RAYMONDVILLE — Willacy County’s schools are ranking toward the top of the Rio Grande Valley’s districts amid one of the most challenging periods in education.
Across the farming county, most of the Willacy County’s smaller schools ranked higher than many of the Valley’s larger districts.
For the first time in two years, the Texas Education Agency earlier this month released its Accountability Ratings, giving the San Perlita, Raymondville and Lyford school districts “A” ratings on a scale of “A” to “F,” following a two-year pause resulting from the coronavirus pandemic’s disruption of the educational system.
The ratings based on student performance on the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, or STAAR, test reflect student achievement and progress along with school districts’ success in closing learning gaps.
San Perlita
For years, the San Perlita school district has helped set the standard across Willacy County.
This year, the district maintained the “A” rating it earned in 2019, with a 96 overall score, while earning several TEA distinctions, including recognition for “post-secondary readiness,” or student post-graduate preparedness.
Overall, the district’s distinctions include an “A” rating in student achievement, with a score of 91; an “A” rating in school progress, with a 92 score; and an “A” in closing students’ learning gaps.
Since he took over as superintendent in 2008, Albert Pena has worked to help take the district to the top of Valley academics.
“I’m a piece in the puzzle,” Pena, who retires on Wednesday, said. “The teachers — that’s where the rubber meets the road. We’re blessed with great teachers. Our competition is not our neighbors — it’s what we did last week, last year. We’re just always trying to get better.”
Earlier this month, Albert Byrom took over as superintendent after serving as high school principle with the Sinton school district in San Patricio County.
Doing more with less
In the district with 205 students, teachers can sharpen their focus on individual students’ learning.
Meanwhile, the district works with far less money than larger districts in the state whose funding is based on student enrollment.
“The size of the school places limits on the state funding side so we have to do more with less,” Pena said.
Amid the pandemic, district officials used Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief, or ESSER, funds to work to boost academics.
“Schools identified their own areas of greatest need and hired additional instructional staff to address these with their ESSER allotments,” Pena stated. “This shows the results that can be attained when schools are adequately funded and given local control over the allocation of resources.”
Historic challenges
Across the county, districts scored high amid the pandemic’s historic challenges, Pena stated.
“Schools and communities have endured much turmoil over the past two-plus years,” he stated. “As always, our teachers have been at the forefront of recovery efforts. Willacy County schools showed tremendous resiliency in rebounding from learning loss attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic, as evidenced by state accountability scores recently released.”
Raymondville
In Raymondville, officials helped post the best year in the district’s history, Superintendent Stetson Roane stated.
Since he took over as superintendent in 2017, Roane’s worked to turn the district around, helping it climb from the state’s “C” rating and 72 overall score to an “A” rating, with a 92 score.
“I’m happy to report that Raymondville ISD received its highest academic ratings in school history,” he stated. “These results validate our staff’s hard work, dedication and what we have always known — Raymondville ISD is a top school district.”
The district with about 2,000 students, which climbed from a “B” rating in 2019, earned 26 of 27 of the state’s distinctions in such areas as post-secondary readiness and growth.
“At whatever level the student is at, we focus on getting that student to the next level,” Deputy Superintendent Ben Clinton said.
“We have to be competitive because Willacy County is tight-knit and we know the community compares our schools,” Clinton stated.
As part of a stunning comeback, the district scored “A” ratings as a result of its strong financial standing.
“This superior financial rating is a reflection of the (school) board’s leadership,” Roane stated. “In the past year, Raymondville ISD completed the biggest facilities upgrade in school history and maintained the highest teacher pay in Willacy County. The district did this while adding to fund balance and without raising taxes. We are committed to being fiscally responsible and a good steward of taxpayer dollars.”
Turning around Myra Green Middle School
Since 2017, officials helped turn Myra Green Middle School into a top achiever.
While the state designated the school an “improvement required” campus in 2017, now the school’s earned an “A” rating.
Lyford
In Lyford, the district climbed from a “B” rating in 2019 to an “A” this year, with an overall score of 90.
Meanwhile, the district scored an “A” rating in school progress while earning “B” ratings in student achievement and closing the gaps.
“Through rigorous planning and efforts, Lyford schools have flourished as a whole in the past two years,” Superintendent Kristin Brown, who took over in 2019, stated.
“While enduring the COVID-19 pandemic, school boards, administration, teachers and staff continued to provide exceptional education and resources to our students and families,” she stated following the Region One Service Center’s recognition of the district’s school board as the Regional School Board of the Year. “While we set our standards high to accomplish a high accountability rating for TEA, we also do our best to consider the child as a whole.”
Along with its high academic standard, officials work to offer students a “quality education,” Brown stated.
“In addition to academics, we provide extensive resources for students to thrive such as various extracurricular activities, social-emotional awareness and access to beneficial health resources,” she stated. “We, as a county, work together diligently and proactively to not only provide a quality education but to ensure that our students become highly productive members of society.”
Lasara
In Lasara, the school district maintained an overall rating of “B,” with an overall score of 87.
“I’m very proud of the work we did,” Superintendent Alejos Salazar said. “We had a lot of students show a year of academic growth.”
During the last two years, officials worked to turn around the district’s elementary school, which includes students from pre-kindergarten to eighth grade.
While the state gave the school a “D” rating in 2019, district officials’ focus on boosting academics helped earn the school a “B” rating this year, Salazar said.
“Bringing the elementary up from ‘D’ to ‘B’ was an accomplishment,” he said. “We had struggled in certain departments. The improvement was tremendous.”
As part of the testing system, all of the district’s eighth-grade students passed Algebra 1, he said.
This year, officials are taking steps to boost the district’s ratings.
“We’ve had meetings to look at our data, to look at where we can improve,” Salazar said.
