Texas Education Commissioner Robert Scott announced Thursday that he is shutting down the one-campus Kendleton school district this summer after years of academic problems.
Scott rejected the district's appeal to stay open and plans to seek final approval for closure from the U.S. Department of Justice, which must sign off under the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
The historically black district, which has one elementary school that serves 78 students this year, will be folded into nearby Lamar Consolidated. Students in Kendleton already attend junior high and high school in Lamar.
“While it saddens me to close a school district, years of effort, including reconstituting its school, have failed to turn this district around,” Scott said in a statement. “I believe students would be ill-served if Kendleton is allowed to continue to operate.”
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The district and its lone school, Powell Point Elementary, have netted the state's “academically unacceptable” rating for five straight years.
Emanuel King, president of the Kendleton school board, said he understands the decision, but he said the state's school accountability system and funding formula are partly to blame. As a tiny district, he said, Kendleton can fall short of the academic benchmarks based on only a few students' test scores.
King also said the property-poor district, which receives funding based on student attendance, cannot afford to offer art, music and band.
“The parents have mixed feelings about it,” King said of the annexation. “I would say most of them would rather see Lamar take over because they can offer more than the basics.”
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King said he hopes Lamar will use the Powell Point building. The Lamar school board will discuss the matter at its April 15 meeting.
