Lubbock ISD staff presented the district's School Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas (FIRST) report during a public hearing and told the board the district received an A with a score of 95 based on 2023-24 data.

Doctor Wilkins, the district chief financial officer, said the FIRST report is required annually and that the 2024-25 publication uses 2023-24 fiscal data. Nathan Shortes, director of finance, walked trustees through the two publication levels (preliminary and final) and explained that because the district received an A it could not appeal the preliminary scores. Shortes said the district received notification on August 8 and that the final score was 95.

Wilkins explained the three indicator groups used in the grading: critical indicators (audit submission, unmodified opinion, debt payments), solvency indicators (liquidity and assets vs. liabilities), and financial competency indicators (data projections, resource allocation, posting required information). He told trustees the district met the ceilings for critical, solvency and competency indicators.

Wilkins also described a reconciled issue: the district made a payment to the comptroller that was placed in a holding account and initially did not appear as credited on the comptroller's records. After reconciliation, the district passed the relevant indicator. Wilkins said the district has maintained an A since FIRST began in 1999 and typically scores in the high 90s.

Supporting materials, including detailed FIRST pages and audits, will be posted on the district's financial-transparency web page. No public comments were received during the hearing.