Dear SMCISD Families,

I want to share important information about the release of the 2023 A–F Accountability Ratings from the Texas Education Agency (TEA). These ratings were made public on Thursday, April 24 at www.txschools.gov.

Following a two-year lawsuit involving more than 100 school districts, the following ratings have been  released from the 2022-2023 school year. 

• The official 2023 A–F Accountability Ratings, and

• The 2022 “What-If Scores,” which apply the updated 2023 rating system to 2022 data, providing a better comparison since the accountability system underwent significant changes starting in 2023.

Two Factors That Impacted SMCISD’s 2023 Accountability Ratings

I want to make you aware of two key factors that affected our district’s accountability rating from 2022-2023 school year:

 1. PEIMS Reporting Error

As I previously informed the San Marcos High School community[see: https://www.smcisd.net/Page/6328], due to a reporting error in the state’s PEIMS system, only 89 students were listed as 2022 graduates at San Marcos High School, instead of the correct number, 495.

Although we submitted the correct data to TEA and they reported our corrected data to the United States Department of Education, when I requested that TEA use the correct data in determining our letter grade, they stated it was not their policy to correct errors for accountability purposes and refused to use our correct data in calculating the ratings. San Marcos High School’s accountability rating affected all domains, and since the high school makes up 40% of the district’s overall score, the entire district’s rating was significantly lower than it should have been. To be clear: in reporting out the state’s data to the federal government, TEA opted to submit our correct score showing 495 graduates, but for the purposes of assigning the district an A-F grade, TEA chose to evaluate us on the erroneous data. At all times, the board was kept apprised of the situation. 

2. Change in CCMR Cut Scores

TEA also made a significant change in the College, Career, and Military Readiness (CCMR) scoring system. In previous years, a raw score of 60 earned an A, but in  October of 2023, a year after the class of 2022 graduated, the bar was changed to 88. Initially, San Marcos High School would have received a B rating. This retroactive change dropped the high school’s rating significantly. 

The lawsuit by several districts across the State (San Marcos did not participate in this lawsuit against TEA) was in response to TEA not following the Texas Education Code on when the accountability manual should have been made available to school districts. The approved manual was released on October 31, 2023 - months after the 2022-2023 school year was completed. 

Celebrating Our Students and Staff: Campus Distinction Designations

Despite these challenges, we have so much to celebrate!

Our SMHS graduates are well represented at colleges and universities across Texas and all over the country—including schools such as Harvard, Duke, Yale, Brown, UC Davis, Vassar, UT, Texas State University, and many more!

In addition:

• Since 2022, we have had two classes of Early College Graduates from Coastal Bend Community College. Over forty students have earned their Associate’s Degree before walking the high school stage.

• We started a partnership with Texas State University in which SMHS students can earn up to 24 hours of college credit during their junior and senior years through this innovative partnership. 

• We have increased the number of students yearly who are earning industry-based certifications.

Six SMCISD campuses earned Distinction Designation for exceptional performance in areas like academic achievement, student growth, and closing achievement gaps. These distinctions, awarded by the TEA, recognize the hard work and dedication of our students, teachers, and school communities.

 🏅 Crockett Elementary
 Earned all six available distinctions:

·         Academic Achievement in Reading/Language Arts

·         Academic Achievement in Mathematics

·         Academic Achievement in Science

·         Top 25%: Comparative Academic Growth

·         Postsecondary Readiness

·         Top 25%: Comparative Closing the Gaps

🏅 Hernandez Elementary

·         Academic Achievement in Reading/Language Arts

·         Academic Achievement in Science

🏅 Mendez Elementary

·         Top 25%: Comparative Academic Growth

🏅 Rodriguez Elementary

·         Academic Achievement in Science

·         Top 25%: Comparative Academic Growth

·         Postsecondary Readiness

·         Top 25%: Comparative Closing the Gaps

🏅 Goodnight Middle School

·         Top 25%: Comparative Academic Growth

·         Top 25%: Comparative Closing the Gaps

🏅 Miller Middle School

·         Academic Achievement in Science

·         Academic Achievement in Social Studies

These distinctions and achievements reflect the strength of our school community and our shared belief in the success of every student. Thank you for your continued support of our schools, our staff, and most importantly—our students.

Professionally,

Dr. Michael Cardona
Superintendent

San Marcos CISD