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<\/p>\nSchool districts will only be able to erase the history of a failing school by closing it unless they move students to an “A” or “B” rated campus.<\/p>\n
AUSTIN, Texas \u2014 The Texas Education Agency (TEA) released its 2026 accountability ratings for schools statewide on Friday.<\/p>\n
The A-F ratings measure how schools are performing in three areas:\u00a0<\/p>\n
Student achievement, which looks at whether students met expectations on the STAAR test, graduation rates, and preparedness for success in high school;\u00a0School progress, or how students perform over time and how a district compares to other districts with similar economically disadvantaged student populations;\u00a0Closing the gaps, which shows how well a district is ensuring that all student groups are successful. <\/p>\n
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Austin ISD faces a possible state takeover\u00a0<\/a>after both Burnet and Webb middle schools received failing grades for the fifth year in a row.<\/p>\n Under Texas law, if a public school receives five\u00a0<\/a>or more consecutive failing ratings, the TEA commissioner must either close the campus or take over the district. In a takeover, an appointed board of managers replaces the district’s elected board of trustees, and an appointed superintendent replaces the district’s superintendent.<\/p>\n AISD said heading into the new school year, it is taking steps to accelerate improvement at struggling schools, noting that it has changed leadership at Burnet and Webb and made scheduling changes that will result in daily instruction in math and language arts.<\/p>\n Back in May<\/a>, the TEA rejected AISD’s turnaround plans for three then-failing middle schools: Burnet, Webb and Dobie. In July, the district ended its agreement\u00a0<\/a>with the nonprofit it partnered with as part of its turnaround plan for the schools.<\/p>\n In total<\/a>, 28 AISD campuses received an A rating, 33 received a B, 22 received a C, 11 received a D, and 20 received an F. AISD said the number of campuses that received an A or B has increased by 42% since 2024. The number of campuses that received a D or F has decreased by 35% over the same period.<\/p>\n Seven AISD schools, Dawson Elementary, Linder Elementary, Martin Middle, Oak Springs Elementary, Paredes Elementary, Pecan Springs Elementary, and Wid\u00e9n Elementary, got their fourth straight F grade. Four AISD schools, Barrington Elementary, Govalle Elementary, Jordan Elementary\u00a0and\u00a0Pickle Elementary, all got their third straight F.<\/p>\n Last year, AISD closed and consolidated<\/a> Dawson Elementary, Martin Middle, Oak Springs Elementary, Wid\u00e9n Elementary and Barrington Elementary as part of a plan to address an over $100 million budget shortfall.\u00a0<\/p>\n In July, the Austin ISD Board of Trustees voted to close Paredes Middle School<\/a>, citing continued academic struggles. District leaders said the decision came after years of struggling student performance, as they expected Paredes to receive its fourth consecutive “F” rating from the state despite additional resources and support.\u00a0<\/p>\n But closing struggling schools to avoid state action could be harder in the future under a new\u00a0Texas Education Agency\u00a0rule<\/a>.<\/p>\n The rule, set to take effect on Sunday, says that if a school district closes a D or F-rated campus but transfers the \u201cplurality\u201d of students to an overall C, D, or F-rated campus, the new school would get the rating of the closed campus. So, if a school district closed a school with four consecutive F ratings and transferred the \u201cplurality\u201d students to a C-rated school, that new campus would have four F ratings.<\/p>\n \u201cThey’re really just asserting more oversight over kids who may be in a school that is failing for 3 or 4 years consecutively and then, to avoid the trigger in the law, the district consolidates that school or closes that school,\u201d University of Texas at Austin Education Professor David DeMatthews said. \u201cWith this rule, they still want to have some authority over a potential takeover or potential consequences, rather than let them just restart at a new school and not have any accountability for those children.\u201d<\/p>\n Districts can only wipe away the history of a chronically failing school by closing it unless they move students to an A or B-rated campus. Under the rule, Morath can transfer failing ratings to a new campus on a case-by-case basis.<\/p>\n \u201cOn one hand, you do want the state to have oversight and transparency around serving students well, and you don’t want a loophole for school districts,\u201d DeMatthews said. \u201cBut on the other hand, you don’t need the state making decisions about where children in local communities go to school when you have a democratically elected school board. So there’s some tension there.\u201d<\/p>\n The new rule applies to the move involving Paredes students, who will go to either Bailey Middle School or Mendez Middle School, depending on their home address in the new school year.<\/p>\n Austin ISD is reassigning 55% of Paredes students to Bailey Middle School, which had a C grade last year, but increased its rating to a B this year. Had the campus not improved, the new rule would have given it Paredes’s grade of four F’s.<\/p>\n Mendez Middle School, where 45% of the students will go, dropped from a B rating last year to a D rating this year. The TEA did not specifically define what it considers a \u201cplurality\u201d in the new rule, but generally the term refers to the largest share of something. However, it is not always a majority.<\/p>\n It is unclear whether the new rule will impact school closures or relocations approved before Sunday. KVUE reached out to the TEA to clarify that on Friday but did not hear back.<\/p>\n Under the new rule, districts must submit a plan outlining the school\u2019s instructional materials, daily schedule, and proposed training for teachers and campus administrators at the campus where the closed school\u2019s students are attending. Districts will also have to submit a similar plan for TEA approval if they want to move a plurality of students from an A or B-rated school into a school with a C rating or lower.\u00a0<\/p>\n DeMatthews said this new rule could make it harder for school districts to close schools for reasons unrelated to academic performance, such as budget constraints.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis rule change is about the state’s desire to maintain its accountability system and its control at the expense of local, democratically elected school boards and the flexibility they need to respond to enrollment changes, financial pressures, which are not getting any easier, and local community circumstances,\u201d DeMatthews said.\u00a0<\/p>\n In the Texas Register<\/a>, where state agencies post new rules, the TEA said the new rule clarifies the conditions under which a district may close a campus.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThese provisions are not intended to impose a one-size-fits-all approach, nor to disregard practical constraints faced by districts,\u201d the TEA said. \u201cDistricts retain flexibility to document local considerations and implementation factors as part of required consolidation planning, which allows the agency to review reassignment decisions in context rather than in isolation, while also allowing the agency to maintain continuity of ratings and subsequent interventions.\u201d<\/p>\n The bottom line, DeMatthews said, is that it just got tougher for districts looking to stave off state intervention.<\/p>\n \u201cYou want school districts to have some flexibility,\u201d DeMatthews said. \u201cYou also just don’t want school districts getting out of taking responsibility for schools when they have many, many years of failures. It’s a tough spot.\u201d<\/p>\n Moving forward, school districts can appeal their ratings, with a deadline in early September. The appeal process could take several months.<\/p>\n