Texas released accountability ratings this month showing broad improvement, with more schools earning A's and fewer earning F's. Underneath that statewide picture sits a much narrower and harder problem: a set of schools that have failed for four straight years, and a law that runs out of patience at five.
At least 14 Texas districts had at least one school earn a fourth consecutive failing grade in the preliminary 2026 ratings. Under state law, a fifth forces the education commissioner's hand: take over the district, or close the school.
The districts on the clock
Enrollment figures are 2025-26 counts from the Texas Education Agency. The list excludes districts that have already triggered the law, and those whose qualifying schools are all covered by approved closures or partnerships.
| District | Students |
|---|---|
| San Antonio ISD | 42,548 |
| Spring ISD | 32,349 |
| Judson ISD | 22,620 |
| Waco ISD | 12,908 |
| Cleveland ISD | 12,711 |
| San Angelo ISD | 12,507 |
| Manor ISD | 9,873 |
| Elgin ISD | 6,232 |
| Nacogdoches ISD | 5,527 |
| Kingsville ISD | 2,343 |
| Poteet ISD | 1,871 |
| Coldspring-Oakhurst CISD | 1,593 |
| Clarksville ISD | 504 |
| Runge ISD | 172 |
Most cluster around Austin, Houston, and San Antonio, averaging about 11,700 students. And the pattern in who attends these schools is consistent: nearly every school eligible to trigger state action enrolls a larger share of low-income students than the state average, along with higher shares of Black and Hispanic students.
Austin ISD is already past the threshold, with two schools at a fifth consecutive failing rating plus nine more sitting at four. Districts have until Sept. 11 to appeal a rating.
What a takeover actually means
When the law triggers, the commissioner replaces the district's locally elected school trustees with an appointed board of managers for at least two years. One persistently failing school can cost an entire district its elected governance.
That severity is why so much energy goes into the three exits. A district can raise the rating. It can sign a Senate Bill 1882 partnership, handing a school's management to a charter network, university, nonprofit, or government entity, which pauses certain sanctions for two years. Or it can close the school.
When a failing school closes, the TEA can reassign its state ID number, and with it the record of unacceptable ratings, to whichever school takes most of its students. That happened in San Antonio ISD this year. The district had four schools reach a fourth failing year, entered SB 1882 partnerships for two, and successfully closed a third. The state denied the closure of the fourth school's ID, and its ratings history moved to Barkley-Ruiz Elementary. A school that was not failing now carries four years of failure on its record.
The districts making their case
Several districts pointed to real movement. Spring ISD raised chronically failing DeKaney High School by 21 points to a C, and its overall district grade went from D to C. Superintendent Kregg Cuellar said the district will "celebrate the gains, learn from what worked," adding that the goal "is not simply to improve a rating" but to improve student outcomes. Spring remains at risk because Salyers Elementary and Bammel Middle are at four years.
In Waco ISD, G.W. Carver Middle School moved from 45 to 57, with 60 needed for a D. A district spokesperson cited the lowest teacher turnover in years. In Coldspring-Oakhurst CISD, an hour north of Houston, the district's only junior high has never earned a passing grade since Texas began issuing A-F school ratings in 2019, and needs three points. Superintendent Bryan Taulton said momentum across the district should produce "those three additional points, and then some."
Kingsville ISD's superintendent, Luz Martinez, was blunt. "Kingsville ISD recognizes the seriousness and urgency of our accountability results. We will not minimize them or make excuses for them," she said, calling the consecutive unacceptable ratings at Gillett Middle and Harvey Elementary "not the outcomes our students deserve."
When a district has one junior high and it has never passed, families can't choose between schools, they are choosing between the school and leaving the district entirely.
All of this rests on STAAR results, which drive the ratings, and at these schools fewer than a quarter of students met grade level on average this year. That is the underlying gap the law is trying to force districts to close, and the reason the debate over Texas accountability stays contested. Our explainer on how the Texas accountability system works covers how the grades are calculated, and this year's statewide results show the improvement these 14 districts have not yet matched.
Sources
The Texas Tribune: More than a dozen Texas school districts close to triggering state takeover law in 2027
District enrollment figures are 2025-26 counts from the Texas Education Agency. Ratings are preliminary and subject to appeal through Sept. 11.
