Galena Park ISD posts B (87) on state accountability; board approves personnel, insurance and consent agendas

GALENA PARK, Texas — At its Sept. 8, 2025, meeting, the Galena Park Independent School District Board of Trustees received a presentation showing the district earned an overall B (87) on the state accountability ratings and approved several routine items including employment of contractual personnel and a workers' compensation insurance renewal.

Dr. Kimberly Martin, the district's executive director for accountability and academic support, told trustees the district maintained or improved its ratings across the past two years despite statewide changes to how the Texas Education Agency counts college, career and military readiness (CCMR) indicators. "I'm very excited to be here tonight to discuss our ratings with you," Martin said as she began her presentation.

Martin said the district's 87 (B) rating reflects gains across campuses. She noted the district "doubled the number of A rated campuses in 1 year" and that while some high schools experienced drops driven by CCMR changes, districtwide growth prevented an overall decline. Martin highlighted two campuses with notable changes: ACE, the district's AEA campus, which received a C (78), and Green Valley, which she said made a 19 percentage-point gain in one year under a new principal.

Martin reviewed how the state weights campus contributions to district accountability. She said larger campuses carry more weight, and cited North Shore Senior High School as accounting for 28% of the district calculation and Cobb (spelled in the district presentation as "Cobbs") as about 6%; she said ACE rounded to about 1% of the district total. For high schools, Martin described the state's emphasis on postsecondary readiness: "For our high schools, only 40% of that is STAAR, 40% is CCMR, and then 20% is graduation rate," she said.

Martin also described distinctions released by the TEA that compare campuses against similar campuses statewide. She named Cobb, Havard, Pyburn and WAMS as campuses that "earned all possible distinctions," meaning they performed in the top 10 of their comparison groups. She added that Cloverleaf and Galena Park Middle School are off TEA support lists, and that 13 campuses improved their ratings year over year.

Trustees asked no follow-up questions during the presentation; Martin said the district will discuss House Bill 3 goals and additional CCMR-related details at a future meeting. "We have a focus for TelPass growth this year," she said, referring to measures of emergent bilingual progress, and added the district will continue campus leadership meetings and targeted interventions for subpopulations that lag behind.

Votes at a glance: The board also took several votes during the meeting. Key outcomes recorded in the public minutes and on the record were:

• Employment of contractual personnel: Motion to approve employment of contractual personnel as presented (mover: Amanda Arabia; seconder: Adrian Stevens). Vote tally announced as 7–0 with no abstentions; outcome approved. The motion followed the board's executive session.

• Board resolution (text not fully specified): Motion described in the record as to "approve the board resolution" referencing a system or manufacturer identified in the transcript as "Heart Inner Civic Inc" (details not specified in the public transcript). Motion made by Noe Esparza; seconded by Linda Sherrod. Vote recorded 7–0 with no abstentions; outcome approved.

• Workers' compensation insurance renewal: Motion to approve workers' compensation insurance terms covering 10/01/2025 through 10/01/2026 through the Texas Political Subdivisions Joint Self Insurance Fund (contract F0703) and interlocal agreement, with an annual premium of $1,098,067 (mover: Norma Hernandez; seconder: Amanda Arabia). The motion carried with a tally reported as 6–0 with one abstention; outcome approved. The transcript does not identify which trustee abstained.

• Consent agendas: The general consent agenda, the construction consent agenda and the financial consent agenda were each approved on motion and second with votes recorded as 7–0. Movers and seconders recorded in the public minutes included Amanda Arabia, Norma Hernandez, Jose Jimenez, Adrian Stevens and Noe Esparza depending on the specific consent item.

Why this matters: District accountability ratings affect public information about campus performance and are used by the Texas Education Agency to identify campuses needing support. Martin's presentation indicated the district avoided an overall dip in its rating despite state accounting changes to CCMR and highlighted specific campuses and subpopulations the district plans to target for further growth.

The board's business included routine approvals that finalize personnel decisions after executive session and insure district operations for the coming year. The workers' compensation approval sets an annual premium amount for FY2025–26 as stated on the record.

Items for follow-up noted in the meeting record: Martin said the district will return with a discussion of House Bill 3 goals and additional CCMR impacts at a future meeting, and she noted the district recently concluded campus accountability meetings and will continue targeted tutorials and leadership supports for campuses and student subpopulations that need improvement.

The board did not receive public comments on posted agenda items at the start of the meeting. The meeting adjourned after the listed business and executive-session approvals.