KATY, Texas — Katy Independent School District’s overall accountability rating improved to an 88 (B) in the Texas Education Agency’s 2025 ratings, district staff told the school board Monday.

Natalie Martinez, the district’s executive director of school improvement, presented the ratings released by TEA and said the district’s overall score rose from an 87 in 2024 to an 88 in 2025. "Tonight I would be presenting the 2025 accountability ratings which were released by TEA last week," Martinez told the board.

Martinez said Katy ISD ranked highest among the state’s 10 largest districts on the overall score. The district’s domain results were: student achievement (Domain 1) — up from an 86 to an 87, school progress (Domain 2) — up from an 85 to an 87, and closing the gaps (Domain 3) — steady at an 89. She emphasized that the overall rating is built from those three domains and described how TEA incorporates STAAR (STAR and EOC), TELPAS, graduation and CCMR measures into the calculations.

District staff highlighted specific results: CCMR increased to 83% and the graduation rate rose to 95.4%. Martinez said the district examines AMM (an averaged metric combining "approaches, meets and masters") and also pulls out Meets and Masters to direct campus improvement work. On EOC/STAAR performance, she noted gains in math and science by one to two points and maintained high AMM averages in ELA and social studies.

Board members asked follow-up questions about the accountability framework and reporting. Trustee Fox asked whether the annual cut points change year-to-year; Martinez replied that TEA maintains cut points but that item types (for example, the shift to technology-enhanced items) change the nature of assessments and can affect year-to-year difficulty. Trustee Rupin asked about the state’s "60 by 30" workforce/education goal; Dr. Grigorski and Martinez explained it is a statewide target for adult skills and credentials through 2030 and remains relevant to district CCMR goals.

Martinez said campus-by-campus letter grades are available and would be distributed to trustees; she described the district’s support model for identified campuses (including curriculum, behavior, staffing and wraparound services) and said identified campuses receive additional monitoring visits in fall and spring. Board members called out concern for staff stamina and the continuing work required in identified schools.

Martinez and the superintendent said principals have already been debriefed and are working on improvement plans for the school year.