Kilgore ISD trustees review annual Texas Academic Performance Report, district data

Kilgore Independent School District officials presented the district’s 2023–24 Texas Academic Performance Report (TAPR) during the board’s public meeting, outlining enrollment, student-demographic and performance highlights and noting limitations in statewide postsecondary tracking.

The presentation, led during the public meeting by district staff including Trish Hall and Miss Hatcher, said the district enrolled 3,722 students in 2023–24. Staff reported that 72% of students were economically disadvantaged; the student body was 42% White, 38% Hispanic, 12% Black and 6% two or more races. The district reported 70 students in foster care and 68 students considered homeless.

The TAPR overview also covered program counts and staff composition. District presenters said the special education population rose from 364 the prior year to “over 500,” attributing part of that increase to a reclassification of some students with dyslexia into special education to access services. The district reported 904 students (about 25% of enrollment) in bilingual and English-as-a-second-language programs. Staff totals for 2023–24 were 562 employees in all, with 369 designated as professional staff.

On student performance, the presentation noted that third graders outperformed state and regional averages in reading and math and that fourth graders posted a 10-point increase in overall percentage from the previous year. The district said it improved on 27 of 66 accountability indicators. District staff reported that about 72.6% of graduates met college-, career- and military-readiness (CCMR) measures, short of the HB 3 target of 75% but up nine percentage points year over year. Presenters emphasized that multiple pathways (dual credit, industry certifications and other measures) count toward CCMR.

Board members and staff discussed testing and data-collection limits. Trustee questions prompted the district to confirm that some statewide assessments are not available in Spanish beyond fifth grade; district academic staff and Mr. Diaz explained that STAAR/STAR is provided in Spanish through fifth grade but not in higher grades, which affects linguistically diverse students’ assessment access. Board members also asked how the system tracks graduates after high school. District staff said the state tracks immediate freshman-year outcomes (including technical schools such as TSTC) but that military service and longer-term postsecondary persistence are not well captured in state data.

The presentation included a brief safety report: the district recorded one report of a felony controlled substance across all campuses during the reporting year. Accreditation status was listed as accredited, though staff said one accountability release remained in litigation related to a “3F” rating.

Why it matters: the TAPR provides the district’s public record on student performance, demographics and program distribution and informs board discussion about targets required by state law, federal reporting and district planning. Board members asked staff to keep emphasizing data literacy for families and to continue monitoring special-education trends and test-language access.

Hard-copy copies of the TAPR and a PDF were available to trustees and the public; staff directed attendees to a QR code linking to the district’s report materials for detailed tables and the glossary of acronyms.