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Castleberry ISD posts district A–F gains; TELPAS progress and a five-year improvement plan set new targets
Summary
District leaders presented 2025 A–F campus and district ratings, TELPAS results showing gains for emerging bilingual students, and a new five-year district improvement plan with targets for third grade, retesters and CCMR.
Castleberry Independent School District leaders told the board the district improved its overall A–F accountability standing in 2025, and presented TELPAS (Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment System) gains and a five-year district improvement plan that sets multi-year targets aligned to Texas accountability and HB3 goals.
Scott Hudgins, lead secondary coordinator for math and accountability, said the district’s weighted average produced an overall score of 81 for the 2025 school year and highlighted campus-level results: Reach High School scored a 96; Castleberry High School posted an 83 with a postsecondary-readiness distinction; Castleberry Elementary earned a B with a score of 80; and several elementary campuses received distinctions in areas such as academic growth and closing gaps.
TELPAS results and emerging bilingual students
Laura Guzman and VNA Lemus, district bilingual/ESL coordinators, presented TELPAS outcomes for 2024–25, saying districtwide 52% of emerging bilingual students scored at the advanced or advanced-high composite level, exceeding the state average cited in the presentation. Guzman said elementary bilingual students participating in the district’s dual-language program reached advanced and advanced-high levels at higher rates than ESL-coded students.
District improvement plan and performance objectives
Dr. Richland, executive director of educational leadership, described a timeline that began with summer data reviews and an administrative leadership retreat to create district and campus performance objectives. Key priorities for 2025–26 include third-grade reading and math, seventh- and eighth-grade math and social studies, English I and II, retesters, early literacy and increasing special-education students meeting “approaches” by 3 percentage points in each subject/grade.
Richland outlined a long-term goal: the district aims to be an “A” in all accountability domains by 2030, with milestone targets (for example, 2% growth goals this year toward an 85% long-term growth target for domain 2). For HB3-related goals, the proposed reset targets are 55% for third-grade reading and math and measurable CCMR (college, career and military readiness) improvements by June 2026.
Why it matters
Board members pressed staff for clarity on “hot spots” identified in the data. District leaders singled out extended-constructed responses in third grade — each worth 20 points — as a significant driver of low scores, and they proposed targeted strategies and professional learning to reduce zero scores on extended responses and to cut retesters by 30% in each content area.
What the board will receive next
Richland said the district will return with specific strategies and progress measures in September for Goals 1, 3 and 4, and with measures to track HB3 goals under Goal 2. Board members also discussed timing for deeper policy and evaluation work tied to Lone Star Governance training and board self-evaluation in the months ahead.
Ending
District staff framed the plan as data-driven and multi-year and committed to returning with implementation strategies and progress metrics. Several trustees praised staff for quick data review and the district’s summer “boot camps” to support retesters.
