Brownsville ISD goes from A to B+ in TEA ratings

Brownsville ISD received a high B in the long awaited 2022-2023 Texas Education Agency school rankings, on-par with districts of similar size in the Rio Grande Valley.

The Texas Education Agency released long-awaited grades for districts and schools on Thursday, the first time in five years the rankings have been released after several districts sued the state to challenge the ratings standards.

The 15th Court of Appeals cleared Commissioner Mike Morath to release the results for 2022-2023, but the ratings for 2023-2024 are still tied up in a lawsuit.

BISD received a B rating of 87, among the highest grade for districts in the Edinburg-based Region One Educational Service Center, which stretches from Laredo to Brownsville. A district needed a 90 rating to earn an A, according to the TEA.

Superintendent Jesus H. Chavez expressed pride in BISD’s teachers, principals and students, even though the district’s rating went from A to B+.

“I’m certainly very proud of our teachers and our principals. I know they also received help and guidance from the central office, the curriculum and instruction folks, and so I’m very proud of our district for the result we got for our student testing,” he said.

Although schools sometimes come in for criticism for doing too much testing, Chavez said testing done during the year helps teachers and principals tell whether students are learning in preparation for STAAR testing in the spring.

Other Valley districts that received an 87 rating included McAllen, Los Fresnos, and Raymondville.

Sharyland got an 89 and Pharr-San Juan-Alamo received an 86, while the South Texas Independent School District got the Valley’s only A rating at 94.

Weslaco received an 83, while the Point Isabel Independent School District received an 81. San Benito CISD got a C grade of 76. La Joya ISD got an 84.

Chavez said the STAAR test that students have been taking in recent weeks is the seventh version of state standardized testing that TEA has conducted since he became an educator in the 1980s.

Among BISD’s seven high schools, Veterans Memorial, Pace, Hanna and Brownsville Early College High School received A ratings. Porter, Lopez and Rivera received Bs.

Among middle schools, Besteiro, Faulk, Oliveira, Perkins, Stell and Vela received Bs. Lucio, Manzano and Stillman got an A, while Garcia got a C.

Elementary schools receiving an A were Benavides, Breeden, Brite, Burns, Gonzalez, Hudson, Ortiz, Palm Grove, Paredes, Pullam and Vermillion Road.

Elementary schools receiving a B were Aiken, Champion, Cromack-Casteneda, Del Castillo-Morningside, El Jardin, Garden Park, Garza at Southmost Elementary, Keller, Martin, Pena, Perez, Russell, Sharp, Villa Nueva and Yturria.

Elementary schools receiving a C included Egly, Putegnat, and Skinner.

Canales Elementary received a D.

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