COPPERAS COVE, Texas — Copperas Cove ISD will become the latest Central Texas school district to join a lawsuit against the Texas Education Agency over the organization's new accountability rating process.
At a meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 12, the Copperas Cove ISD Board of Trustees voted to retain Thompson & Horton law firm of Houston in order to intervene in Kingsville ISD, et. al v. Morath, to challenge the implementation of the State of Texas' new accountability system.
The lawsuit names Texas Commissioner of Education Mike Morath as the defendant.
“The State has not followed the guidelines set forth in legislation and we are not going to allow the good work of our students, teachers and community to become a political ploy without a fight,” CCISD superintendent Dr. Joe Burns said. “This has been handled unfairly and not met the deadlines that were outlined in House Bill 22, which first changed this process in 2017.
“The new accountability system, if allowed to move forward, will result in improving districts like CCISD receiving lower accountability ratings, even though student performance improved," continued Burns. "Copperas Cove students showed improvement on 18 STAAR or End-of-Course exams in this accountability cycle, despite inadequate communication or preparation from the TEA or legislature on the new test or new accountability procedures.”
In addition to the lawsuit vote, the board approved the purchase of two new school buses from Longhorn Bus Sales.
The board also approved updates to the district’s emergency operations plan for the 2023-24 school year.
The CCISD Board of Trustees is next scheduled to hold a workshop at Noon on Oct. 16 with a regular meeting the following evening, starting at 6:30 p.m.
Waco ISD and Temple ISD have also already joined the lawsuit, citing the TEA's decision to modify performance ratings is unfair and in violation of state law.
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