The Herald-Zeitung

Marion Independent School District’s “academically unacceptable” rating from the Texas Education Agency Friday did not reflect its academic program, superintendent James Hartman said.

At issue is how the state figures Marion ISD’s completion rate, which Hartman contends is skewed by the relatively transient population at a residential treatment facility.

Marion High School also received an unacceptable rating, based mainly on its completion rate — the percentage of students who graduate or complete their education in five years.

Marion Middle School was rated “academically acceptable,” and Norma Krueger Elementary/Bert L. Karrer were “recognized” schools.

Suzanne Marchman, a spokeswoman for TEA, said Marion’s completion rate was 87.8 percent, well above the acceptable benchmark of 70 percent. However, subgroups are factored separately, and Hispanics had a 68.8 percent graduation rate.

Otherwise, Marion scored exemplary in 18 of 20 academic areas and acceptable in two.

“Their overall scores look pretty good,” Marchman said. “Their area to be concerned with is dropouts.”

Hartman said the discrepancy revolved around students from Wings for Life, a private facility for incarcerated juvenile girls who are either pregnant or already parents. These girls come from across Texas.

The program is designed to keep these offenders in school while serving their sentences and taking parenting classes.

But when their sentences are completed before they graduate, they go home and are no longer enrolled in Marion ISD.

If they do not re-enroll in their hometowns, however, the state counts those students as dropouts from Marion ISD because it is the last school district in which they were enrolled.

“I’m not blaming Wings for Life,” he said “I just don’t think (having their students count against Marion’s performance) accurately reflects the district.”