitment #4 to develop extraordinary people. 

Through TIA, effective teachers are recognized on three different levels of designation. 


There are two pathways to designation:

  • National Board certified teachers are eligible to earn a recognized designation. 
  • Teachers may earn designation through DeSoto ISD’s local designation system. 

Each designation falls within a funding range and the exact amount of funding a designation teacher generates is determined by designation level and campus where the designated teacher works. The allotment funding per teacher is determined by a formula that considers the level of socioeconomic need at a campus and whether the campus is rural.

For each designation, the range is as follows:

  • Recognized: $3,000-9,000
  • Exemplary: $6,000-$18,000
  • Master: $12,000-32,000

DeSoto ISD local designation system

Core content teachers with NWEA MAP and STAAR data during the 2021-22 school year are eligible for designation in phase 1 of implementation of TIA at DeSoto ISD. This includes the following courses: 

  • Kindergarten through 8th Grade Math and Reading
  • 8th Grade Science & Social Studies
  • Algebra 1
  • Geometry
  • Algebra 2
  • English 1 - 4
  • Biology
  • US History

During the 2021-22 school year, the district explored applying for additional teachers to be eligible for TIA funding during the 2022-23 school year. 

Designation was determined each year by three core components: 

  • Teacher Observation 
  • Student Growth 
  • Student Perception (only grades 3-12)

Each year, teachers receive an annual TIA scorecard and are submitted for designation when eligible. TIA designations are determined based on the TIA score, a weighted combination of the teacher appraisal weighted composite score, student growth composite score, and Panorama student experience composite score (when relevant). Designations are valid for five years as long as teachers remain in the classroom and are not specific to grade level or content area. Teachers will be submitted for higher designation during the five year period if eligible, but will not be submitted for lower designation. 

Congratulations to the 2024 cohort of DeSoto ISD TIA-designated teachers!