By GvilleTX Newsroom
Sherman ISD and Denison ISD remained at C in the Texas Education Agency's 2026 accountability ratings released August 14, 2026, keeping the same grades and scores they received in 2025, according to TEA data. For Cooke County readers, the nearby Grayson County results offer a benchmark as Gainesville ISD stayed at D while improving its score from the prior cycle.
TEA's multi-year spreadsheet shows Sherman ISD at C/73 in both 2026 and 2025. Denison ISD was listed at C/78 in both years.
The ratings arrived as area families were beginning the 2026-27 school year. Sherman ISD's calendar listed August 11 as its first day of school, Gainesville ISD listed August 12, and Denison ISD listed August 13. TEA announced the statewide ratings the next day.
The 2026 grades measure performance from the 2025-26 school year. TEA said more than 5.5 million Texas public school students were enrolled that year and took more than eight million STAAR assessments. The A-F system, created under House Bill 22 in 2017, rates districts and campuses in Student Achievement, School Progress and Closing the Gaps, according to TEA.
The Grayson County C ratings trailed several nearby results in TEA's file. Bells ISD received A/91, and Pottsboro ISD received A/90. In Cooke County, Era ISD received A/91, Muenster ISD received B/89 and Gainesville ISD received D/69, up from D/65 in 2025.
Statewide, TEA said 24% of districts and 24% of campuses raised their ratings from 2025. The agency also said 85% of campuses that received an A-F rating in 2026 achieved C or above, the state's mark for acceptable academic performance.
The 2026 release followed the 2025 return of public accountability data after two years of lawsuit-related delays, according to TEA's 2025 announcement. TEA's 2026 framework said the state kept the same cut points, domain methodology, indicator methodology and overall design from the previously adopted system.
Campus-level records showed lower-rated campuses within the same districts. Denison ISD's board record says Superintendent David Kirkbride told trustees the district had two A-rated high schools, three C campuses, two D campuses and one F campus, and that work with campus administrators had already begun. Sherman ISD's accountability page lists Parker Elementary, formerly Wakefield Elementary, and Neblett Elementary as 2026-27 Public Education Grant campuses based on 2025 F ratings; TEA's framework says campuses with an overall F are placed on the PEG list for the following school year.
The ratings can still change. TEA said the 2026 appeals window runs from August 12 through September 11, 2026, and final ratings are scheduled for release December 11. The agency's timeline says ratings and year counts may change because of appeals, audits, compliance reviews or investigations.
_Editor's note: Everyone charged with a crime is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law._
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