Marion Independent School District won an appeal to the Commissioner of Education Wednesday, changing the district’s and Marion High School’s status from “academically unacceptable” to “academically acceptable.”
The annual ratings from the Texas Department of Education serve as a general benchmark on the progress of school districts and individual schools. The ratings are based largely on attendance and test scores from the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS).
As reported in the Aug. 1 edition of the Herald-Zeitung, at issue was the inclusion of several students who were living temporarily at the Wings For Life facility, a project of the Texas Youth Commission. The facility takes at-risk teen mothers from all over the state to the center in Marion. Often, the
students live there as part of a prison sentence or other correctional treatment. While at Wings For Life, they attend Marion High School, though many rarely show up for class.
Once her sentence or other correctional treatment is over, the teen goes home to other towns in Texas. She consequently drops out of Marion High School.
This movement, according to Marion ISD, was adversely reflected in the district’s attendance and drop out numbers, causing a drop in district ranking to “unacceptable.”
James Hartman, superintendent for Marion ISD, took action and wrote an appeal to the Commissioner of Education seeking a better rating.
“We were appealing an erroneous rating error,” Hartman said. “We’re very pleased that the state granted that appeal. We submitted that appeal prior to school starting and received notice Wednesday.”
