Liberty Hill Independent School District maintained a B rating in the Texas Education Agency's 2026 A-F accountability ratings released Friday, earning an overall score of 85 out of 100 for the second consecutive year.
Of the district's 11 rated campuses, three earned A ratings, seven received B ratings and one received a C. No LHISD campus received a D or F.
Legacy Ranch High School saw one of the district's most notable improvements, moving from an 86/B in 2025 to a 91/A this year. Louine Noble Elementary posted the largest numerical gain, climbing eight points from an 80/B to an 88/B.
Liberty Hill Elementary saw the largest decline, falling 12 points from an 86/B last year to a 74/C this year. Liberty Hill Middle School remained a B but dropped six points, from 86 to 80.
In a press release from LHISD, Superintendent Travis Motal said the district maintained its overall score during a year in which LHISD made approximately $8 million in budget reductions and eliminated positions and support structures.
"Sustaining our overall rating during a year of significant challenges speaks to the dedication of our staff and parents working together for our students," Motal said. "We are proud of sustaining our progress, but our focus remains on ensuring every student is growing so they can be empowered to be the best version of themselves."
The district's 85/B matches its 2025 and 2023 scores. LHISD received an 83/B in 2024.
The state's accountability system evaluates districts in three primary areas: Student Achievement, School Progress and Closing the Gaps.
LHISD received an 87/B in Student Achievement, which measures STAAR performance, graduation rates and how prepared students are for college, a career or the military.
The district received a 78/C in School Progress, which evaluates academic growth over time and performance compared with districts serving similar percentages of economically disadvantaged students. Within School Progress, LHISD received a 78/C for Academic Growth and a 66/D for Relative Performance.
The district received an 81/B in Closing the Gaps, which measures performance among different student groups.
Student Achievement accounted for 70 percent of LHISD's overall score and Closing the Gaps accounted for 30 percent. School Progress did not factor into the overall score because TEA uses the higher result between Student Achievement and School Progress for that portion of the calculation.
At the campus level, Bar W Elementary, Legacy Ranch High School and Rancho Sienna Elementary each earned a 91/A.
Bar W declined two points from its 93/A last year, while Rancho Sienna increased one point from 90. Legacy Ranch High School gained five points to move from a B to an A.
Among the district's B-rated campuses, Noble Elementary improved eight points to an 88, Santa Rita Middle School improved three points to an 86 and Tierra Rosa Elementary increased one point to an 86. Liberty Hill High School remained unchanged at an 86.
Bill Burden Elementary fell three points to an 83, while Santa Rita Elementary declined two points to an 87.
Liberty Hill Elementary was the district's only C-rated campus. According to LHISD, overall student achievement at the school remained relatively consistent, but its School Progress measure showed less academic growth than the previous year.
The state accountability results also identified student groups at Liberty Hill Elementary and Liberty Hill Middle School for additional targeted support after performance targets were not met on the same indicator for three consecutive years, according to the district.
At Liberty Hill Elementary, those areas include emergent bilingual students in mathematics, special education students and economically disadvantaged students. At Liberty Hill Middle School, White students in mathematics were identified for targeted support.
In the press release, LHISD said district and campus officials are conducting a root-cause analysis and implementing additional supports. At Liberty Hill Elementary, the district is adding an academic interventionist and partnering with Literacy First to increase interventions and tutoring.
The district is also adding a dual-language and emergent bilingual instructional coach at the elementary level, implementing a new state-approved math curriculum and providing teacher training. Other efforts include increased teacher collaboration and data analysis, stronger collaboration between special education and general education staff, and reinstating targeted program specialists and other instructional support.
"Our goal every year is that each student makes at least a year's worth of growth," Assistant Superintendent Heather Stoner said in the press release. "We are using this data to help identify where we can improve our systems and resources to ensure our teachers are empowered to have the greatest positive impact on student learning."
Statewide, TEA rated 1,202 districts and 9,105 campuses this year. Twenty-four percent of both districts and campuses improved their ratings from 2025, and 85 percent of rated campuses earned a C or higher.
"This year's A-F ratings illustrate the progress Texas public schools are making and acknowledge the hard work of our educators while illuminating areas of needed improvement to ensure that all students have access to a high-quality education," Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath said in the TEA's announcement Friday.
The full accountability ratings and individual campus reports are available at TXSchools.gov.
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