Galveston County’s La Marque ISD received a lifeline Wednesday when state Education Commissioner Michael Williams agreed to put the district’s closure on hold.
Williams said he would not shut down the district in July, as he had previously ordered, but would wait to make a final decision until the Texas Education Agency issues the new round of academic and financial accountability ratings later this year.
“The commissioner felt this would be a good way to give the district a chance to try to improve and address those issues that they’re substandard in,” said DeEtta Culbertson, a spokeswoman for the education agency.
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The district’s new academic accountability rating will be based on mandatory state exams that students will complete in coming weeks. Williams has ordered that monitoring take place at all campuses to “ensure the security and preserve the integrity of the testing instruments,” according to a memo he sent Wednesday.
See here for the background. As I said last time, my main concern here is that it’s not at all clear where these students would go if la marge ISD gets closed down. LMISD had asked for an extension, claiming that they were headed in the right direction. This may give them the chance to demonstrate that. I wish them the best of luck.