Lockhart students earn ‘Recognized’ rating

By LPR Staff

Editor/POST-REGISTER

For the third consecutive year, the Lockhart Independent School District has been named a “Recognized” district by the Texas Education Agency, according to preliminary figures released by the state’s education oversight organization last week.

Despite significant changes to the methods for calculating school di

stricts’ ratings, Lockhart ISD held strong in their overall ratings, but slipped at the campus level in some ways.

Last year, the district boasted four “Exemplary” campuses: Bluebonnet, Plum Creek and Navarro Elementary, as well as the LHS M.L. Cisneros Freshman Campus. This year, Bluebonnet and Plum Creek repeated their accomplishment, while Clear Fork Elementary also made gains and became an “Exemplary” campus. The Freshman Campus slipped from “Exemplary” to recognized, and the scores at Navarro Elementary caused that campus’s rating to be downgraded from “Exemplary” to “Acceptable.”

Lockhart Junior High School repeated its “Recognized” rating, and Lockhart High School dropped from “Recognized” to “Acceptable.”

According to information released by district Superintendent Dr. Jose Parra on Monday evening, several of the ratings decreases are the result in the change in the way the state calculates the ratings. In the past, additional weighting has been added to certain testing areas and student populations, and those weightings were removed this year.

Additionally, TEA increased the scoring standards in the areas of mathematics and science, and increased the requirements for dropout rates in the seventh and eighth grade.

“Great things are taking place in the LISD and we will continue to pursue improved performance and growth at all levels for our students,” Parra said.

Statewide, 422 districts, including Lockhart ISD, were named “Recognized” by TEA. Only 5 percent of the state’s districts (61 total) were declared “Exemplary.”

Earning an “Exemplary” rating has long been the goal of the Lockhart ISD Board of Trustees – a goal which Parra says the district’s students come closer to achieving every year.

“The administration is extremely proud of the efforts put forth by our campus in district staffing helping our student continue to grow and achieve in the area of TAKS performance and completion rate,” he said.

Some districts in the surrounding area did not fare as well as Lockhart, including Luling ISD, which earned a rating of “Academically Unacceptable.”

Both the San Marcos and Hays Consolidated Independent School Districts were declared “Academically Acceptable.”

In the coming weeks, Parra and other administration officials will receive and review a line-by-line breakdown of the testing results. They will use that information in an effort to determine the best course of action for the district and the students with regard to increasing test scores in the coming educational year.