Coppell ISD joins accountability ratings lawsuit against Texas Education Agency

Coppell—During a Special Board Meeting on Sept. 12, the Coppell ISD Board of Trustees approved in a 7-0 vote the district administration's recommendation to join several Texas school districts in a lawsuit against the Texas Education Agency, initially filed by Kingsville ISD. 

This lawsuit cites the Commissioner of the TEA has failed to provide school districts with “a document in a simple, accessible format that explains the accountability performance measures, methods, and procedures that will be applied” for the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 school years. The lawsuit seeks an injunction to prevent the commissioner from issuing new ratings using the retroactively applied, yet-to-be-finalized measures.

The cost to districts, including Coppell ISD, will be shared equally amongst the districts that join as a part of the lawsuit and is estimated to be about $10,000 and will be absorbed by the current CISD budget.  

“I firmly believe that joining forces with other districts in this lawsuit against the TEA regarding accountability ratings is a necessary step to ensure fairness, transparency and equity in our education system,” David Caviness, CISD board president, said.  “As a Board, we are united in our commitment to advocating for our students, our educators and our community, and together we will strive to do what is right for the children we serve not only in CISD, but for students throughout the state of Texas.” 

CISD has been using a Community Based Accountability System or CBAS for the past three years. 

“Coppell ISD believes in a robust Community Based Accountability System or CBAS, in which the STAAR tests, which the TEA primarily relies upon for its ratings, is just one data point to measure our student’s academic success,” Dr. Brad Hunt, CISD Superintendent, said. “However, the arbitrary application of the TEA’s new rating measures without the required advanced notice of what these measures are will potentially give the appearance that schools across the state, including in Coppell ISD, may be declining.”  

Hunt and Angela Brown, CISD chief communications officer, used the analogy of playing and completing a football game and an entire football season without knowing the game's rules or how the score will be counted to explain the reasoning behind the lawsuit. 

“We’ve already completed one season or one school year and are well into the next season or school year without knowing the accountability performance measures from the TEA,” Brown said in her presentation to Trustees. “We believe this is extremely unfair to our teachers and our students.” 

CISD first urged TEA to re-evaluate the accountability system refresh in March 2023 in a joint letter co-signed by 250 Texas school districts and education organizations.

To read the resolution passed by the CISD Board of Trustees and view the Sep. 12, 2023 Special Board Meeting video, visit www.coppellisd.com/board.