OISD Releases New School Ratings

Olney Independent School District received an overall grade of B under the new Texas Education Agency accountability ratings released last week, with individual campuses showing strong progress despite changes that many districts say unfairly lowered scores statewide.

The new ratings, the first full release since the COVID-19 pandemic, graded districts and campuses on an A–F scale based on three categories: student achievement, school progress, and closing the gaps. Student achievement measures performance on state standardized tests and college and career readiness. School progress tracks improvement on state tests, and closing the gaps measures success among specific student groups, such as students with special needs and English language learners.

Olney Elementary earned a C in student achievement and Bs in school progress and closing the gaps. Olney Junior High posted a B in student achievement and As in school progress and closing the gaps. Olney High School received a C in student achievement and Bs in the other two categories.

Olney ISD Superintendent Dr. Greg Roach said changes in how the ratings were calculated made it harder to earn top marks — even if academic performance stayed steady.

“Receiving these ratings means little to us other than we are a bit competitive, strive for an A rating, and were not satisfied with the B,” Dr. Roach said. “Our junior high did very, very well in 22-23. Our elementary and high school continued to provide high-quality instruction and will continue to incrementally improve to the A rating.”

Dr. Roach noted that the district had already reviewed the 2022-2023 results and made adjustments to programming and instruction for the current school year.

“An A district in 20212022 could have the identical scores in each area for 2022-2023 and receive a B rating,” he said. “This seems a bit political in nature rather than a concern for actually tending and teaching children.”

Several school districts across Texas sued to block the release of the ratings, arguing that the last-minute scoring changes unfairly punished schools and confused parents and communities.

Dr. Roach added that broader state and federal education policies have had little positive impact on students, instead increasing bureaucracy and siphoning taxpayer dollars away from direct classroom support.