ECISD near bottom of FAST ratings

The Ector County Independent School District came away with a two star rating in a Texas Comptroller’s office report that compares school spending to student achievement.

Of the school districts and charter schools rated, 879 received higher Financial Allocation Study for Texas, or FAST, ratings than ECISD, while 145 got the same two-star rating, Comptroller’s office spokesman R.J. DeSilva said. Only 107 received lower ratings.

Statewide, 43 districts came away with five star ratings, the highest awarded in the report, called “Connecting the Dots: School Spending and Student Progress.”

The state legislature authorized the study last year to determine a method to compare school districts on a level playing field. The study also determines which districts allocate financial resources in a way that contributes to high academic achievement and cost-effective operations. According to a news release, the report is designed to help trim school spending without sacrificing educational quality.

Public school spending has increase by 63 percent during the last decade, outpacing both enrollment growth and inflation, the release said.

The report shows an average over three years, during which time ECISD was rated academically unacceptable by the Texas Education Agency. The Comptroller’s office found the district to have composite academic progress as good or better than only 12 percent of Texas school districts, while its composite adjusted spending per pupil was $7,032.

The district had an “average” spending rating. The rating compares districts against up to 40 “peer” districts of similar size, serving similar students in similar cost environments.

The FAST ratings are designed to identify districts that produce strong academic growth at a lower cost than their peers. The news release said that districts receiving five stars have a “very high” student progress rating and a “very low” spending rating, whereas one-star districts have very high spending and very low progress compared to their fiscal peers.

ECISD Superintendent Hector Mendez said the ratings went through the 2008-2009 school year, when the district was rated academically unacceptable and don’t include the 2009-2010 year, when it was found acceptable.

“That obviously played a part in it,” Mendez said of the study’s timing. “Obviously what they are trying to do, in my mind, being that it’s a political year, everybody’s looking to fine tune and get the most bang for your buck.”

Amongst individual ECISD campuses, Cavazos Elementary was the only school to receive a five-star rating from the Comptroller, while Nimitz Junior High was the only one-star campus. DeSilva said schools are also compared against other campuses in their peer group, which might not be in the same district.

Permian High received a two-and-a-half star rating, while Odessa High got one-and-a-half stars.

Cavazos principal Wayne Squiers credited parents and teachers who are willing to put in extra work with students for the school’s success.

“We have a very dedicated staff that works very hard to make sure the kids get what they need,” he said.

Cavazos, which had adjusted spending per pupil of $4,313, had a spending index that was considered “very low.”

Squiers said Cavazos, which was rated recognized by TEA during the period included in the study, will be able to continue having effective education programs.

“We feel like we have the foundation in place to keep us at this level,” he said.

Mendez said the numbers on individual campuses can be skewed, pointing to the fine arts magnet at Milam Elementary, which spent $6,242 per student, considered “very high” by the comptroller. That school is required to have eight additional fine arts teachers that neighboring Blackshear Elementary doesn’t have. Blackshear spent $5,451 per student, still considered “high.”

The Midland ISD garnered a rating of one-and-a-half stars.

Though ECISD was in a peer group with school districts like Frisco, a higher income Dallas suburb, and smaller districts like Peaster, DeSilva said the peer groups are determined by several factors including enrollment, square miles in the district, professional and non-professional wages for teachers and administrators, and percentages of students who speak limited English, are economically disadvantaged, are high need special education or are regular special education.

Mendez had questions about the grouping of the school districts.

“There is a huge difference between Ector County and Frisco,” he said. “When you try to standardize a process statewide, it’s complex.”

The Comptroller’s office makes 20 recommendations for what schools can do to save money but not hurt student performance. The recommendations include sharing space with community colleges and other government entities, replacing textbooks with less expensive e-books, standardizing reporting of campus financial data to help identify low and high cost programs and relaxing the limit of 22 students in kindergarten through fourth grade classes to permit an average of 22 students.

Mendez said he had yet to review the recommendations.

“They have all kinds of suggestions,” he said. “Obviously we would be very interested in seeing what the comptroller recommends, so we can evaluate it and see what’s doable and what isn’t.”

In the news release, Comptroller Susan Combs said the ratings do not judge the relative value of spending versus academic progress, saying different schools have different priorities and constraints.

The study drew upon data from the TEA and the Texas Schools Project of the University of Texas at Dallas, along with “expertise” from UT Austin and Dallas, Texas A&M University and Texas educators, the news release said.