Salado ISD is one of two school districts in Bell County to have a rating of 4.5 stars from the Texas Smart Schools Initiative. Troy ISD also had a rating of 4.5 stars.

The ratings were announced recently. Statewide, there were 44 five-star charter and public school districts in 2016. Another 104 districts earned 4.5 stars. Of the 44 five-star districts, 28 held that rank last year as well.

Salado ISD and Troy ISD both showed High Academic Progress and Very Low Spending per student to achieve the rating.

Texas school districts function in widely varying cost environments. Making direct financial comparisons among them would not be fair or appropriate. Instead, this study evaluates each district and campus against those identified as “fiscal peers”, districts and campuses that operate in a similar cost environment, are of similar size and serve similar students. Many factors influence the costs that a district faces:  Cost of Living (Comparable Wage Index), School District Size and Student Demographics.

Salado ISD showed High Academic Progress by scoring at or above 72 percentile of districts that were its Fiscal Peers.

To identify Fiscal Peers and Academic Progress, TXSmartSchools uses recognized statistical methods to create better, more apples-to-apples, comparison measures for spending and academic growth.

Despite being the wealthiest school district in Bell County in terms of property wealth per student, Salado ISD spends the least amount per students, according to the TXSmartSchools data, with an adjusted amount of $7,988 per student in spending.

The Salado High School campus, which was ranked as a three-star campus, spends the most per student, $8,113. The Junior High campus, also ranked as a three-star campus, spending $5,761 per student. The Intermediate School, rated at four stars, spends $4,832 per student. Bartlett ISD is the highest spending per student district in Bell County, with an adjusted amount of $11,353.33 per student.

Former Texas Comptroller Susan Combs launched the Texas Smart Schools Initiative, a data integration platform that empowers Texas parents and educators to identify schools that are getting the “best bang for the buck” when it comes to spending and student performance. With expenses underwritten by funds remaining from Combs’ various political campaigns, the data is offered to all, free of charge.

“Public education is one of the largest items in the state budget, so Texans need to know where their dollars are getting the highest return in terms of student performance,” said Combs, a longtime transparency advocate. “With this platform, parents can find out which schools are beating expectations and educators can find peers whose success makes them worth emulating. It’s truly an initiative that lends itself to the common good.”

The program has its roots in the Financial Allocation Study for Texas (FAST), a program created by the 81st Texas Legislature, which directed then-Comptroller Combs to “identify school districts and campuses that use resource allocation practices that contribute to high academic achievement and cost-effective operations.” The resulting site and its innovative “FAST Tracker” tool proved useful to constituents across the state.

Texas Smart Schools, considered “FAST 2.0” by some observers, is the next generation of the concept, leveraging more complex data and enhanced processing to paint an even clearer picture of where educators and students are truly performing at the top of their class.

Persons interested in exploring the Texas Smart Schools Initiative and learning about the schools in their area, can visit www.TXSmartSchools.com.