Round Rock Independent School District officials told the board on Sept. 18 that the district’s 2025 Texas Education Agency accountability composite is 87 and described steps being taken to help campuses rated D or F. Dr. Natalie Nichols, senior chief of schools and innovation, led the presentation and said the district is using growth and ‘‘closing the gaps’’ measures to guide interventions.

The presentation explained why ratings changed after the statewide shift to STAAR 2. ‘‘For the 2025 rating, we are at a 87,’’ Nichols said, and she listed component results: student achievement (domain 1) 88, school progress (domain 2) 80, academic growth (domain 2a) 79 and closing the gaps (domain 3) 86. Nichols and other staff emphasized that TEA selects the highest of domain 1, 2a or 2b for 70% of a campus score and averages that with the 30% closing-the-gaps domain, so the same letter grade can reflect different underlying performance patterns.

Why it matters: TEA’s new STAAR 2 test includes more higher-level items, online administration and different score scales; district leaders said those changes alter comparability with prior years and increase the proportion of difficult items. Nichols summarized instructional and operational responses: earlier hiring and targeted recruitment for hard-to-staff campuses, contracted mentor support where veteran mentors are unavailable, tailored professional development, progress-monitoring ‘‘microdata’’ and partnerships (Relay and EdConnective) for school improvement. She also cited principal-driven curriculum changes on campuses with high special education, emerging bilingual or mobility rates as part of success stories.

Supporting details: Nichols pointed to school-level movements: 38 campuses earned an A or B; Live Oak Elementary improved from a C in 2024 to an A in 2025 (its first A); several elementary campuses moved from A/B to A. The district flagged D- and F-rated campuses including Anderson Mill, Jolie Johnson, Callison, Bluebonnet and CD Folks and described case-by-case root-cause analyses and campus-specific plans. Nichols said one campus with about 179 tested students had 21% in special education and 56% emerging bilingual, which required tailored interventions.

District leaders described staffing fixes for campuses with prior instability: hiring started earlier in the spring for several sites; for campuses with many first-year teachers the district contracted external mentors so each new teacher receives regular, individualized coaching; area superintendents and central-office teams provide ongoing on-campus support. Nichols said the district is tracking progress frequently rather than only at large checkpoints.

Questions from trustees focused on how alternative-model high schools are scored and how the district shares best practices across campuses. Nichols and Dr. Aziz (superintendent) said Success High School is evaluated on the same TEA measures but that its small, mobile senior cohorts and limited runway for CCMR (college, career, military readiness) credits affect its domain-1 results; the district has added TSIA instruction and other targeted coursework there.

Ending note: Trustees praised school turnarounds and asked staff to bring campus improvement plans for one or two exemplar schools to a future meeting so the board can review concrete tactics. Staff said an October budget update will incorporate certified property values and any financial adjustments tied to state and local revenue assumptions.