What happened: The Midland ISD Board of Trustees met Tuesday, Aug. 25, to review preliminary state accountability ratings showing improvement or no change for 66% of schools. Five elementary schools remain rated D or F, and 13 total, or 34% of schools, dropped in their numerical value.

Trustees also heard that enrollment was more than 2,100 students below projections six days into the school year, the MISD Police Department has 17 vacant officer positions, and the transportation department began the year eight bus drivers short.

Key points:

  • Accountability scores: Midland ISD earned a district-wide C rating with an overall score of 75 in the Texas Education Agency’s preliminary 2026 accountability ratings, up from 72 in 2025, 70 in 2024, and 66 (a D) in 2023.

Fifteen of MISD’s 39 rated campuses, or about 39%, earned an A or B, up from 14 last year. Nineteen campuses, or about 49%, earned a C, up from 15 last year. Five campuses, or about 13%, earned a D or F, down from nine last year.

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  • Board goals: MISD reported progress on all three academic goals set by the board. Under Goal A, which measures student achievement on the STAAR test in grades 3–12, 24 of 27 grade-level and subject measures improved from the 2025 baseline, while 11 met or exceeded their 2026 targets.

Under Goal B, 28% of campuses earned an A or B in Domain 1 of the TEA accountability scores, which measures student achievement, exceeding the district’s 27% goal. Under Goal C, 91% of students met the district’s college, career, and military readiness measure, exceeding the 89% goal.

  • Campus turnaround plans: Principals from seven campuses presented their 2026-27 Campus Improvement Plans after their schools declined in the state ratings. Parker, Rusk and Santa Rita fell from B to C. Yarbrough and Long fell from C to D. Henderson fell from C to F. South improved from F to D but remained in the state’s required school improvement category. Principals discussed steps planned for improvement.

Lamar also fell from a C to a D, but Superintendent Stephanie Howard said the district isn’t considering a turnaround plan for the school because trustees agreed earlier this year to convert the elementary school into a new MAP disciplinary campus.

MISD’s five D- or F-rated elementary schools — Henderson, Lamar, Long, South and Yarbrough — are all included on TEA’s 2026 consecutive unacceptable campuses tracking list. Henderson and South are listed with one consecutive year of unacceptable performance, while Lamar, Long and Yarbrough are listed at zero consecutive years.

  • Enrollment shortfall: Six days into the school year, MISD had 26,817 students enrolled, 2,142 fewer than the district projected. The projection included students expected to attend IDEA Travis before MISD terminated its partnership with IDEA Public Schools. MISD and IDEA are now in litigation over the termination.

Of approximately 1,300 students who attended Travis last year, 569 are now enrolled at other MISD campuses. The remaining students have enrolled elsewhere, including other charter schools and school districts, or have not yet been found in the district’s tracking system.

  • $460 million bond sale: Trustees agreed to take out up to $460 million of the $1.4 billion voters already approved in the 2023 bond election. This is not an additional debt beyond the voter-approved bond. Instead, MISD has been borrowing the approved money in stages as construction progresses, and the district says projects are moving faster than expected, so it needs the next portion sooner than originally planned.

District staff said that about $55.4 million in voter-authorized bond funds remains unissued. If projects ultimately cost less than budgeted, trustees could choose not to issue the remaining $55.4 million.

  • Police staffing: MISD Police Chief Deporto told trustees the department has 21 officers filling 38 authorized positions, leaving 17 vacancies. The 38 positions represent the staffing level needed to assign one officer to each campus, as required under House Bill 3. Ten years ago, the department employed eight officers and had expanded to roughly 15 by 2023.

Every secondary campus currently has a dedicated officer, including two officers at each high school. Elementary campuses are covered through a rover system.

Since MISD implemented its ZeroEyes AI firearm-detection system in March 2026, the system has generated 36 non-lethal alerts involving items such as water guns, airsoft guns, and toy guns, and no confirmed firearm detections.

  • Transportation: MISD began the school year eight bus drivers short of its staffing needs. The district operates 62 daily routes serving approximately 3,200 students. Transportation officials hired 19 drivers over the summer but lost five before classes began.

The district is covering routes with cross-trained mechanics and office employees who hold commercial driver’s licenses. GPS routing and student badge scanning on buses are expected to be operational within about a month.