Smithville ISD Announces Fiscal Accountability Rating
Smithville 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 rating system measures the quality of a school district's financial management and reporting system.
This is the 20th 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.
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.”
“It makes me proud that we can announce, yet again, that we are receiving an “A” rating this year,” said Superintendent Cheryl Burns. “The consistent and productive manner in which the SISD Business & Finance Department operates is a reflection of how the district utilizes our tax payer's dollars efficiently and appropriately.”
Smithville ISD has achieved the highest rating for 19 years.