TEA Rates Galveston ISD 'Unacceptable'

GALVESTON, Tx - The Texas Education Agency has given the Galveston Independent School District an "Unacceptable" Rating for the 2009-10 school year.

The TEA gave the rating after analyzing dropout and high school completion rates for a number of schools in the given years.

According to the TEA's website, a completion rate is the percentage of 9th grade or 7th grade students who complete their high school programs by their anticipated graduation dates.

Specifically, Ball High School, AIM Middle School, and Rosenberg Elementary all received "unacceptable" ratings form the agency, according to a GISD statement.

GISD is filing an appeal on behalf of Kipp Coastal Village which was paired with Rosenberg in the "unacceptable" rating.

The district contends that Kipp students are ineligible for TAKS testing until Grade 3 and Kipp offered only Pre-Kindergarten through 1st grade last year; therefore, the TEA's rating does not corroborate with data from the district charter school.

Rosenberg Elementary was closed in the 2009-10 school year to make way for the Kipp program to expand.

The TEA requires a 75 percent completion rate for a school to be considered "acceptable".

GISD says they are working to make "noticeable improvements" across all their schools.