TEA RELEASES 2022-23 ACCOUNTABILITY RATINGS: C FOR BRENHAM ISD, B FOR BURTON ISD
The Texas Education Agency (TEA) has released its 2023 A-F accountability ratings for schools across the state.
The ratings, which reflect performance from the 2022-23 school year, were delayed from being released for two years after a lawsuit challenged TEA’s changes to how districts are graded. Separate litigation is affecting the release of data for the 2023-24 school year, while ratings from the 2024-25 academic year are planned for release this August.
Examining the new ratings, Brenham ISD’s overall accountability grade for the 2022-23 year was a 72, or a C. Burton ISD scored at an 85, or a B.
Breaking down Brenham ISD’s rating, the district received a 73 (C) in both Student Achievement and School Progress and a 69 (D) in Closing the Gaps. For individual campuses, six of Brenham ISD’s schools graded at a C, while Krause Elementary School received a D.
For Burton ISD, it ranked at an 85 (B) for Student Achievement and Closing the Gaps and at an 81 (B) in School Progress. Individual school grades saw both the elementary and high school campuses earn a B.
Both Brenham and Burton ISDs have seen changes since the 2022-23 school year on which the new ratings are based on. Most notably, the districts have undergone reorganization in their administrations, including at superintendent.
KWHI reached out to Brenham and Burton ISDs for statements in response to the new ratings.
Brenham ISD Chief Academic Officer Sara Borchgardt said the district understands that the new ratings may be concerning, but that they “do not reflect where we are—they reflect where we were.” She said the district “has already implemented changes that are strengthening outcomes for all students.”
Brenham ISD Superintendent Clay Gillentine said the district is “confident in the work our educators are doing every day to ensure that all students learn, grow, and succeed.”
Brenham ISD’s full statement can be viewed here.
Burton ISD Superintendent Vikki Curry said the rating “affirms the work being done in classrooms across our district, and it also challenges us to keep growing.” She said, “Our district uses a comprehensive approach that includes internal assessments, formative feedback, and student-centered strategies to ensure that every student is progressing and thriving.”
Curry’s full statement can be seen below:
We are proud of the progress our students and staff continue to make. This rating affirms the work being done in classrooms across our district, and it also challenges us to keep growing. Our team remains focused on continuous improvement, meeting the diverse needs of every learner, and ensuring a high-quality education across Burton ISD.
As the educational landscape evolves, Burton ISD remains committed to providing a learning environment that prioritizes both academic achievement and the development of the whole child. While state ratings are one metric of success, they do not fully capture the daily dedication, innovation, and care our educators bring to their students.
We recognize that data and accountability systems are important tools, but they are not the sole indicators of student success. Our district uses a comprehensive approach that includes internal assessments, formative feedback, and student-centered strategies to ensure that every student is progressing and thriving.
We extend our gratitude to all teachers, staff, students, and families for their continued support and collaboration. Together, we will continue building a district that is academically strong, future-focused, and centered on student achievement and well-being.
Scores for school districts around the region include:
- Anderson-Shiro CISD – 84 (B)
- Bellville ISD – 80 (B)
- Brazos ISD – 78 (C)
- Bryan ISD – 77 (C)
- Caldwell ISD – 83 (B)
- College Station ISD – 81 (B)
- Columbus ISD – 80 (B)
- Dime Box ISD – 60 (D)
- Fayetteville ISD – 96 (A)
- Flatonia ISD – 94 (A)
- Giddings ISD – 77 (C)
- Hempstead ISD – 59 (F)
- La Grange ISD – 80 (B)
- Lexington ISD – 83 (B)
- Iola ISD – 81 (B)
- Navasota ISD – 73 (C)
- Round Top-Carmine ISD – 90 (A)
- Richards ISD – 69 (D)
- Sealy ISD – 77 (C)
- Schulenburg ISD – 64 (D)
- Snook ISD – 81 (B)
- Somerville ISD – 67 (D)
- Waller ISD – 74 (C)
The full ratings can be viewed at https://txschools.gov.
Well we have been testing children for decades With all these test. And it has not improved school academics at all.It has manage to stress out children,parents, and teachers. The climate in today’s school are chaotic!
