Frequently Asked Questions

What is an Intermediate School District?
An Intermediate School District or ISD is a regional educational service agency. When first formed, they were named Intermediate School Districts, but now they may also be called Regional Educational Service Agencies (RESAs), Educational Service Agencies (ESAs), Regional Education Service Districts (RESDs), or Educational Service Districts (ESDs).

What do ISDs do for my local schools and community?
ISDs work with local school districts, the Michigan Department of Education, business and industry, and community groups to support student achievement and leverage resources in the following areas.

• Teaching and Learning: ISDs offer thousands of professional learning sessions each year to educators, keeping them current on the latest research and teaching methods.
• Specialized Student Services: ISDs help local school districts meet ever-growing needs in Early Childhood (birth to age 5) and Parent Education, Early Literacy and Mathematics, Special Education (birth to age 26), Career and Technical Education, Career Preparation, Talent Development, Online and Digital courses, Early/Middle College, Student Activities, Extended Day, Alternative and Adult Education programs, and Court-Involved Youth and Homeless Education programs.
• Shared Operational Services: ISDs provide quality, efficiency, and cost containment when they help districts share services in technology, instruction, transportation, business, communication and support services, teacher and school staff training and purchasing.
• Developing Partnerships: ISDs are often key partners in local economic development through their community ties with colleges and universities, businesses, industries, and human service agencies. Many of these partnerships benefit our schools and students by readying them for 21st Century careers.
• Technology Services: ISDs are technology leaders in their region. ISDs often manage the area’s fiber network, provide Internet access, obtain lower costs for computer hardware and software, provide Internet safety filters, purchase digital collections, promote online and digital learning options, and provide technical support.
• School Improvement, Assessment, and Mandates: ISDs help member districts follow often-complex state and federal education standards, meet state and federal requirements, secure grants, measure student performance and growth, and assist low performing schools.

Who oversees ISDs?
Each ISD has its own Board of Education which approves all official policies, budgets, staff, and plans in open, public meetings. The school board hires and evaluates the ISD Superintendent, who then manages the services and staff of the organization. For most ISDs, members of this five-or-more-person board are elected by the school boards of local districts to serve for six-year terms. ISDs serve the educational needs of their constituent local districts; therefore, local school board members elect ISD board members. Each local school board casts one vote. This provides for geographic representation that balances large and small school districts, as well as urban, suburban and, rural.

Additional transparency comes through public meetings, along with the official documents, budgets, independent financial audits, and the extensive reports and large amounts of information posted on each ISD’s public website. Plus, periodic elections to vote on millage renewals or other important issues keep ISDs accountable to their voters. Oversight can also come from the local association of school boards, the superintendents’ association, special education administrators, parents/guardians and others.

Plus, the Michigan Department of Education helps ensure ISDs comply with state and federal regulations and requirements.