Atlanta ISD earns state’s highest fiscal accountability rating

Atlanta Independent School District officials announced that the district received a rating of “A” for “Superior Achievement” under Texas’ School FIRST financial accountability rating system. The “Superior Achievement” rating is the state’s highest, demonstrating the quality of Atlanta ISD’s financial management and reporting system. Of 100 available points, Atlanta ISD earned all 100 with a perfect score.

This is the 16th year of School FIRST (Financial Accountability Rating System of Texas), a financial accountability system for Texas school districts developed by the Texas Education Agency in response to Senate Bill 875 of the 76th Texas Legislature in 1999 and amendments under House Bill 5, 83rd Texas Legislature, Regular Session, 2013. The primary goal of School FIRST is to achieve quality performance in the management of school districts’ financial resources, a goal made more significant due to the complexity of accounting associated with Texas’ school finance system.

“We are very pleased with Atlanta ISD’s School FIRST rating,” said Atlanta ISD Superintendent Sidney Harrist. This rating shows that our district is making the most of our taxpayers’ dollars. This rating shows that ATLISD schools are accountable not only for student learning, but also for achieving these results cost-effectively and efficiently.”

The Texas Education Agency assigned one of four financial accountability ratings to Texas school districts, with the highest being “A” for “Superior Achievement,” followed by “B” for “Above-Standard Achievement,” “C” for “Standard Achievement” and “F” for “Substandard Achievement.” Atlanta ISD has achieved the highest rating for 16 consecutive prior years.