Ahead of the 2026-27 school year, public school leaders in Community Impact’s coverage areas shuttered at least nine individual schools to respond to repeated state accountability issues and stave off state intervention. A new Texas Education Agency rule may make it harder for districts to do so in the future.
The background
Denton ISD voted in February to repurpose an elementary school and move students to four higher-performing campuses after the school did not meet state accountability standards for three consecutive years, Community Impact reported. Of the 11 campuses that Austin ISD has closed in recent months, eight had received three consecutive F ratings from the Texas Education Agency—however, not all AISD students who attended the closed campuses were moved to higher-rated schools, previous reporting shows.
If a Texas public school receives five failing ratings in a row under the state’s A-F accountability system, the TEA commissioner must close that campus or replace the district’s board of trustees with a state-appointed board of managers. Closing struggling campuses and adopting turnaround plans can help districts avoid state action, although a new TEA rule will change that in certain cases.
What’s happening
Beginning Aug. 16, if a district closes a D- or F-rated campus and transfers “a plurality,” or the largest share, of the students from the closed campus to a school with a C, D or F rating, the closed campus’ rating will be assigned to the new campus. For example, if a campus with three F ratings closes and its students are sent to a C-rated campus, that new campus will receive three F ratings.
Districts will only avoid transferring a shuttered school’s rating history if they relocate a plurality of students to an A- or B-rated campus.
The TEA is scheduled to release A-F ratings for the 2025-26 school year on Aug. 14. Texans can find the accountability ratings for their local districts and campuses at www.txschools.gov.
The new rule will not impact school closures and relocations that were approved ahead of the 2026-27 school year, which begins in mid-August for most Texas public school districts, a TEA spokesperson said. However, Education Commissioner Mike Morath has the discretion to transfer failing ratings to a new campus on a case-by-case basis.
More context
The new rule will clarify when and how districts are allowed to close campuses, the TEA said in the Texas Register, which is where all records of state agency rulemaking are posted.
“The adopted amendment clarifies the conditions under which a district may close a campus,” the agency wrote. “The amendment establishes these conditions based on the overall state accountability rating of the campus being closed and of the campus to which students of the closed campus will be assigned.”
Meanwhile, eight Texas public school districts are currently operating under state-appointed boards of managers, per TEA records. This includes Houston ISD in Community Impact’s coverage areas, which has been under state control since June 2023, with the takeover recently extended until June 2027.
The other districts under state control are:
- Shepherd ISD (board of managers appointed in March 2020)
- La Joya ISD (board of managers appointed in February 2024)
- South San Antonio ISD (board of managers appointed in February 2025)
- Fort Worth ISD (board of managers appointed on March 24)
- Lake Worth ISD (board of managers appointed on April 23)
- Beaumont ISD (board of managers appointed on April 29)
- Connally ISD (board of managers appointed on May 6)
Other districts could be taken over by the TEA if any of their campuses receive a fifth straight failing grade this year. Austin ISD’s Burnet, Dobie and Webb middle schools received their fourth consecutive F ratings in 2025, Community Impact previously reported.
