Though the Lampasas Independent School District has felt the weight of the Texas Education Agency’s “academically unacceptable” ranking, Superintendent Randy Hoyer said the district should not let that label belie all the hard work and effort that has gone into making the LISD stronger than it has been in the past.

“I have struggled long and hard with how to begin this,” he said, addressing campus principals and other district administrators Monday night. “Last week at 1 p.m., I got knocked down like never before, as the Texas Education Agency released its accountability ratings for schools across the state.

“The preliminary report showed Taylor Creek to be ‘exemplary,’ Lampasas High School and Hanna Springs ‘recognized,’ Kline Whitis and Lampasas Middle School ‘academically acceptable,’ and the LISD ‘recognized.’”

Because of the outstanding job students did in being prepared by teachers, the district saw significant gains across the board, said Hoyer.

“Then when I refreshed my computer, I was shocked.”

The superintendent said because of a clerical error, 13 LMS students were coded incorrectly as dropouts, giving the campus a 2.3 percent dropout rate, above the state’s minimum 1.8 percent “acceptable” rate.

“Factually, the middle school campus had a zero percent dropout rate,” said Hoyer. “It was a straight-up data input error. We are going to appeal it, but I’m not optimistic on the appeal process because the state says data input is not a correctable error.

“As the superintendent, I take full responsibility for this. I make the final submission. We have procedures that have to be implemented to be sure this won’t ever happen again,” said Hoyer.

“I am embarrassed. This is not a true reflection of the Lampasas Independent School District. I am guilty as superintendent in focusing too hard on academics and not the dropout rate. I allowed it to slip by without catching it. I am deeply apologetic, and it won’t happen again. I want the hard work and efforts of our district to be acknowledged.”

Trustee Wesley Crow was baffled by the state’s response to a clerical error. When the students were coded as dropouts, an explanation was provided on the form that showed where each student ended up, but the coding number was incorrect.

“I don’t understand why the state did not see that,” Crow said. “Why didn’t it throw a red flag at the state level, especially if each of those students had an explanation of where they went? Why is this not correctable?”

Board President James Briggs said the punishment does not fit the crime. “It is the work of thousands of students and hundreds of employees that enabled us to make tremendous improvements.

“Everyone deserves a big pat on the back for a job well done,” he said. “It’s just not fair. A simple error on a form shouldn’t dampen the tremendous progress we have made.”

Assistant Superintendent Nancy Yeary said the LISD is going to dig its heels in harder and deeper. “And we’re going to come out better and stronger next year.”

She shared Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills scores with trustees that showed significant gains in many areas throughout the district.

“We are very proud of these scores,” Mrs. Yeary said. “We still have a lot we want to do and a lot to accomplish, but we should be proud of the progress we have made.”

Board member Kirk Whitehead said though the district’s accountability rating wasn’t good news, it doesn’t need to take away from the job everyone has done. “We appreciate the job they continue to do, from the custodians all the way up to the administrators. Good things continue to be done.”

Trustee Linda Floerke agreed. “The gains we have made are real exciting. People know that rating is not who we are.”

Briggs summed up trustees’ feelings: “Parents can feel that if their child comes to school here in this district, they are going to learn. They will get a good education.”