The Texas Education Agency has released its 2019 A-F accountability ratings for about 1,200 school districts and charter schools across the state.

For the second year in a row, districts and charters received the data and grade and for the first time individual campuses also received a grade.

Jefferson County was one of a number of areas in the state whose scores were not counted last year because of the Hurricane and Tropical Storm Harvey waiver.

Here’s a look at how the Mid and South Jefferson County area fared:

Port Arthur ISD

Port Arthur Independent School District saw an overall grade of C, or 74, compared to the 2017-2018 overall rating of 63.

But not all campuses showed improvement and one, Thomas Jefferson Middle School, saw a failing grade of F with a score of 59.

The district’s other middle school, Lincoln, had a C rating.

A look at PAISD ratings:

• DeQueen Elementary — C — grades 3-5
• Houston Elementary — B — grades PK-5
• Jefferson Middle — F — grades 6-8
• Lakeview Elementary — C — grades PK-5
• Lincoln Middle — C — grades 6-8
• Memorial H.S. — C — grades 9-12
• Port Acres Elementary — C — grades PK-5
• Staff Sgt. Lucian Adams Elementary — B — grades PK-5
• Travis Elementary — C — grades PK-5
• Tyrrell Elementary — C — grades PK-5
• Washington Elementary — C — grades PK-2
• Wheatley School of Early Childhood — C — Early education-PK

PAISD Superintendent Mark Porterie said the district is pleased with the increased progress from last year’s results and there is significant growth with the 2018 assessment compared to the 2019 assessment. Staff and students worked hard and the results showed progress.

“We understand that we have much work to do as we move forward with educating our children,” Porterie said. “However, the progress made last year energizes us to do more and inspires us to look forward to raising the bar to the next level.

“As we continue to review the results, we see that there are areas which we need to address. There are some concerns that have already been addressed. Our principals along with central office, board members and parents are committed to addressing these areas to reach the goal of excellence within our district.”

Sabine Pass ISD

Sabine Pass Independent School District received an overall grade of A with a score of 92, compared to the previous year’s score of 90

SPISD is a one-campus school district.

Superintendent Kristi Heid, who has been with the district many years, said they were happy with the A rating and are always striving to better themselves.

“The conversation that we had with our faculty and staff is that we will continue to raise the bar for ourselves,” Heid said. “We believe that we have the best teachers in the region; they are always on board. We set the standards high here at Sabine Pass. Our teachers always meet their goals and I congratulate our faculty and staff for what they do each and every day with our students.”

Nederland ISD

Nederland Independent School District saw an overall score of an A compared to last year’s overall score of 85.

A look at NISD ratings:

• Central Middle — C — grades 5- 8
• Helena Park Elementary — B — early education – grade 4
• Highland Park Elementary — B — early education – grade 4
• Hillcrest Elementary — B — early education – grade 4
• Langham Elementary — A — early education – grade 4
• Nederland High School — A — grades 9 – 12
• Wilson Middle — B — grades 5 to 8

Port Neches-Groves ISD

Port Neches-Groves Independent School District saw an overall grade of A as compared to last year’s overall score of 85.

A look at PNGISD ratings:

• Groves Elementary — B — grades 4-5
• Groves Middle — C — grades 6-8
• Port Neches Elementary — B — grades 4-5
• Port Neches Middle — C — grades 6-8
• Ridgewood Elementary — B — kindergarten- grade 3
• Taft Elementary — B — kindergarten – grade 3
• Van Buren Elementary — A — prekindergarten – grade 3
• West Groves Early Learning Center — A — Early education-prekindergarten
• Woodcrest Elementary — B — kindergarten- grade 3
• Port Neches Groves High School — B — grades 9-12

Statewide

Statewide, hundreds of districts and schools improved their overall rating from 2018.

“Performance continues to improve in Texas schools because of the tireless effort of Texas teachers, administrators and staff. I am particularly proud of the educators at the 296 high-poverty schools that achieved an A rating this year,” Education Commissioner Mike Morath said in a news release. “With resources on TXschools.gov, educators and parents and empowered as they never have been before to support even greater improvements in the future.”

The scoring

The scoring system rates districts and schools an overall rating based on three performance areas:

• Student achievement — shows how much students know and are able to do at the end of the school year.
• School progress — shows how students perform over time and how that growth compares to similar schools.
• Closing the gaps — shows how well different groups of students within a school are performing.

In addition, the A-F accountability uses a variety of indicators such as graduation rates, college, career and military readiness, SAT/ACT scores, and college prep course completion. The majority of a district’s rating is based on indicators other than the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR) test.

Cassandra Jenkins contributed to this report.