State Ratings a Mixed Bag for Local Schools
The Texas Education Agency (TEA) released A-F School Accountability Ratings earlier this month. All of the school districts in Fayette County passed with at least a C, as did all school campuses with one notable exception (more on that below).
TEA rates schools according to three domains. The first is student achievement, which measures whether students met expectations on the STAAR test, which is the state’s standardized testing system, along with graduation rates and graduate readiness for college, career or military. The next domain is school progress, which measures how students perform over time. The final domain is closing the gaps, which measures how well a school or district is ensuring student success among different socio-economic groups. The state assigns a number and corresponding letter grade in each domain to every public school district and campus and campus in the state. Each campus and district also receives an overall grade.
La Grange ISD’s overall ranking improved from a C in the 2024-25 school year to a B in the most recent ratings. The district’s score went from 78 to 83. Grades improved from C to B in all three major areas of performance: student achievement, school progress and closing the gaps.
The overall grade for La Grange Elementary remained a C while the score improved just slightly, from a 74 to 76. The Middle School scored a big improvement, from an 83 to 91. This is the first time since the 2022-23 school year for the middle school to earn an A in the state ratings. The high school also improved significantly, from a 78 to an 87.
Elsewhere in the County, Fayetteville ISD performed the best with a 97 overall grade. Following closely behind was Flatonia ISD, which scored 93 overall. Round Top-Carmine ISD ranked third among county schools, with an overall grade of 89.
The worst performing district was Schulenburg ISD. The district scored an overall grade of 77. The Schulenburg Secondary campus, which includes the high school and junior high, performed well with an overall grade of 83. However, Schulenburg Elementary continued its failing streak with an overall grade of 57.
The Schulenburg Elementary campus has failed to meet the state’s minimum accountability ratings for three consecutive years. Schools with five consecutive years of unacceptable performance face statutory sanctions. In such cases, the TEA Commissioner must either order a campus closure or appoint a board of managers to govern the district.