Liberty Hill ISD scored an 85 on the Texas Education Agency’s 2025-26 accountability ratings for the second year in a row.
“Sustaining our overall rating during a year of significant challenges speaks to the dedication of our staff and parents working together for our students,” Superintendent Travis Motal said in a news release. “We are proud of sustaining our progress, but our focus remains on ensuring every student is growing so they can be empowered to be the best version of themselves."
The local impact
The district maintained the same score from its 2024-25 school year despite $8 million in budget cuts, including reduced positions, according to a news release from LHISD.
While all of LHISD's campuses earned an “acceptable” score of 70 or above, Liberty Hill Elementary School was the district’s only campus to be rated a “C.” Bar W Elementary School, Legacy Ranch Middle School and Rancho Sienna Elementary School earned an "A" rating, a score that 17% of campuses statewide achieved.
While Liberty Hill Elementary School earned a score of 86 last year, the campus dropped to a "C" by earning a score of 74 for the 2024-25 school year. The campus also previously earned a "C" rating, scoring a 79, in the 2023-24 school year, according to TEA data.
The details
Student achievement—which the TEA uses to consider a student’s performance on STAAR tests—at Liberty Hill Elementary School remained the same, a 78, between the 2024-25 and 2025-26 school years. However, the campus' scores in "school progress" and "closing the gaps" fell from scores of “B” to “D” in both categories.
The TEA uses the "school progress" rating to consider a campus' overall academic growth and performance against other Texas schools with similar student populations, while "closing the gaps" measures differences in performance and progress across different student groups.
According to LHISD officials, groups identified for additional support at Liberty Hill Elementary School include special education students, economically disadvantaged students and emergent bilingual students in mathematics. White students were also identified as a group that needed additional support in math at Liberty Hill Middle School.
The plan
In response to the TEA identifying both Liberty Hill Elementary School and Liberty Hill Middle School as campuses requiring targeted support, the district said it will conduct an analysis and implement new strategies, which include:
- Reinstating teaching support staff
- Expanding the district’s language support, including adding an elementary-level dual-language and emergent bilingual support coach and providing targeted coaching at other campuses
- Partnering with the Austin-based literacy program Literacy First at Liberty Hill Elementary School
- Expanding support for teachers through data analysis and professional learning
- Increasing collaboration between general education and special education staff
- Monitoring progress
“Our goal every year is that each student makes at least a year’s worth of growth,” LHISD Assistant Superintendent Heather Stoner said. “We are using this data to help identify where we can improve our systems and resources to ensure our teachers are empowered to have the greatest positive impact on student learning.”
