Burnet Middle School recently received a failing accountability grade from the state, joining the district’s three elementary schools which received similar failing grades last school year, due to perceived “learning gaps” in student instruction.

The middle school received an “F” on the Texas Education Agency’s accountability ratings, which were released to the public on Friday, Aug. 14, marking it for school improvement. Under TEA guidelines, a school which receives an “F” rating must immediately implement a Targeted Improvement Plan (TIP), which involves rigorous changes to how a school operates, with options including curriculum changes, staff reassignments, or even campus closures.

This puts Burnet Middle School in the bottom 3.4 percent of middle schools in the state. 

Burnet Consolidated Independent School District Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction Dr. Rachel Jones highlighted these struggles in a statement to DailyTrib on Wednesday, Aug. 19.

“Burnet CISD’s achievement on most state assessments has been below state averages for multiple years,” she told DailyTrib. “Although standardized tests do not provide a full picture of student learning, our results do point to learning gaps when compared to the rest of the state. Over time, those gaps accumulate across grade levels and become harder to close, causing a struggle to attain grade-level expectations.”

While BCISD has yet to detail a TIP for the middle school campus, it is likely that improvement will mirror that of the district’s three elementary schools, which adopted a new, state-approved curriculum at the beginning of last school year after receiving multiple failing accountability grades.

Dr. Jones noted during the Monday, Aug. 17, school board meeting that TIPs will be finalized and submitted for approval in November, taking effect over the rest of the 2026-27 school year.

BCISD leadership on what’s to come

According to BCISD Superintendent Dr. Aaron Pena, the potential curriculum changes are likely to usher in more rigorous academic training that will need support from parents, as students may need to spend extra time outside the classroom learning.

“If (students) don’t (understand material) the first time… then we need to make sure that they’re provided additional time,” Dr. Pena told DailyTrib. “That may be within the school day–every school has pockets of time in order to be creative like that–but it may be after school and on Saturdays. We’re going to need help from parents too. If a student really needs the extra time, we need them to make every effort to accommodate that time.”

Dr. Jones added a broader look at the district’s efforts to close their gaps in learning over the last year, noting the change in curriculum at the elementary level.

“Even though we implemented new state-approved reading and math curricula last year, multi-year learning gaps will take more than one year to close,” she told DailyTrib. “We are counting on our amazing school community to encourage resilience in our students during the productive struggle of learning at high levels, and to provide support for our teachers as they continue their work to close learning gaps.”

More on Burnet Middle School’s rating

The TEA rates schools each year on a scale from A-F, calculated based on campus’ performance in three categories: student achievement, school progress, and closing the gaps.

Any campus that is given a grade of a “D” three consecutive times, or an “F” once, must implement a Targeted Improvement Plan (TIP). According to the TEA, a TIP involves rigorous changes to how a school operates, with options including curriculum changes, staff reassignments, or even campus closures in severe cases.

Student achievement measures things like state testing scores, graduation rates, and preparedness for the next level of education. School progress measures how well a school performs over time as compared to similar schools. Closing the gaps measures how well students of a specific demographic perform as compared to the standard set by the state for that demographic.

In 2026, Burnet Middle School scored a 65 (D), 58 (F), and 45 (F) in each of those categories, respectively. All of those scores are significant drops compared to last year.

Changes over time in scores at Burnet Middle School

2026 scores

• Overall score – 59 out of 100 (F)
• Student achievement – 65 out of 100 (D)
• School progress – 58 out of 100 (F)
• Closing the gaps – 45 out of 100 (F)

2025 scores

• Overall score – 70 out of 100 (C)
• Student achievement – 72 out of 100 (C)
• School progress – 69 out of 100 (D)
• Closing the gaps – 64 out of 100 (D)

2024 scores

• Overall score – 70 out of 100 (C)
• Student achievement – 70 out of 100 (C)
• School progress – 67 out of 100 (D)
• Closing the gaps – 69 out of 100 (D)

More on the elementaries’ ratings

At RJ Richey, Shady Grove, and Bertram elementaries, a new state-approved curriculum and instructional style was adopted in 2025 after all three campuses were marked for school improvement due to receiving three years of “D” ratings.

Those curriculum and instructional changes meant teaching staff members throughout the district a wholly new set of curricula that was approved by the state, implementing new teaching strategies like having students talk amongst groups about what they were learning, and holding regular walkthroughs by TEA staff, administrators, and principals to ensure curriculum was being properly taught.

The first year under the new curriculum was notably a struggle, Dr. Jones pointed out during several school board meetings, with students struggling to meet state testing standards, and some teachers having pushed back on the new teaching style.

“(Our scores) have closely mirrored the state, but we have not caught up to the state average,” she said during a June 22 school board meeting. “There is absolutely no reason that Burnet kids can’t be at or better than the state average.”

Despite minute increases in their scores, the three elementaries were given “D” ratings in 2026 as well, increasing the severity of intervention by the state. If these schools were to receive three more consecutive years of failing grades, the TEA’s commissioner could either close the campuses or order the district to be governed by an appointed board of managers.

How BCISD’s scores stack up against the state

This year, Burnet’s six campuses received the following accountability scores:

• RJ Richey Elementary – 66 out of 100 (D)
• Shady Grove Elementary – 66 out of 100 (D)
• Bertram Elementary – 64 out of 100 (D)
• Burnet Middle School – 59 out of 100 (F)
• Burnet High School – 85 out of 100 (B)
• Quest High School – 95 out of 100 (A)

Texas elementary school ratings

• A – 895 campuses, 18.5 percent
• B – 1648 campuses, 34.1 percent
• C – 1336 campuses, 27.6 percent
• D – 664 campuses, 13.7 percent
• F – 291 campuses, 6 percent
• Not rated – 54 campuses

Texas middle school ratings

• A – 353 campuses, 21.3 percent
• B – 622 campuses, 37.5 percent
• C – 455 campuses, 27.4 percent
• D – 172 campuses, 10.4 percent
• F – 57 campuses, 3.4 percent
• Not rated – 43 campuses

Texas high school ratings

• A – 691 campuses, 45.5 percent
• B – 619 campuses, 40.7 percent
• C – 186 campuses, 12.2 percent
• D – 25 campuses, 1.6 percent
• F – 1 campus, less than 1 percent
• Not rated – 305 campuses

Texas alternative education ratings (i.e. Quest High School)

• A – 115 campuses, 45.1 percent
• B – 96 campuses, 37.6 percent
• C – 34 campuses, 13.3 percent
• D – 10 campuses, 3.9 percent
• F – 0 campuses
• Not rated – 163 campuses

caden@thepicayune.com