CORPUS CHRISTI — It's report-card time for Texas schools and school districts.
For the Corpus Christi Independent School District, the grade from the Texas Education Agency is better than last year when they got a "C" rating. This year's accountability scores give the district an overall "B".
The Texas Education Agency grades districts on three criteria: student achievement, school progress, and "closing the gaps", or how well different populations of students in a district are performing. CCISD scored an 85 there, and an 87 in school progress; both good enough for a “B”. However. the district scored a 79 in school achievement, which was only good enough for a "C."
“What needs to happen now, is that we focus on our students demonstrating progress,"said CCISD Superintendent Dr. Roland Hernandez. "Regardless of the level of where they are.”
Dr. Hernandez said that means identifying struggling students, and getting them help they need -- even if that means outside school hours.
“Whatever we can do there to better support them and whatever we can do to better support our teachers in specific subject areas is exactly what we'll build into our plan moving in to this coming school year,” he said.
2018-19 was the second year the TEA used the current ratings system. Last year the agency only graded districts, but this year, individual schools also received grades.
District schools did well overall, with only one failing to make the grade on the TEA's report card; Haas Middle School, by the narrowest of margins.
Haas scored a 59.4, that's an "F"; but one more tenth of a point, and the school’s score would have been rounded up to 60 and a "D", a passing grade. The district will appeal the grade.
“We just want to double check: 'Were there any coding errors, testing errors that might have been overlooked?' " Hernandez said.
Whether or not Haas wins its appeal, Hernandez said the district doesn’t want schools near the failing mark. As a result, Haas Middle will receive extra support and guidance from CCISD in 2019-20.
Meanwhile, eight CCISD schools earned "A" grades including Collegiate and Veterans Memorial High Schools; as well as Kolda, Mireles, and Smith Elementary schools.
Elsewhere, 12 Coastal Bend Districts were giving an “A” rating by the TEA. Those include Bishop ISD, Calallen ISD, Driscoll ISD, Flour Bluff ISD, London ISD and Port Aransas ISD.
Some of the districts on the “B”-list include Alice ISD, Aransas County ISD, Gregory-Portland ISD, Ingleside ISD, Kingsville ISD, Robstown ISD, Tuloso-Midway ISD, and West Oso ISD.
Beeville ISD was the only area district to get a "C" rating, while the Corpus Christi Montessori School, the Dr. M.L. Garza-Gonzalez Charter School, Pettus ISD, and Ramirez ISD all received “D”s.
If you’d like to see where your child’s school was rated, visit the TEA’s School District Report Card page.
