Dekaney High School is one failing accountability grade away from a state takeover of Spring ISD, and district leaders told trustees Tuesday that they are pursuing aggressive turnaround efforts at the north Harris County campus.
The pressure comes after Dekaney posted four consecutive years of failing academic accountability ratings. Under state law, that streak puts the district and its 33,500 students at risk of losing local control if the campus fails again.
Takeovers were once rare in Texas, but they have become more frequent under a 2015 state law that allows the Texas Education Commissioner to oust an elected board and replace them with a board of managers as well as a state-appointed superintendent if one campus has five years of failing grades. Most recently, the Texas Education Agency announced it was taking over districts in Beaumont, Connally and Lake Worth. That follows its intervention in Fort Worth ISD and its historic takeover of the Houston Independent School District, the largest in the state…