District captures ninth consecutive Schools FIRST Superior rating

Español

Sept. 9, 2011— Cypress-Fairbanks ISD received a rating of Superior Achievement by the Texas Education Agency (TEA)’s Schools FIRST (Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas) program, marking the ninth consecutive Superior rating for CFISD.

The district’s rating is based on an analysis of staff and student data reported for the 2009-2010 school year and the budgetary and actual financial data for the 2010 fiscal year. All areas of the district’s financial management were reviewed according to 24 indicators. A negative response to any of the first few criteria could have resulted in an automatic “Substandard” rating.

The Superior Achievement rating is the state’s highest mark, an indicator of the quality of the district’s financial management and reporting system. Schools FIRST was developed by the TEA in response to Senate Bill 218 passed by the 77th Legislature in 2001. The primary objective of Schools 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 the Texas school finance system.

The Schools FIRST accountability rating system assigns one of four financial ratings to Texas school districts, with the highest being Superior Achievement, followed by Above-Standard Achievement, Standard Achievement and Substandard Achievement.

CFISD will hold a public hearing on the Schools FIRST report during the October 2011 Board of Trustees meeting.