Watch: San Angelo ISD Leaders Discuss A-F Ratings

SAN ANGELO, TX — San Angelo Independent School District leaders on Friday credited near-full staffing and the district’s first-ever kindergarten-through-high school math curriculum alignment for continued academic gains.

They also confirmed two campuses will face Texas Education Agency monitoring, and two elementary schools will close next fall. 

Superintendent Dr. Christopher Moran and Deputy Superintendent of Academics and School Leadership Dr. Farrah Gomez spoke at a media availability after the release of the 2025-26 A-F accountability ratings. They said the district has grown five points over two years and pointed to Belaire Elementary’s 19-point increase as evidence of progress driven by strong campus leadership and classroom teachers. 

Last year, the district opened with 30 classrooms without full-time teachers. This year, elementary campuses are nearly 100% staffed, with only a few secondary openings remaining in math and English. Gomez said the district is fully aligned in math resources from kindergarten through algebra II and geometry for the first time, and high-quality instructional materials are now in place for reading and other subjects across grade levels.

“When you have an aligned resource, if they change campuses, they still have aligned learning opportunities, which leads to less opportunities for gaps in instruction,” Gomez said, noting the district’s high student mobility. 

Moran said the district reduced 91 positions last year solely through attrition — retirements and resignations that were not filled — to address a budget deficit caused by declining enrollment. No employees were laid off. 

Two campuses received F ratings: Bradford Elementary scored 57, and Bowie Elementary also earned an F. Moran said TEA monitoring will apply because the district combined Austin and McGill a couple of years ago; Austin’s prior rating carried over and has influenced the standing of the combined campus at McGill, where the overall rating is a D. 

Officials said they are treating every campus as if it is in school improvement. Next fall, the district will close Bowie and Reagan elementaries because of declining enrollment, the age of the buildings (Reagan is 118 years old) and inadequate learning spaces. Moran said the moves will place students in better environments with a guaranteed quality teacher in every classroom. 

Moran described the A-F system as “unfair” because it measures one day’s performance on the STAAR test and does not capture whether students feel safe, valued and that they belong. He said the district still believes in accountability and is committed to improvement. 

Gomez and Moran outlined next steps that include expanding districtwide professional learning communities, maintaining high academic expectations in every classroom, and using frequent classroom assessments so teachers can reteach or extend lessons immediately. They said the biggest remaining hurdle is the multiyear gap in foundational alignment that current middle school students experienced in elementary school due to COVID-19.

“We see the growth, we know it’s coming, and we see the momentum,” Moran said. “If we stick with the program … in a year or two we’re going to be in B territory, and then we’re going to be thinking, hey, maybe we can be an A.”

The district will give the school board a deeper analysis on Aug. 24. Full ratings are available at txschools.gov.