{"id":440186,"date":"2026-09-18T17:36:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T17:36:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/440186\/"},"modified":"2026-09-18T17:36:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T17:36:09","slug":"austin-isd-appeals-two-failing-school-ratings-in-bid-to-avoid-takeover","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/440186\/","title":{"rendered":"Austin ISD appeals two failing school ratings in bid to avoid takeover"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Austin school district has appealed the failing ratings of Webb and Burnet middle schools<\/a> to the Texas Education Agency, according to TEA spokesman Jake Kobersky, making a last attempt to change the grades that have put the district at risk of state intervention.<\/p>\n

The appeal of the schools\u2019 2025-26 ratings is the district\u2019s latest move to avoid a state intervention, which the two schools triggered<\/a> after receiving their fifth consecutive failing ratings. And the margin is narrow: Burnet fell one point short of a D, while Webb fell two points short. If an appeal raises the schools to a D, it would break the campuses streaks of failing ratings and remove the schools\u2019 trigger for mandatory intervention. The stakes are unusually high. If either school\u2019s fifth consecutive F becomes final, state law requires Education Commissioner Mike Morath to either close the campus or appoint a board of managers to replace Austin ISD\u2019s superintendent and elected school board. But if TEA grants an appeal and changes both schools\u2019 ratings, the district could avoid the intervention, including a possible full takeover of the district, triggered by this year\u2019s grades.<\/p>\n

Preliminary data showed Burnet Middle School received an overall score of 59 and Webb a score of 58. That puts the schools one and two points, respectively, below the 60 overall score required to get a D rating.<\/p>\n

Districts typically file appeals based on the data used to rate schools, Superintendent Matias Segura told Austin Current in August. State standardized testing scores play a large role in how schools are rated<\/a>, though other factors such as college and career readiness also factor into the calculations. If TEA determines an error was made in assigning the schools\u2019 ratings, the agency can change them. For Burnet and Webb, even a small change could be significant.<\/p>\n

TEA declined to provide more details on the appeal, including when Austin ISD submitted it and the specific grounds on which the district is challenging the ratings, because the process is ongoing. The deadline for districts to appeal ratings was Sept. 11.<\/p>\n

Austin ISD did not respond to a request for comment before publication.<\/p>\n

The appeal comes as Mayor Kirk Watson has joined AISD supporters in calling for the school district to remain independent\u00a0<\/a>as the threat of a state takeover looms. Earlier this month, Watson called on parents of Burnet and Webb<\/a> to form a Parent Petition for Action<\/a> asking the state to close the campuses rather than take over the district.<\/p>\n

The petition process<\/a> is a little-known provision in the state\u2019s education policy which allows parents to have a say in the intervention. But it remains unclear whether such a petition would ultimately prevent Morath from imposing additional sanctions or whether enough parents at either school will support closing their campus.<\/p>\n

Experts say Morath could layer interventions, meaning he could approve a campus closure sought by parents while also imposing other interventions and sanctions. Meanwhile, parents at Burnet and Webb middle schools have mostly opposed the idea of closing their own schools.<\/p>\n

Austin ISD will not be involved in gathering signatures for the petition, but is developing a plan in case parents decide to submit one, Segura said in a statement earlier this week<\/a>. Parents would need to submit signatures from parents representing more than 50% of the students enrolled at each school to Segura by Oct. 15. The superintendent would then have through Dec. 1 to verify the signatures and submit the petition over to Morath.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt Burnet and Webb middle schools specifically, we\u2019re continuing our efforts because our students deserve a strong education, regardless of any possible intervention,\u201d Segura said in a letter to parents Monday<\/a>. \u201cWe are confident that performance will improve at these schools as it has at so many Austin ISD schools over the past two years. Ultimately, the students and families are our responsibility and we\u2019re committed to improving their experience in Austin ISD.\u201d<\/p>\n

From Austin Current<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Austin school district has appealed the failing ratings of Webb and Burnet middle schools to the Texas…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":440187,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133],"class_list":["post-440186","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\/440186","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=440186"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440186\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/440187"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=440186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=440186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=440186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}