Chaotic school climates are a direct result of poor leadership. I mean from the principal right on down to the team leads. When they tolerate bad behavior from their colleagues while serving their own interests, everyone suffers. It’s then up to the legit educators to weed out the bad apples, but they are just going to go find a better job, in a better district, somewhere else.
Growth in a school district doesn’t happen overnight. Looking across our whole region, many districts received similar grades even some who usually score better with more success. A single rating doesn’t tell the full story of the hard work happening every day in our schools and classrooms. For the 2023 ratings, the state delayed publishing final rules and calculations so districts had to prepare students and campuses without full information about how they would be graded. That uncertainty made it even harder to “hit the target” which is why 100 plus districts sued the state in a lawsuit. A–F rating system also changed. Instead of tearing down our teachers and district, now is the time for the community to lean in and support.
kids that act up in class is the main cause of lower grades their disregard for others and their willingness to learn Something needs to be done about this kind of behavior . They need to be taught how to respect others and discipline .I don’t know the answer I just feel sorry for teachers that have to deal with this kind of thing. When I was in school if you acted up in class you were sent to the principle office but now the WOKE and DEI stuff makes everything different and finally now people realize that . Maybe things will get better a little at a time with WOKE and DEI removed from our schools
And if things in our schools do not get any better; but, instead continue on this downward spiral into the dysfunctional abyss … then we ALL will know that the so-called “WOKE and DEI stuff” was not the problem! But you DID say that you “don’t know the answer”. Yeah, let’s go with that!
FIELD TRIP….It’s time for Brenham to trip on over to the higher performing schools to see what they are doing differently. Yes, school dynamics may be different, however instructional strategies and effective motivational techniques is key when teaching ALL learners.
Would the Spectator be so kind as to do a deep dive for the community and explain why the ratings have dipped so low? It is important to note that this is less about performance and more about a revamped grading system set up by a governor appointed TEA to show failure across the board. Here’s how some districts looked the year before the changes:
2021-22- Brenham ISD B rating (22/23 C)
2021/22 – Burton ISD A rating (22/23 B)
2021/22 Austin ISD B rating (22/23 C)
2021/22 Spring Branch B rating (22/23 C)
2021/22 Dallas ISD B rating (22/23 C)
Rather than reacting with insufficient information, I encourage you to dig into this a bit more with information provided by someone without an ulterior motive. The teachers didn’t suddenly fail the students and the students didn’t suddenly fail to perform. This is about optics and the need for state leadership to show the education system is failing (mind you, one they’ve been in charge of for 30 years!). That part in parenthesis is VERY important by the way. This was on more way to push forward vouchers with this as backup. The timing is no coincidence.
Please hold off on the insults being thrown at our educators or our students….especially those of you who never had the “benefit” of learning or teaching under curriculum geared toward a standardized test. Do you know all students 3rd – 8th grade and some high school tests have to take the STAAR in English? Now imagine how that affects the scores in communities where English is not the dominant language. In Austin, the ratings are literally divided east and west by I-35 with all the F’s on the east side and all the As on the west side. Those east-side schools first have to teach English (and oftentimes basic core curriculum) before they can even focus on passing the STAAR. The STAAR is set up to fail them. And now the failure is meant to endorse sending money elsewhere.
I encourage you to do more research before being reactive and throwing more stones at our public schools and their students. There is so much more to this story.
So let’s do a post-mortem on BISD 2022-2023.
1. There was more administrative “musical chairs” at some campuses and at CO. The junior high was on Principal #5 since 2020, for example.
2. The grading policy changed at the start of 22-23 to something more equity-based, where students could (and still can) redo assignments and tests until mastery of standards was/is demonstrated. It’s a sure bet that students learned how to game that system, and as a result, they don’t value deadlines and prepare for tests like they should, especially if they know they’ll get multiple chances. Makes you wonder just how honest the grades are now.
3. At the end of 2022-2023, the budget deficit gradually became known to the public, beginning around $2mil but ballooning to $6 million. Where’d the money go, if not on teachers and materials? Summer school?
