{"id":407428,"date":"2026-08-15T15:30:21","date_gmt":"2026-08-15T15:30:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/407428\/"},"modified":"2026-08-15T15:30:21","modified_gmt":"2026-08-15T15:30:21","slug":"from-failing-ratings-to-state-control-how-texas-school-takeovers-work-and-how-they-started","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/407428\/","title":{"rendered":"From failing ratings to state control: How Texas school takeovers work and how they started"},"content":{"rendered":"

A fifth consecutive failing rating requires the education commissioner to intervene by either appointing a board of managers or closing a campus.<\/p>\n

AUSTIN, Texas \u2014 The Texas Education Agency (TEA) released its 2025-26 accountability ratings<\/a> Friday, assigning Austin ISD an overall B \u2014 the district\u2019s first B rating in four years.<\/p>\n

Twenty Austin ISD campuses received “F” ratings. Burnet and Webb middle schools each received an F for the fifth consecutive year, triggering heightened state intervention. Dobie Middle School, which previously received four straight F ratings, improved to a D, pausing the potential intervention trigger for that campus.\u00a0<\/p>\n


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\n This story continues below. <\/p>\n

The ratings do not mean a state takeover of Austin ISD is certain. The TEA has not announced what action it will take, either a takeover or closing campuses, and districts can appeal their ratings through Sept. 11.<\/p>\n

Austin ISD trustees voted in March to turn over management of Dobie, Burnet and Webb\u00a0<\/a>middle schools to the nonprofit Texas Council for International Studies, or TCIS. But the TEA rejected the district\u2019s turnaround plans for the three campuses in May.<\/p>\n

Ahead of the ratings release, Austin ISD leaders said they changed leadership at Burnet and Webb and adjusted schedules to provide daily math and language arts instruction. Six of the campuses that received a D or F rating have since been consolidated.<\/p>\n


\nHow does state intervention work? <\/p>\n

Texas lawmakers passed\u00a0House Bill 1842 in 2015<\/a>, expanding the state\u2019s authority to intervene at campuses that receive unacceptable accountability ratings for two consecutive years. Under state law, after two consecutive failing ratings, the education commissioner will require a district to submit a turnaround plan that is crafted by the district and a campus intervention team.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If a district under a turnaround plan then receives three consecutive failing ratings, state law requires the education commissioner to intervene though either appointing a board of managers or closing a campus.<\/p>\n

A board of managers is a temporary group appointed by the TEA during a state intervention. It replaces the elected school board and works on academics, operations and governance. Control may return to the elected trustees once the district meets required improvements and is on a stable path, according to TEA.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Houston ISD became the first district to undergo a state takeover in 2023. Other districts, including Fort Worth ISD, have followed.<\/p>\n


\nWhen does a Board of Managers come into play? <\/p>\n

According to the TEA, the commissioner may appoint a board of managers<\/a> when a district or charter school:<\/p>\n

Fails to meet accreditation standardsHas ongoing compliance issuesDoes not meet financial accountability requirementsIs the subject of a special investigationFaces leadership concernsDoes not comply with state or federal law <\/p>\n

The following districts are under an appointed Board of Managers as of August 2026:<\/p>\n

Beaumont ISDConnally ISDFort Worth ISDHouston ISDLa Joya ISDLake Worth ISDShepherd ISDSouth San Antonio ISD <\/p>\n

According to the TEA, there are no districts that are pending placement of a board of managers at this time.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A fifth consecutive failing rating requires the education commissioner to intervene by either appointing a board of managers…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":407429,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133],"class_list":["post-407428","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407428","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=407428"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407428\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/407429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=407428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=407428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=407428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}