The Texas Education Agency (TEA) announced Thursday afternoon that it will assume control of Connally, Beaumont, and Lake Worth Independent School Districts, replacing their elected school boards and superintendents with state-appointed boards of managers. The action follows the release of the state’s most recent accountability ratings in August, which showed that each district had at least one campus receiving a fifth consecutive unacceptable rating—a threshold that triggers state intervention under Texas law.
According to the Texas Education Code, when a campus receives five consecutive failing ratings, the education commissioner must either appoint a board of managers to run the district or close the low-performing campus. The TEA confirmed that Commissioner Mike Morath will move forward with appointing boards of managers for all three districts. Conservators with broad legal authority will also be assigned to guide district turnaround efforts; Morath will name those individuals at a later date.
Beaumont ISD
Beaumont ISD enters its second state intervention in just over a decade. Two campuses—Fehl-Price Elementary and King Middle School—recorded their fifth consecutive unacceptable rating. Fehl-Price earned “Improvement Required” ratings from 2014 to 2017; though the campus was “not rated” from 2018 to 2021 due to Hurricane Harvey and COVID-19 disruptions, TEA counted those early ratings toward the five-year mark. The release of the 2023–2024 and 2024–2025 ratings pushed the campus beyond the threshold for mandatory intervention.
The district’s broader performance issues also contributed. More than 70 percent of campuses earned a D or F rating in 2023–2024, and over 60 percent did so in 2024–2025. Only 30 percent of students across Beaumont ISD are meeting grade-level expectations—placing the district 20 percentage points behind the state average.
Morath acknowledged the efforts of local educators, saying that “it seems clear there are many hard-working, dedicated educators in Beaumont, including those in leadership positions within the district.” However, he added that “the Beaumont ISD school board has presided over a school system that has not focused enough on struggling students and has ultimately allowed the failure of too many students for too long.”
The commissioner also referenced the district’s earlier state intervention in 2014, which he said aimed to “address financial mismanagement and financial compliance issues by the board of trustees at the time.” He called that intervention successful, citing “clean financial audits and a return to elected control of the board from 2018 through 2020.”
Connally ISD
Connally ISD also had two campuses—Connally Elementary and Connally Junior High—reach five consecutive failing ratings. The district’s overall academic performance shows significant decline: in 2023–2024, all but one of Connally’s rated campuses received an F. In 2024–2025, three campuses earned F ratings and one earned a D.
Academic struggles are widespread. Only 24 percent of Connally ISD students meet grade-level standards, 26 percentage points below the statewide average. Morath noted in his letter to the district that “since the 2022-23 school year, the number of campuses that have been academically unacceptable for consecutive years has doubled.”
In announcing the takeover, Morath said, “I do not make this decision lightly. As a formerly elected school board member, I understand the importance and impact local school board members can have on the quality of schools in their districts.” He continued: “Ultimately, the Connally ISD school board has, collectively, through action and inaction over many years, failed its students.”
Lake Worth ISD
Lake Worth ISD triggered state action due to the chronic underperformance of Marilyn Miller Language Academy, which received its fifth consecutive unacceptable rating. The school was rated “Improvement Required” in 2019, followed by F ratings in 2019, 2023, 2024, and 2025. As with many campuses statewide, ratings were paused from 2020 to 2022 due to the pandemic.
Districtwide results paint a similarly troubling picture. Of Lake Worth’s six campuses, five earned F ratings in 2024–2025 and one earned a C. Only 22 percent of students are meeting grade-level standards—28 percentage points below the state average.
Morath stated that “the inability of the district to implement effective changes to improve the performance of students in the district or at the campus necessitates the interventions announced by this letter.”
A Growing List of State-Run Districts
With these actions, five Texas districts are now under some form of state governance. Houston ISD has been under state control since 2023 and will remain so until 2027. The TEA assumed control of Fort Worth ISD in October.
The TEA has not provided a timeline for when the newly appointed boards of managers will take over in Connally, Beaumont, and Lake Worth, or how long the state anticipates remaining involved. However, under past interventions, districts must demonstrate sustained academic and governance improvements before elected boards are reinstated.
