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Southwest ISD holds annual accountability public hearing; TAPR, finances and safety data presented
Summary
At its February board meeting Southwest ISD presented the Texas Academic Performance Report for 2023–24, a PEIMS financial summary for 2022–23 and safety incident reporting; district staff said current accountability ratings are withheld because of ongoing litigation.
Southwest ISD held its annual district accountability public hearing during the district’s February board meeting, presenting the Texas Academic Performance Report (TAPR) for 2023–24 and related accountability documents, a financial summary drawn from PEIMS for the 2022–23 school year, accreditation information and campus safety statistics.
The TAPR, which the district said is available as a PDF and online at bit.lyswisdaccountability, combines data from PEIMS and student assessment files. District staff explained the TAPR reports campus- and district-level star performance, assessment results (including SAT/ACT results for accelerated testers), attendance, graduation and dropout rates, staff demographics and program enrollments, and disaggregated results for bilingual/ESL programs.
District staff said the TAPR in this cycle does not display an accountability rating or distinction designations because those items are currently withheld due to ongoing litigation. Staff also noted the TAPR includes two years of comparative data and materials intended to help the public interpret technical terms, including a Spanish glossary.
Finance data presented from the 2022–23 PEIMS financial standard report showed revenues of $143,000,000 and expenditures of $149,000,000 for that fiscal year; the district reported a fund balance of $83,200,395 and stated the tax rate for that year as $33.75 (as reported in the PEIMS slide), and said some disbursements reflected payments to the Bexar County appraisal district.
On accreditation, staff said the Texas Education Agency has not issued current accreditations because of the same litigation; Southwest ISD’s most recent TEA status remains listed as “accredited” for 2022–23. Campus improvement plans, which staff said are board-approved and based on data in the TAPR, are available on the district website.
On school safety, the district reported four incidents initially reported to the state for 2023–24, and, after investigation, said two incidents met the criteria for inclusion on the state report: one possession of a firearm at a comprehensive high school and one aggravated assault on a school employee. Staff said there were no findings that would require any Southwest ISD campus to be identified as an unsafe school.
The presentation also summarized postsecondary-tracking data the district received from the Texas Higher Education Board for the class of 2022 showing first-year college enrollment and performance for graduates who attended Texas public two- and four-year institutions; staff said a more current statewide report had not been released. District staff also provided a summary of local progress toward board-adopted HB3 goals for early childhood literacy, mathematics and college/career/military readiness.
Staff closed by noting required postings and paper-copy availability: the district must post the materials within two weeks of the hearing and has made both online and paper copies available. No members of the public offered comments during the hearing portion; staff invited questions and provided a contact for additional information.
