Taylor and Hutto independent school districts received superior achievement ratings, or an A grade, from the School Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas.
The Texas Education Agency released preliminary ratings for the 2023-24 school year in August, and the school districts held public hearings to review the reports during their October board meetings.
FIRST measures the quality of school districts’ financial management practices to provide transparency and accountability for improvement, using data from the previous fiscal year.
“The system is designed to encourage Texas public schools to better manage their financial resources to provide the maximum allocation possible for direct instructional purposes,” reads the TEA website.
The agency will release the final ratings in November.
Out of an available 100 points, Taylor and Hutto received ratings of 94 and 98, respectively. Taylor’s score remained the same from its 2022-23 grade, while Hutto went up two points.
The system bases scores on 21 financial indicators that look at administrative cost expenditures, the accuracy of financial reports submitted to the state and any material weaknesses determined by an external auditor.
However, two indicators were not measured to account for the effects of COVID19, according to Hutto ISD Director of Finance Jeffery Leth. The indicators measured if the school districts had less than a 10% variance from budgeted revenue and if the school districts’ daily attendance averages were within their projections.
The school districts received passing scores all around, with a few missing points.
Both school districts lost points on an indicator measuring the correlation between future debt requirements and the district’s assessed property value, receiving eight out of 10 points for having a calculated correlation greater than 4 but less than or equal to 7. To receive full points, the calculated correlation must be less than 4.
Taylor and Hutto had calculated correlations of 6.43 and 6.48, respectively.
Last year, Hutto ISD received six out of 10 points for this indicator.
“What this says is, since we are a fast-growth district, we have to take on more debt in order to keep up with that growth, and our property values were lagging a little behind,” Leth said at Hutto ISD’s Oct. 24 public hearing. “Our property values are starting to catch up, so our ratio is becoming a bit smaller, therefore increasing our score.”
Taylor ISD had points deducted on another indicator measuring the ratio of longterm liabilities to the school district’s total assets sufficient to support long-term solvency, receiving six out of 10 points for having a ratio greater than .70 but less than or equal to .80.
To receive full points, the ratio must be less than or equal to .60 or have a 7% or more increase in students over five years. The school district had a ratio of .72 and a 2% decrease in students over the measured period.
“We do show that we should be improving on this indicator in the coming years,” Taylor ISD Chief Financial Officer Jina Self said at the school district’s Oct. 21 public hearing.
The full rating reports can be seen on the TEA website at tealprod.tea.state.tx.us/First/ forms/ Main.aspx.
