> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.huntsvillan.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Accountability in action - URL: https://www.huntsvillan.com/accountability-in-action/ - Published: 2026-09-16T12:03:41.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-16T12:03:40.000Z - Description: While many Walker County schools improved in state accountability ratings, an online school in the Huntsville ISD was closed for poor performance. - Author: Steph Mamber To everything, there is a season. Plant in the spring, harvest in the fall. Hoops in the winter, baseball in the spring, football in the fall. And so on. The public schools have their own seasons. Teach all fall and winter, panic about state testing in the spring, worry about the scores and school ratings until they are finally released in the summer. A fleet of ocean liners could not contain all the stress and anxiety state testing causes schools. On the other hand, those ratings are accountability for educators and important information for parents and taxpayers. As such, they usually get wide publicity when they are released in mid-August. Around here, that slipped through the cracks last month, as the [Item has been going through things, for real](https://www.huntsvillan.com/item-going-through-things-for-real/), and *The Huntsvillan* was [occupied](https://www.huntsvillan.com/goliath/) with [something](https://www.huntsvillan.com/leviathan/) else [entirely](https://www.huntsvillan.com/behemoth/) – so we are bringing them to you now. There is good news. In Walker County, ratings are up overall. There is also some bad news. The largest elementary school in the Huntsville ISD – one you've probably never heard of – was shut down by the state after years of failing grades. ## A step forward across Walker County The state agency overseeing public schools, the Texas Education Agency, collects lots of information on every school in the state, including scores on state "STAAR" tests. From this they determine an "accountability score" for each public school and school district. A school's rating is the letter grade accompanying its score: 90 or higher is an A, 80-89 is a B, and so on. Huntsville ISD has six schools in Walker County. Not a single one slid backwards in this year's accountability scores, and four moved ahead. As a result, accountability ratings improved one letter grade for three schools – Huntsville Elementary, Samuel Walker Houston Elementary, and Huntsville High – and the district's overall rating rose a letter grade as well, to a C. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/45/95/45959c34-5dee-4d85-8f61-0c88439f0a1c/content/images/2026/09/Slide1-1.JPG) 2025-2026 accountability ratings for Huntsville's public schools. The biggest jumps were recorded at Huntsville High and at Samuel Walker Houston Elementary, which rose a startling 10 points this year. That's like hitting a grand slam in the World Series, and the joy at that campus must have been something to behold. A lot went into improving the scores. Matthew Lahey, Community Engagement Director for the HISD, said that "over the last year, we have focused on strengthening Tier 1 \[core\] instruction, using student data more effectively, improving targeted intervention \[for individual students who are struggling\], and creating greater consistency across our campuses." At the same time, there is still work to be done. Four of six schools received D's or F's, which are fairly rare statewide. The district sees it the same way. "We recognize there is still significant work ahead," said Lahey. "We view these results as progress, not a finish line. A C rating \[for the district\] is an important step forward, but it is not where we want to finish." Those strides forward were matched in New Waverly ISD. While the district overall remained at a B, accountability scores rose for three of its four schools, with New Waverly High achieving a rare A rating. Perhaps there really is [something in the water](https://www.huntsvillan.com/there-must-be-something-in-the-water/). ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/45/95/45959c34-5dee-4d85-8f61-0c88439f0a1c/content/images/2026/09/Slide2-1.JPG) New Waverly's 2025-2026 accountability ratings. There was [some drama](https://www.itemonline.com/news/nwisd-clashing-views-of-school-culture/article%5Fdfeafa56-b341-4d7d-8477-4c03b61a41cb.html) related to the high school in that district last year, which is a difficult thing for a close-knit community like New Waverly. Receiving that A rating must have been an especially welcome relief. Two other school districts contain a sliver of Walker County: Richards and Trinity. Richards received a C overall, with a score of 74, up one point from the previous year. Trinity received a D with a score of 69, also up one point from the previous year. Trinity has received D's for five years running and, like Huntsville, replaced its superintendent this summer. ## The curious case of TOPS Elementary The biggest news in the ratings, however, isn't a rating at all. It's the vacant spot where one should be. A little-known fact about Huntsville ISD is that almost half of its students aren't actually in Huntsville schools. They're online. Since 2013, Huntsville ISD has been the "[authorizer](https://tops.k12.com/about-our-school/authorizer-information/)" for "Texas Online Preparatory Schools," or TOPS, which enrolls students from throughout the state. HISD receives the state funding for these students, keeps a cut for itself, and turns over most of it to the [for-profit](https://tops.k12.com/) company running TOPS, which is headquartered in a strip mall in Denton. Until January, TOPS consisted of an elementary, a middle school, and a high school. Each started out small but kept growing, with a boost from Covid. Last school year, they accounted for 5,587 students, while the schools in town served 5,917. TOPS students are technically in the Huntsville ISD, which is ultimately responsible for them. Its schools receive accountability ratings just like any other, and those rates factor into the overall district rating quite heavily. TOPS Middle and High Schools have generally received C ratings. But TOPS Elementary has had failing accountability scores ever since Covid, and when that happens the accountability system starts to kick into motion. Last year, TOPS Elementary was required to submit a "turnaround plan" to the state, which it threw it together in only one week. The state Commissioner of Education rejected it and a subsequent revision,\[1\] [shutting down the school down](https://tops.k12.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/10/tops-elementary-campus-closure-parent-letter.pdf) for good last December. That's why it had no accountability rating last year. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/45/95/45959c34-5dee-4d85-8f61-0c88439f0a1c/content/images/2026/09/image-2-1.png) TOPS worked for a whole week on their campus improvement plan. Slide found [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBrdaOL36zk), 21 minutes in. Perhaps few tears will be shed at TOPS Elementary's closure. It was clearly a troubled school. Its accountability scores had fallen all decade. With a score of 56 for the 2024-2025 school year, it was in the lowest 0.2% of schools in the state. But then, maybe student achievement was never the goal anyway. In its last months of operation, TOPS Elementary's student-teacher ratio was a [whopping 65 to 1](https://www.youtube.com/live/gBrdaOL36zk?si=i0GIx-eQZlWWcc3P&t=1572), up substantially from the previous year. Meanwhile, its parent company, [Stride, Inc.](https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereknewton/2024/09/06/stride-the-public-35-billion-dollar-education-company-turns-25/), currently has a stock market valuation of $3.4 billion. --- Huntsville ISD's accountability ratings will be discussed in its school board meeting this [Thursday night](https://meetings.boardbook.org/Public/Agenda/736?meeting=764388) at the administration building on FM 2821\. The website [txschools.gov](https://txschools.gov) will tell you more than you ever want to know about any public school or district in the state, including accountability scores, and it's easy to use, too. \[1\] The school district said the commissioner gave no reason for rejecting the revision. Like what you read? 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