Hutto ISD staff provided an update to the board Sept. 10 about strategies to improve student academic performance, following the release of accountability ratings in August.
The setup
The district received a "C" rating from the Texas Education Agency for the 2025-26 school year.
The September report to the board showed secondary performance generally remained steady with the exception of Hutto Middle School, which declined from a "B" to a "C." Several elementary campuses also experienced drops in accountability ratings.
Administrators from several departments and campuses shared that these declines were primarily due to middle school math staff turnover, missed bilingual and special education growth targets, stagnating performance in high-level academic areas, and under-reporting on free and reduced-price lunch forms.
While most of the concerns are focused on academic areas, the last is important for accountability purposes, staff said. A school district's population of economically disadvantaged students factors into one of the domains used to calculate ratings.
Notable quote
"Our goal is not simply to look at numbers," Farley Middle School Principal Natalie Priwer said. "Our goal is to use those numbers to identify what the students need and [what] we need to do differently, and then we need to act on those things. Our students don't need us to make excuses for the data. They just need for us to respond to it and help support them to get to where they need to be."
What to expect
To address some of the causes identified, administrators laid out plans to:
Reassign high-performing teachers to support student growth in targeted areas to get more students from "approaches" to "meets" and "masters" on upcoming exams
Provide earlier intervention across the board to support both teachers and students in mastering curriculum as well as targeted support for secondary math and English
Provide priority support for students learning English as a second language and special education students
Set automated reminders for families to complete free and reduced lunch applications to ensure accurate reporting
