Two school districts in Bee County have been named exemplary districts by the Texas Education Agency.

Another Bee County school district was “recognized” by the TEA and another school district was named “academically acceptable.”

One school district — Beeville ISD — earned the lowest possible grade, that of “academically unacceptable.”

The Education Agency released its annual accountability ratings on Friday.

The ratings are based on May 2008 graduation rates and TAKS test scores of 2009.

School districts and individual campuses can be ranked from exemplary, the highest possible mark to academically unacceptable, the lowest possible grade.

St. Mary’s Academy Charter School and Skidmore-Tynan ISD were named “exemplary” school districts by the TEA.

“We are pleased with this great news that accurately commends the smart and hard work of students, staff, and campus administrators,” said Skidmore-Tynan school Superintendent Dr. Brett Belmarez. “The celebrating will be quick because S-T is mindful that a new school year full of new challenges and opportunities is quickly approaching. Earning high marks is one thing; keeping high marks is another.”

Skidmore-Tynan Elementary School received an exemplary rating as well.

S-T Junior High and S-T High School were both rated “recognized,” the second highest grade offered by the TEA.

“Great academic news like being rated ‘exemplary’ occurs when a great team of school folks work to eliminate distractions and join together to work on a common objective: student success,” Belmarez added. “A culture of strong academic achievement in a small, safe environment is firmly in place in Skidmore. All three of our campuses and the district as a whole are really on a roll. It is now time to quickly acknowledge this success and move on to the start of another challenging year. This is a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately business we call school.”

Pawnee ISD earned a “recognized” rating from the education agency.

“We are pleased with our latest TAKS results,” Pawnee ISD Superintendent Elaine Richardson said. “Our school continues to make steady, consistent progress. We are well on our way to becoming an exemplary school district.”

Pawnee Elementary and Junior High each earned recognized ratings.

“Our students, faculty and staff have worked extremely hard all year to promote student excellence and our recent TAKS scores reflect their hard work and dedication,” said Pawnee High School Principal Demetrio D. Garcia.

Although Pettus Elementary received the TEA’s highest grade of exemplary, the school district as a whole was only rated academically acceptable, as was its high school.

Likewise, even though Beeville ISD had one campus rated exemplary and two as recognized, BISD was rated academically unacceptable because of a poor graduation rate at the high school two years ago.

Thomas Jefferson Elementary School earned an exemplary rating and R.A. Hall and FMC elementary schools each earned recognized ratings.

Moreno Middle School was academically acceptable, as was the Learning Resource Center, the TEA announced.

“Beeville ISD was pleased to see that Thomas Jefferson Elementary School was rated Exemplary and that FMC Elementary School and R.A .Hall Elementary School were rated recognized,” said Nancy Jones, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction for Beeville ISD. “The realignment done two years ago in Beeville of grade levels to elementary schools with grades one through five appears to be working as these elementary schools are moving up in ranking. “District personnel were disappointed to see A.C. Jones High School and Beeville ISD rated academically unacceptable. This ranking was due to the fact that for the graduating class of 2008 the graduation completion rate for educationally disadvantaged and Hispanic students was slightly below the 75 percent required. For rankings, the TAKS scores for 2009 and the graduation rates for 2008 are used. The school and district do plan to appeal these rankings since they are close to the 75 percent and we are finding students that meet the completion criteria that were not counted.

In addition, she said, the graduation completion rate from this spring 2009 was above the 75 percent criteria. Only one Hispanic student and 12 economically disadvantaged students are needed to meet the completion criteria for academically acceptable, she added.

“In addition, out of 20 indicators used in accountability, AC Jones had eight that were exemplary, five recognized, six academically acceptable and only one academically unacceptable.”

Furthermore, she said, “for Beeville ISD, out of 24 indicators used in accountability, 12 were exemplary, six were recognized, four were academically acceptable, and only two were academically unacceptable.”

And, she said, “It should be noted that Beeville ISD is one of the only school districts in this area whose ranking is based not only on a percentage of all students, but also includes those students who are Hispanic and/or economically disadvantaged. This makes it more difficult to achieve high rankings, but is important because it shows that all students count in Beeville ISD.”

Other districts in the area that were also rated academically unacceptable were Alice, Benavides, Encino, Freer, Ingleside, Kingsville, Premont, Refugio, Robstown, San Diego, Taft, Judson, San Antonio, South San Antonio, and Southside, Jones noted.