4. Schools don’t hold anyone back anymore. Brenham is BELOW the state average when it comes to retaining students, also. Look at national news stories—honor students graduating high school who can’t read or do math. It’s not an isolated phenomenon in terms of location and grade level.
Ultimately local taxpayers, armchair educators, and parents can point fingers at teachers all they want because of the downward spiral of the last few years, but teachers aren’t the ones TAKING the STAAR and EOC. They have been doing the best they could under stressful circumstances for the last five years, teaching the ones that want to learn and TRYING to reach the growing number of kids that don’t want to be there. Somebody needs to be doing better, and it starts at home.
Here’s some education for you…Chief of Staff + Chief Academic Officer + Director of Operations + Numerous “Instructional Coaches” = 73 (C)!!! Doesn’t seem to add up the way it should. This is ridiculous and a complete misuse of taxpayer dollars. Time to clean house in the administration offices and get back to the basics like it used to be when our schools were being labeled as “Recognized” and “Exemplary”! Use the money saved on eliminating these high salary, ineffective positions to pay the teachers what they deserve!
As a retired educator, I’d like to share my thoughts to Enough is Enough statement misuse of tax payer dollars and ineffective positions. Nearly every school district big or small has leadership positions. Go search the districts Brenham’s size and look at the positions listed. I would be curious to see if Enough is Enough finds more or less than Brenham. These aren’t made-up or unnecessary jobs. They are essential to how schools operate today. Schools are held to much higher standards now than they were years ago. It’s also important to remember that when schools were labeled “Recognized” and “Exemplary,” the accountability system was very different. The state has since raised the bar dramatically on what districts must do from STAAR testing to graduation requirements meaning the workload and the stakes are much higher now than they were years ago. The demands around state and federal accountability, safety, special programs, and constant policy updates keep coming. District leaders and coaches help manage all of this so that principals and teachers can stay focused where it matters most on students. Instructional coaches are not a waste. Just like athletes have coaches to sharpen their skills, teachers work with instructional coaches to grow and become even more effective in the classroom. Suggesting that leadership roles are “ineffective” overlooks the real purpose of these positions which is to improve teaching and learning, not hinder it. Getting rid of these jobs might sound like a quick fix, but it wouldn’t come close to solving teacher pay issues. In fact, it would leave districts scrambling to meet basic requirements taking even more time away from teachers and students. We all agree that teachers deserve better pay. We all agree that the state must step up and fund public schools properly. And we all agree that strong community support is essential to helping our teachers and students.
THIS might be exactly why many in this community are supporting vouchers for school choice.
When small districts that Burton and Round Top/Carmine can excel, there are some major issues with administration and our current school board.
It’s time to “get back to basics” and implement teaching and learning strategies that will allow our schools (but more importantly, our STUDENTS) to be successful. Perhaps BISD administration and our school board members can take a field trip to Burton and RTC to see what THEY are doing.
Don’t be so quick to judge. These A-F ratings are deceptive. One quick look at all the different categories and you realize its more like a intersectional scoring based in critical theory. These “ratings” are a travesty, typical low quality TEA product as its quagmire of bureaucratic power trip rules are. I bet they thought it’s the complexity that just makes this A-F grading system soooo gooood.
If you want the truth about performance of your schools education compared to other schools, just look at the averaged SAT scores for Not Disadvantaged kids/ Disadvantaged kids / Gifted and Talented Kids in each HS for 2023.
Brenham 1030 / 914 / 1210
Burton 956 / 943 / 1087
Bellville 1071 / 968 / 1155
Fayetteville 982 / 935 / 944
Giddings 1014 / 986 / 1195
Lake Creek 1063 / 913 / 1220
Magnolia HS 1080 / 913 / 1288
Navasota 858 / 801 / 947
You can find much more information here: https://rptsvr1.tea.texas.gov/acctres/satact/2023/satact-search-c.html
So let’s do a post-mortem on BISD 2022-2023.
1. There was more administrative “musical chairs” at some campuses and at CO. The junior high was on Principal #5 since 2020, for example.
