What happened: Midland ISD’s Board of Trustees met Aug. 20 to set academic performance targets through 2030, establish a new evidence-based evaluation for the superintendent, and lay out a public reporting strategy for school ratings. The meeting was part of “Team of Eight” training, a Texas Education Agency (TEA) program that treats the superintendent and seven trustees as one team.

Key points:

  • Academic goals: Trustees set targets in 28 grade and subject areas. For example, 46% of third-grade students read at grade level today. The board aims to raise that to 51% by 2026 and 71% by 2030.

  • Dyslexia support: MISD serves about 1,500 students with dyslexia. Trustees emphasized the need for clear metrics to track progress, so district staff will pull data from special education records.

  • Superintendent evaluation: Trustees are replacing the current evaluation system, which has more than 30 criteria. The new model caps at 15 metrics. Half of the score will come from student performance on board-set goals. The other half will cover operations such as budget management and policy compliance.

  • Public report cards: Every campus will publish two report cards: one showing A–F ratings and another comparing STAAR results from 2024 to 2025. Reports will use green to show improvement and red for declines. They must appear on school websites, in offices, and in parent emails.

  • Board governance: Trustees adopted a governance calendar with monthly reporting deadlines to keep the district on track. Twenty-three schools rated below a B presented campus improvement plans on Aug. 26. The board will hear turnaround plans for struggling campuses in March.

  • Financial stability: Trustees stressed the need for balanced budgets after years of deficits. They reaffirmed a 4% fund balance target and linked academic success to fiscal discipline.