An independent school district (ISD) is a type of school district in some U.S. states for primary and secondary education, which operates as an entity that is independent and separate from any municipality, county, or state. As such the administrative leadership of such districts is selected from within the district itself and has no direct responsibility to any other governmental authority. This independence normally also implies that the district has its own taxing authority that is outside of the direct control of other governmental entities.
The state of Texas has by far the largest number of independent school districts with almost all of its districts falling into this category (Stafford Municipal School District being the notable exception). The term independent may be used to describe other types of school districts though this is less common.
The use of the term independent can vary in actual application in those states that even use the term. In Kentucky, for example, all school districts there are independent of the state, county, and municipal governments. However a district is normally only referred to as independent if its jurisdiction does not cover an entire county, instead covering a city or cluster of cities.
Read more about Independent School District: History
Famous quotes containing the words independent, school and/or district:
“Men will say that in supporting their wives, in furnishing them with houses and food and clothes, they are giving the women as much money as they could ever hope to earn by any other profession. I grant it; but between the independent wage-earner and the one who is given his keep for his services is the difference between the free-born and the chattel.”
—Elizabeth M. Gilmer (1861–1951)
“For those parents from lower-class and minority communities ... [who] have had minimal experience in negotiating dominant, external institutions or have had negative and hostile contact with social service agencies, their initial approaches to the school are often overwhelming and difficult. Not only does the school feel like an alien environment with incomprehensible norms and structures, but the families often do not feel entitled to make demands or force disagreements.”
—Sara Lawrence Lightfoot (20th century)
“Most works of art, like most wines, ought to be consumed in the district of their fabrication.”
—Rebecca West (1892–1983)