Lubbock’s Estacado High School is expected to be rated “Unacceptable” tomorrow by the Texas Education Agency. Lubbock school officials anticipating the rating said this morning that the rating is not due to academic performance but to school completion rates. TEA’s ratings are also based on how many students graduate four years after beginning ninth grade or re-enroll for a fifth year. The data on which the rates are based lags a year behind. Officials said the Estacado rating is a result of too many students who entered ninth grade in 2005-06 but did not graduate by 2008-09. LISD superintendent Dr. Karen Garza said Estacado’s being labeled “unacceptable” was a real disappointment because the school had made outstanding academic gains this year. Garza said, quote: “We are held accountable for keeping students in school and we have a plan in place which includes going to their homes or workplaces and making sure we get them re-enrolled in school.” In August, the district will unveil a comprehensive, district-wide program to find and re-enroll drop-outs.
