AUSTIN, Texas — Austin ISD announced Thursday it received a fifth consecutive “F” rating from the Texas Education Agency at both Webb and Burnet Middle Schools. Pending any appeals, the grades will trigger state intervention by state law, which could include a state takeover of the district.
The district announced the grades ahead of the public release of state accountability data scheduled by the TEA for Friday morning.
Austin ISD attempted to enter into an 1882 partnership at Burnet and Webb, as well as Dobie Middle School, this school year, which would have paused its accountability grades by replacing the school’s management with leadership from an outside non-profit organization, the Texas Council for International Studies (TCIS). The TEA rejected the proposal, leading the district to end its contract with TCIS ahead of the beginning of the school year.
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Dobie, Webb and Burnet had each received “F” ratings from the TEA for four consecutive years. The fifth at Webb and Burnet triggers a state law requiring Commissioner Mike Morath to take action, which would either entail closing the failing campuses or replacing the elected board of trustees and superintendent with an appointed “board of managers.”
The controversial takeover option is currently underway in districts around the state, including Houston ISD, Fort Worth ISD and Beaumont ISD.
In a statement released Thursday afternoon, Austin ISD wrote:
Heading into the new school year, Austin ISD is taking steps to accelerate improvement at schools that continue to struggle. The district has changed campus leadership at Burnet and Webb and made scheduling changes that will result in daily instruction in math and language arts. In addition, six of the Austin ISD campuses that received a D or F rating have been consolidated.
TEA documents show the district has a 30-day window to appeal its accountability grades, although the scope of those appeals is limited.
“Appeals are limited to issues arising from data or calculation errors attributable to TEA, an Education Service Center (ESC), or a vendor and may not be used to correct data inaccurately reported by the district or charter school,” a TEA document outlining the appeals process reads.
Final grades are set to be published in December.
The district’s board of trustees is scheduled to meet Thursday night. Superintendent Matias Segura is expected to share a presentation on state accountability.
Segura shared a video message with AISD families on Thursday, touting improvements in the district’s overall accountability scores, including a larger share of “A” and “B”-rated campuses and fewer “D” and “F”-rated campuses this year.
“We will continue to face our challenges head on, build on what’s working, and refine what hasn’t. In fact, if we stay focused, I expect that we will have zero “F”-rated campuses by this time next year,” Segura said.
Despite the looming action from the state’s education commissioner, David DeMatthews, a professor of education leadership and policy at the University of Texas at Austin, said the district must continue to direct its attention internally.
“The best way district leadership can respond is just to keep focusing on improving schools and getting ready for the school year, and doing what’s best for students, especially students in those schools that potentially received “F”s and campuses that are decent–really for all Austin ISD students. They have to keep their eye on the target and see what the state is gonna do moving forward,” DeMatthews said Thursday.
The TEA is expected to publicly release accountability report cards for the entire state on Friday morning on TXschools.gov.