Gonzales County schools receive A-F ratings from 2022-23

Gonzales County schools finally saw their 2022-23 A-F accountability ratings released by the Texas Education Agency on Thursday, April 24, following a lawsuit-induced two-year delay.

The news was mixed as Nixon-Smiley Consolidated ISD received an overall rating of B and had three of its four campuses (Nixon-Smiley Elementary, Nixon-Smiley Middle School and Nixon-Smiley High School) rated the same. A fourth campus, the Disciplinary Alternative Education Program, was not rated.

Meanwhile, Gonzales ISD received an overall rating of C as did all five of its campuses — Gonzales Primary Academy, Gonzales Elementary, Gonzales North Avenue, Gonzales Junior High and Gonzales High School. Waelder ISD, which is considered to have a single pre-K to grade 12 campus, was rated a D.

Though these ratings reflect performance from the 2022-23 school year, TEA is now able to publicly release them for the first time and make them available at TXSchools.gov. TEA is prevented from sharing more recent school ratings from the 2023-24 school year due to a separate, ongoing lawsuit. School performance ratings from the 2024-25 school year are scheduled to be issued in August 2025. 

It is only the second time in six years that A-F ratings have been released as districts were not rated in 2019-20 or 2020-21 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and declared state of disaster.

While ratings were released in 2021-22, the ratings were heavily impacted by pandemic-related learning disruptions and a state law that prevented D and F ratings from being issued that year. Legal challenges then delayed the release of ratings for the 2022-23 and 2023-24 school years.
“For far too long, families, educators and communities have been denied access to information about the performance of their schools, thanks to frivolous lawsuits paid for by tax dollars filed by those who disagreed with the statutory goal of raising career readiness expectations to help students,” said Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath.

“Every Texas family deserves a clear view of school performance, and now those families finally have access to data they should have received two years ago. Transparency drives progress, and when that transparency is blocked, students pay the price.”
The A-F accountability system was established in 2017 by the 85th Texas Legislature through House Bill 22 and were first issued in 2018. For the first several years, the rating methodology was largely unchanged, but the method of calculation was updated for the 2022-23 school year ratings in what was called a system refresh.

TEA published a “What If” scale score overall for the 2021-22 ratings to determine what districts would have received under the new methodology, but these scores do not replace the final 2021-22 A-F ratings that already had been reported.

Schools are rated to determine performance in three key areas: Student Achievement, School Progress and Closing the Gaps. TEA officials say the A-F system is designed to drive continuous improvement and “helps ensure that all students, regardless of background, have access to a high-quality education that prepares them for success after graduation. A-F ratings help educators and school systems celebrate successes and focus support where it is needed most.”
Gonzales ISD

Overall, the district had a rating of 74 out of 100 for 2022-23 for a C. The district received a rating of 81 or B in 2021-22, but would have received a 66 or D had the new ratings system been in effect. This rating measures how much students are learning in each grade and whether or not they are ready for the next grade. It also shows how well a school or district prepares their students for success after high school in college, the workforce, or the military.
In Student Achievement, the district received a 72. Student Achievement measures whether students met expectations on the STAAR test. It also measures graduation rates and how prepared students are for success after high school. The district did receive a distinction for Postsecondary Readiness.

In School Progress, the district had its highest rating of 75. School Progress shows how students perform over time and how the district's performance compares to other districts with similar economically disadvantaged student populations.

For Closing the Gaps, the district had a rating of 73. Closing the Gaps tells how well a district is ensuring that all student groups are successful.

Nixon-Smiley CISD
Overall, the district had a rating of 83 out of 100. The district received a rating of 87 or B in 2021-22 and would have received an 84 had the new ratings system been in effect.

In Student Achievement, the district received a 78. The district did receive a distinction for Postsecondary Readiness.

In School Progress, the district had its highest rating of 84. For Closing the Gaps, the district had a rating of 79.

Waelder ISD

Overall, the district had a rating of 65 out of 100. The district received a rating of 80 or B in 2021-22 and would have received a 70 or C had the new ratings system been in effect.

In Student Achievement, the district received its highest rating of 67. In School Progress, the district had a rating of 64. For Closing the Gaps, the district had a rating of 61.
To view 2023 A-F ratings for school systems and campuses, visit TXschools.gov.