San Angelo ISD Among 14 School Districts Facing Potential State Takeover

Megan Menchaca / The Texas Tribune

SAN ANGELO, TX — More than a dozen Texas public school districts — including San Angelo ISD — are at risk of triggering a potential state takeover if they do not improve student academic performance before the next year’s A-F accountability ratings, data shows.

At least 14 districts had at least one campus with a fourth consecutive failing grade, according to the preliminary 2026 ratings. That includes the Clarksville, Cleveland, Coldspring-Oakhurst, Elgin, Judson, Kingsville, Manor, Nacogdoches, Poteet, Runge, San Angelo, San Antonio, Spring and Waco school districts. 

The majority of the at-risk districts are concentrated in the Austin, Houston or San Antonio metro areas, with an average enrollment of about 11,700 students. Nearly every school eligible to trigger future state action has a larger percentage of low-income students than the state average.

Under state law, the Texas education commissioner must take over a district after a campus earns five consecutive unacceptable ratings from the TEA or close that failing school. 

For San Angelo ISD, Bradford Elementary has had four straight F ratings, each time scoring between 57 and 59. A score of 60 would bump the school up to a passing grade of D.

During a takeover, the commissioner replaces the district’s locally elected school trustees with a board of managers for at least two years.

Additional districts closed campuses that failed state standards for multiple years or partnered with an outside provider to run struggling schools. Those moves paused the risk of severe sanctions.

Austin ISD met the criteria to trigger a potential takeover with two campuses failing for a fifth year, according to the preliminary 2026 ratings. The district also had nine other campuses with four consecutive failing ratings, meaning those schools could trigger state action in the future if the state doesn’t intervene this year. 

Districts have until Sept. 11 to appeal a school’s rating.

On average, less than a quarter of students at each campus met grade level on the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness this year, according to state data. Accountability ratings are largely based on STAAR results.

School districts are required to submit “turnaround” plans outlining efforts to improve academic achievement at any campus earning at least two consecutive failing ratings and must implement the plans if that school earns another F grade.

Leaders of multiple districts that are at-risk of triggering state action next year said their schools have already seen improvements after implementing turnaround plans. Some leveraged new reading and math materials or instructional coaching for teachers. Several expressed confidence that their schools will continue progress and earn passing ratings in 2027.

In some small districts, the only elementary or middle school earned its fourth consecutive failing rating. This means that students living in those areas had to choose between attending a campus with a history of failing ratings or leaving the district. 

A district can avoid triggering the state’s takeover law if they improve the school’s rating or opt to pursue a partnership under Senate Bill 1882, which pauses certain accountability-related sanctions for two years. 

Local leaders can close a campus before it earns its fifth failing accountability rating, although the state has recently limited that option. If a failing school closes, TEA can reassign its assigned state campus number — and history of unacceptable ratings — to the school that receives the majority of its students.