Local school districts received their state report cards when the Texas Education Agency (TEA) announced the release of 2026 A-F Accountability Ratings for public school systems and campuses across the state Friday, August 14.
There was improvement in Whitney’s scores this year, with the overall district grade still a C but rising from a 75 last year to 78, the elementary/intermediate rising from an F (57) to a C (74), the middle school maintaining its D (68) rating, and the high school rising from a 91 to a 94 while maintaining its A rating.
Superintendent Todd Southard said that Whitney High School has been doing very well the past couple of years and has strong leadership and staff. “I think they do a remarkable job working with the kids,” he said. “I really thought it was going to be hard for them to score an A again, and yet, they ended up scoring higher than last year. Very impressive.”
The high school campus also received distinction designations for postsecondary readiness and top 25% in “closing the gaps,” which measures differences in performance among student groups.
The superintendent said that the intermediate school, which is combined with elementary for scoring purposes, has made major progress under new leadership.
“The intermediate school has been our main focus for the past couple of years,” said Southard. “I could not be prouder of Mrs. Seely and her staff, because I’ve seen how hard they’ve worked. Yes, there’s still more to do, but the campus is headed in the right direction.”
The superintendent said that the change at the intermediate campus over the past year is about more than improvement in scores. “Communication, discipline and the climate of the building have all improved,” he said. “That campus has the possibility of getting really good really fast, and that’s exciting.”
Southard said that the middle school is receiving more focus this year. “We’ve added an instructional coach to assist teachers and to improve reading and writing scores,” he said. “We’re also going to be working with Region 12 to help us improve the math scores.”
The only school in Hill County that received a failing grade this year was Malone ISD, which received an F, a sharp decrease from last year’s B rating.
Ratings for other area districts were: Abbott – A; Aquilla – B; Blum – A; Hillsboro – B (elementary – C, intermediate – B, junior high – A, high school – A); Hubbard – C; Itasca – C (elementary – D, middle school – C, high school – B); Penelope – A; West – B (elementary – B, middle school – A, high school – A); Milford – C; Covington – C; Mount Calm – C; Bynum – B.
Compared to last year’s report, Abbott and Blum improved from a B to an A this year, and Itasca and Covington improved from last year’s D ratings to a C.
Dropping in ratings were Aquilla, which went from an A last year to a B; Hillsboro, which went from an A to a B; West, which went from an A to a B; and Malone, which dropped from a B to an F.
The A–F Accountability System was established in 2017 by the 85th Texas Legislature through House Bill (HB) 22 to provide information on how schools are performing in three areas: student achievement, school progress and closing the gaps.
To view more in-depth information about school districts, or for A-F ratings for other school systems and campuses in the state, visit TXschools.gov.
The Lakelander 