As the district works to turn test scores around, academic growth was a focus at this week's district work session.
"We know you had a high mountain to climb and the results that we are seeing now are showing and reflecting great progress," A Spring ISD board member said in an online recording of the meeting.
This comes after a September 2025 letter from the Texas Education Agency to the district, in which Dekaney is called out for having unacceptable accountability ratings four years in a row. This is a cause for concern because state rules say the state can take over a district if a school fails for five years in a row.
Similar academic failure led to the state takeover in Houston ISD in 2023.
The letter says the district needs an improvement plan and warns that a conservator could be appointed. According to the TEA webpage, a conservator is someone who coaches the district and provides updates to the state.
This week, Spring ISD reports that their own interventions, like standardized lesson plans and increased feedback for staff, are starting to move some test scores in the right direction.
In algebra one, the school reports 23% of students are expected to meet grade level, whereas last year, only 17% of students met grade level. That's still below the state average for 2025 of 47%.
For English comprehension one, 31% of students are expected to meet the grade level this year, when last year the number was 22%. This is also below the state average in 2025 of 51%.
Several board members did note that the most advanced category of student, those who have mastered the grade level, are seeing a much slower growth or none at all.
"It's interesting to me that the meets is moving so much faster in English and yet stagnant in masters, whereas in the algebra the masters is holding pretty strong," a board member said.
Academic turnaround is a broader need within the district. The TEA noted last year's accountability rating shows 20 of the 41 Spring ISD schools are either rated D or F. 11 schools have earned unacceptable ratings for multiple years.
Spring ISD did not respond to ABC13's request for an interview on Friday.
STAAR testing begins in April for Spring ISD and will determine if the district's effort was enough to turn Dekaney and other campuses around.
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