The district’s bilingual and ESL department presented data showing growth in English proficiency among emergent bilingual (EB) students, including a fivefold increase in exits from the bilingual program between 2023 and 2025.

Joanna Anguiano, director of bilingual and ESL education, summarized Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment System (TELPAS) outcomes and the district’s exit criteria for the Transitional Bilingual Early Exit Program: an advanced-high TELPAS composite rating, a passing state reading score and a teacher rubric. Anguiano said TELPAS contributes to accountability — specifically domain 3 (closing the gaps) — and explained that a two-level increase in proficiency or an advanced-high composite rating is considered meaningful progress for reclassification decisions.

The department reported approximately 11,752 emergent bilingual students in 2024–25 (about 25% of enrollment), a decline of roughly 3 percentage points from the prior year attributed to a larger number of exits. Exit counts presented were: 234 exits in 2023 (1.8% of EB enrollment), 989 in 2024 (6%), and 1,443 in 2025 (10% of the EB population). The presenter credited focused professional development, district-level trainings, a district bilingual professional learning community, and summer and intersession bilingual academies for supporting language growth.

Anguiano reported year-over-year gains on TELPAS growth targets: a 20 percent districtwide gain in students demonstrating two-level increases or reaching advanced-high; high school EB students improved from 32% making that progress in 2024 to 40% in 2025; middle and elementary schools likewise showed measurable gains.

Board members asked whether special-education students take TELPAS and whether those students’ results are included in the reported exits; Anguiano said students in special education take TELPAS or the TELPAS Alternate as appropriate and that the presented exit numbers reflect those students where applicable.

Ending: The bilingual department said it will return with additional breakdowns — including dual-language versus early-exit program outcomes — at a future meeting to provide more campus-level detail.