Earlier this year, Richardson ISD Academy, an elementary school in northern Dallas, received its fourth F rating in as many years. Does that mean Richardson ISD is on the brink of a takeover?

The simple answer is no, or at least not yet.

The less-simple answer is longer and deals with some of the more arcane features of Texas’ education law.

Under a decade-old law, Texas’ education commissioner is required to intervene anytime a campus receives five consecutive F ratings in the state’s A-F accountability scores, which are released each summer. The law gives the commissioner two options: order the district to close the struggling campus or take over the entire district, replacing its elected board of trustees with an appointed board of managers. Mike Morath, the current education commissioner, chose the latter option when campuses in Houston, Fort Worth and Lake Worth ISDs reached the five-F threshold.

But TEA’s rules allow districts to hit a pause button on the multi-year F rating count in a few different cases. One of the ways districts can get a pause is by starting a Math Innovation Zone program, which gives schools extra state support to build high-quality blended learning programs in math. TEA gave Richardson ISD Academy a Math Innovation Zone designation last year, which paused its multi-year F count. So even though the campus got its fourth consecutive F rating this year, its multi-year count is at three.

But while the designation pauses the count, it doesn’t reset it. So if Richardson ISD Academy gets an F rating next year, it will put the count at four, meaning the campus will be one F away from triggering state intervention.

Richardson ISD leaders say they’re working hard to make sure that doesn’t happen. In an email to parents sent Aug. 14, Principal Christine Gibson said school leaders identified key areas where the campus needs to improve, including developing students’ abilities to listen, speak, read and write in English, and continuing to work toward Spanish proficiency for students in the school’s bilingual program. The school will also provide targeted small-group tutoring during the school day and schedule after-school tutoring and Saturday camps for students who need extra support, she said.

In a statement, district leaders said Richardson ISD Academy is implementing a targeted turnaround plan that includes “focused instructional strategies, dedicated academic interventions, and specialized campus resources, such as small-group tutoring and enhanced support for all learners, to ensure every student is meeting growth standards.” A district coordinator for school improvement monitors student data to make sure those efforts are having an impact on student performance, officials said.

CORRECTION, 9 a.m. Oct. 1, 2026: The headline on an earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Richardson ISD Academy had received its fifth straight F rating. The campus has received four F ratings.

The DMN Education Lab deepens the coverage and conversation about urgent education issues critical to the future of North Texas. 

The DMN Education Lab is a community-funded journalism initiative, with support from Bobby and Lottye Lyle, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, Garrett and Cecilia Boone, Judy and Jim Gibbs, The Meadows Foundation, The Murrell Foundation, Ron Steinhart, Solutions Journalism Network, Southern Methodist University, Sydney Smith Hicks, and the University of Texas at Dallas. The Dallas Morning News retains full editorial control of the Education Lab’s journalism.