Public Notice
Subject: Assignment of Accreditation Status of the Gabriel Tafolla Academy
By Kilpatrick, Deanna
March 27, 2012
Public Notice:
Subject: Assignment of Accreditation Status of the Gabriel Tafolla Academy
The purpose of this letter is to inform you that the 2011-2012 accreditation status of the Gabriel Tafolla Academy is Accredited-Warned. Under state law, the accreditation statuses that may be assigned to charter schools include Accredited,
Accredited-Warned, Accredited-Probation, and Not Accredited-Revoked. A status of Accredited-Warned means that a charter school exhibits deficiencies in performance that, if not addressed, will lead to probation or revocation of the charter school’s accreditation status.
The Gabriel Tafolla Academy has been assigned an Accredited-Warned status due to the ratings assigned to the charter school in the state’s academic accountability rating system and the financial accountability rating system. Specifically, the Gabriel Tafolla Academy was assigned 2010 FIRST Rating of Substandard Achievement, 2011 Accountability Rating of Academically Unacceptable and a 2011 FIRST Rating of Substandard Achievement.
The charter school is taking the following steps to address the areas of identified deficiency. In order to address the First Rating, Gabriel Tafolla Academy has outsourced the school accounting to the Education Service Center, Region 20. The school has hired an internal School Business Manager and is currently working to pay off old debt. To address the Accountability Rating, the school has a “Campus Improvement Team” and is working closely with the external member and Texas Education Agency to determine and target improvement in the areas of weakness. Under law, if the current accreditation concerns for the charter school are not addressed, the charter school may be assigned an accreditation of Accredited-Probation or Not Accredited-Revoked. A Not Accredited-Revoked status means that the TEA no longer recognizes the charter school as a Texas public school. Charter schools with an accreditation status below Accredited also may be subject to additional accreditation sanctions as referenced in statute and rule.
For more information regarding the assignment of accreditation statuses to charter schools, you may access the TEA website at http://www.tea.state.tx.us/accredstatus. This website will provide you with background information as well as links to the Texas Education Code and current commissioner’s rules related to accreditation.
If you have additional questions regarding the assignment of an Accredited-Warned status to the Gabriel Tafolla Academy or if you would like additional information about the charter’s ongoing improvement efforts, please contact Deanna Kilpatrick at (830)278-1297
or by email at dkilpatrick@ccswt.org.
Sincerely,
Deanna Kilpatrick
Superintendent
Gabriel Tafolla Academy