2. The grading policy changed at the start of 22-23 to something more equity-based, where students could (and still can) redo assignments and tests until mastery of standards was/is demonstrated. It’s a sure bet that students learned how to game that system, and as a result, they don’t value deadlines and prepare for tests like they should, especially if they know they’ll get multiple chances. Makes you wonder just how honest the grades are now.
3. At the end of 2022-2023, the budget deficit gradually became known to the public, beginning around $2mil but ballooning to $6 million. Where’d the money go, if not on teachers and materials? Summer school?
4. Schools don’t hold anyone back anymore. Brenham is BELOW the state average when it comes to retaining students, also. Look at national news stories—honor students graduating high school who can’t read or do math. It’s not an isolated phenomenon in terms of location and grade level.
Ultimately local taxpayers, armchair educators, and parents can point fingers at teachers all they want because of the downward spiral of the last few years, but teachers aren’t the ones TAKING the STAAR and EOC. They have been doing the best they could under stressful circumstances for the last five years, teaching the ones that want to learn and TRYING to reach the growing number of kids that don’t want to be there. Somebody needs to be doing better, and it starts at home.
Before you make a snide comment or pass judgment, I strongly recommend you seek an understanding of what these ratings mean, how they were calculated, and why ISDs across Texas objected to them.
If I still had kids in School I would either send them to Burton, Bellville or to a private school Brenham is clearly failing their children.
The Dumbing Down of America.
Fayetteville is a 96. Round top-carmine is 90. Something is way off here.
A 72 is not very good. It is absolutely a reflection of where Brenham currently is. As someone who has been here for decades and been very close to our schools, I honestly say things have gotten worse, much worse. We’ve had years of admins who have been primarily concerned with building their own personal brands to prepare for their next step and pay raise. We’ve also had school boards who are all too happy to join in with admin on patting each other on the back while ignoring issues that need to be addressed or doing what they can to keep quality teachers. David Yeager was the last Superintendent whose sole focus was student outcomes and supporting teachers. He also kept a balanced budget during his years.
Beyond the admin issues, the apathy towards education of many parents in the community has grown year by year. It is difficult to educate an ever-rising percentage of students who just don’t want to learn or value the educational opportunities that are in front of them. Many students coming from BISD are successful because they have educational buy-in, but the number of kids with buy-in is shrinking each year.
Your blaming students for the decline of schools! Hmm!
Brenham ISD with a 72 is just downright embarrasing. Something is seriously wrong. It’s time for an overhaul and change. Maybe a new set of faces on the school board would be a good start. Schools such as Flatonia, Fayetteville, & Round Top need to be used as a model for academics. Further proof that bigger is not always better and you don’t need the newest fanciest facilities to provide a quality education.
Way to go Burton ISD! They really do a great job.
Time for Brenham ISD to step it up. Maybe they have too many Chiefs, and not enough Indians.
Say what you want, but it is a very sad state of affairs when Navasota ISD scores the same 73(C) as Brenham ISD.
Exactly! Not quite Bryan ISD but better than Hempstead.
Well, we might not need to worry about Navasota right now. Let’s realize that Brenham is in need of improvement. Brenham really does not have much room to criticize. Instead let’s concentrate on the positive things that we can do to help.
I agree with Common Sense!!! Mr. Yeager was the best. I worked at BISD for 13 1/2 years and I can see the difference from then till now!!! I am concerned as a grandparent for my granchildren.
When you have a large percentage of children coming into the school from a culture where education, discipline, integrity, honesty, motivation, morals, service, hard work, caring, initiative, etc are totally foreign to them the challenge of educating them and teaching them fundamentals that will help them become productive citizens is almost impossible. Children who enter the system from a culture that understands what all these characteristics mean and strive to attain them have few problems. This is woven throughout all segments of communities. That doesn’t mean we stop working our tails off trying to. But no matter the board, teachers, administrators, coaches, counselors or any portion of the school system they have one heck of a job!!
You vented! Feel better? Now throw in political games, racism, apathy, arrogance, implicit bias along with the State mismanaging & misapplying funds meant for education and we have a better picture of the problems facing the public school system. And the solutions are … ???