The Texas Education Agency (TEA) has recently released the final financial rating for each Texas public school districts and charter schools. On August 7, 2023, TEA released a preliminary rating for each school and gave time for some to appeal the rating and correct or amend its financial issues. Brownfield ISD had a preliminary “A = Superior Achievement” rating, the same preliminary rating for Meadow ISD, and a “B = Above Standard Achievement” for Wellman-Union ISD.
The final rating was released on November 6, 2023, and all three Terry County school districts’ ratings did not change from the preliminary report. BISD received a final “A = Superior Achievement”, MISD received a final “A = Superior Achievement” and WUISD received a final “B = Above Standard Achievement”. These results are based on the 2022-2023 school year.
According to TEA, of the 1,192 public schools (ISDs) and charter schools, there are 919 school districts and 127 charter schools that received “A = Superior Achievement”, 88%. There were 50 school districts and 30 charter schools that received “B = Above Standard Achievement”. There were 41 public schools and 14 charter schools that received “C- Meets Standard Achievement”, and there were eight (8) public schools and three (3) charter schools that failed or received “F- Substandard Achievement”.
TEA ended up combining the public and charter schools together for the totals and percentages. If you take out the charter schools’ information then the public schools fare better. 90% of the 1,018 public schools scored the “A = Superior Achievement” compared to the 127 of 174 charter schools that scored “A = Superior Achievement” or 73%. When it comes to the “B = Above Standard Achievement” scores, 50 or 5% of public schools have this rating, as 30 charter schools or 17%. 41 or 4% of public schools received a “C = Meets Standard Achievement” and 14 or 8% of charter schools received a “C = Meets Standard Achievement”. In the “F = Substandard Achievement” rating eight (8) or 0.8% of public schools received that rating and three (3) or 1.72% received the “F = Substandard Achievement”
Brownfield ISD Superintendent Chris Smith said, “BISD has always worked to provide transparency and accountability to our taxpayers. We are proud of the work that went into our rating and we will continue to work on finding areas to improve.” Prior to Smith coming to BISD in April 2018, the school district had a “C = Meets Standard Achievement”. Since Smith took over as superintendent, BISD has received an “A = Superior Achievement”.
Here is a look at other school districts in the area. In Cochran County, there are two school districts with Morton ISD receiving a “A = Superior Achievement”. and Whiteface Consolidated ISD receiving a “B = Above Standard Achievement”. Hockley County has six school districts with Levelland ISD, Anton ISD, Ropes ISD, Smyer ISD, Sundown ISD, and Whitharral ISD receiving an “A = Superior Achievement”. Lubbock County has eight school districts with Lubbock ISD, Lubbock-Cooper ISD, Frenship ISD, Idalou ISD, New Deal ISD, Roosevelt ISD, Shallowater ISD, and Slaton ISD all receiving an “A = Superior Achievement”. Lynn County had four school districts, which Tahoka ISD, New Home ISD, O’Donnell ISD, and Wilson ISD received an “A = Superior Achievement”.
Yoakum County has two school districts. Plains ISD received a “A = Superior Achievement” and Denver City ISD and one of the eight school districts in Texas received a “F = Substandard Achievement”. Gaines County has three school districts which Seminole ISD, Seagraves ISD, and Loop ISD all received an “A = Superior Achievement”. Dawson County has four school districts which Lamesa ISD, Dawson ISD, Klondike ISD, and Sands Consolidated ISD all scored a “A = Superior Achievement”
