At a Dec. 1 workshop, district officials discussed their plans to invest in Cooper, Frost, Mitchell, Purl and Williams Elementary schools, which have been identified as high-priority campuses. The district has hired more staff across these schools and is considering implementing stipends for instructional leaders and principals.
The big picture
Frost, Mitchell, Purl and Williams have received multiple D or F ratings from the Texas Education Agency over the last three years. Cooper received its third consecutive F rating in 2024 but earned a C grade in 2025.
Across the five campuses, GISD has hired the following additional staff members totaling $1.02 million for fiscal year 2025-26:
- Four assistant principals each with a salary of $80,000
- Two instructional coaches each with a salary of $70,000
- Four interventionists each with a salary of $70,000
- Eight Literacy First staff members each with a salary of $35,000
“Let's pour a lot into [kindergarten through second grade] while we're strengthening [third through fifth grade],” Chief Academic Officer Heather Petruzzini said. “[Kindergarten through second grade] has to have the same intensity and focus that [third through fifth grade] has.”
What else?
Over 60% of support from the district’s teaching and learning team is dedicated to the five high-priority schools, Petruzzini said. District staff members plan with teachers, assess performance data and visit classrooms.
The district has rewritten its literacy assessments to feature an additional writing component to better align with the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness and created its own math assessments to support intervention efforts.
GISD will have predictive student performance data from middle-of-year assessments by the board’s January workshop, according to district documents.
“We're really looking for evidence that campuses have that [their] plan is working,” Petruzzini said.
The background
Each school year, the TEA’s accountability system rates districts from A-F based on student achievement, school progress and closing the gaps for certain student populations, such as racial and socioeconomic groups. The ratings primarily factor in STAAR scores for elementary students. Secondary students are also graded on student preparedness for college, career and military service, and graduation rates.
Both Mitchell and Purl elementaries required turnaround plans after receiving two F ratings in 2023 and 2024 followed by a D rating in 2025. Frost elementary has received three consecutive D ratings, and Williams received an F rating in 2025, requiring these campuses to implement a targeted improvement plan.
This summer, the board approved turnaround plans for Cooper and Wagner Middle School following multiple failed ratings in 2023. The plans included offering new curriculum, changing how instruction was delivered, providing intervention for struggling students, and monitoring student progress through assessments.
According to 2025 ratings released in August, Cooper received a 72 out of 100, and Wagner received a 74 out of 100.
The five high-priority campuses have the greatest concentration of students who meet federal poverty levels to qualify for free-and-reduced lunch. At Mitchell, 78% of students qualify for free-and-reduced lunch, followed by 69% of students at Cooper, 63% of students at Williams, 61% of students at Frost and 47% of students at Mitchell, according to district documents.
Something to note
School board President James Scherer said the district must focus on improving academic outcomes to compete with a rise in charter and private school enrollment. Beginning in the 2026-27 school year, the state will implement a $1 billion education savings account program that will allocate some families funding for private school tuition and homeschooling.
GISD’s enrollment growth is projected to slow over the next 10 years amid a slowing of the housing market alongside an increase in students attending microschools and private schools, according to a November demographic update from Zonda Demographics.
“If we do not get our whole district up to academic excellence, we will not be competitive in three to five years,” Scherer said. “We'll lose students. ... If we don't fix those problems, we will never succeed in the long run.”
Going forward
The district may consider providing performance-based stipends for campus instructional leaders totaling $316,000 and $50,000 in stipends for principals. Staff could potentially earn these stipends by receiving an accountability rating of C or higher, Superintendent Devin Padavil said.
Providing the stipends could help the district better recruit employees, Scherer said. At the Dec. 1 workshop, district officials said GISD has struggled to offer salaries for principals that are competitive with other districts in the area.
GISD could hire an additional district leader with a salary of $120,000 to focus on elementary curriculum support and another instructional coach for Purl with a salary of $70,000.
The district would need to bring these proposals to the board for approval at a later date, Padavil said.
“We constantly have to ask ourselves, are we seeing the outcomes we intended to see and if not, do we need to reallocate these funds in different ways that lead to better outcomes for students?” Padavil said.
