By MICHAEL RODRIGUEZ
Managing Editor
editor@sbnewspaper.com
The San Benito Consolidated Independent School District (SBCISD) is appealing the dropout status of three students who attend Miller Jordan Middle School, this in an attempt to reverse the campus’ unacceptable rating by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) for the 2010-2011 school year.
SBCISD Planner/Evaluator Ruben Franco said Miller Jordan’s rating was due to the school’s 13 dropouts, crossing a 10-dropout threshold. Specifically, Franco said a dropout rate of 1.6 percent imposed by the state was exceeded by Miller Jordan, which had a rate of 2.1 percent.
“‘The difference was those three students,” Franco said.
District officials hope to elevate the campus to an acceptable status via an appeal, which Franco said is based on the students in question leaving the district to attend schools elsewhere. Under such circumstances, students are therefore not considered dropouts, according to Franco.
“We believe we found three students that shouldn’t have been considered as dropouts by the state,” he added. “We’re compiling documentation as part of our appeal in hopes that the state will consider and grant it, elevating Miller’s status from unacceptable to acceptable.”
Miller Jordan was one of two campuses, the other being the Veterans Memorial Academy (VMA), rated unacceptable this past school year. Schools that were recognized were Berta Cabaza Middle School, Fred Booth Elementary, Sullivan Elementary, La Encantada Elementary, La Paloma Elementary, Dr. Raul Garza, Jr. Elementary, and Judge Oscar De La Fuente Elementary. Exemplary campuses were Dr. Cash Elementary and Ed Downs Elementary. San Benito High School, Riverside Middle School, Landrum Elementary, Rangerville Elementary, and Frank Roberts Elementary were all rated acceptable.
The district’s overall rating was acceptable.
Franco pointed to the two unacceptable campuses as cause for the district’s rating, stating that otherwise SBCISD would’ve been recognized. “The district is being rated as acceptable because of Veterans and now because of Miller. So the state does not allow us to have a recognized label even though we meet all the criteria,” he said.
What’s more, Franco noted that district officials do not plan to appeal VMA’s rating. “That was based on information that was correct,” Franco said of the academy’s unacceptable rating. “As far as the district is concerned, we’re still going to retain the level of acceptable even though we met the criteria of recognized.”
To see this story in print, pick up a copy of the Aug. 7 edition of the San Benito News. Or view our E-Edition by clicking here.
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