John P. Kelly
Boerne ISD 

While seeking to constantly improve our public schools, it is helpful to find data that compares demographic, achievement and financial data. A feature on the Texas Education Agency Web site ranks Boerne ISD in relation to the approximately 1,200 other school districts and charter schools on about 30 key statistics. Here are the more interesting and important demographic rankings from 2006 to 2007:

Our district is the 140th largest in Texas, and it has grown by approximately 300 students since that rating. Although we think of our district as small, it is more than twice as large as the average Texas district and easily within the top 15 percent. 

We have a comparatively low percentage of Hispanic and economically disadvantaged students. Our Hispanic population (23 percent) is almost exactly half the percentage of the state average (45 percent). Our economically disadvantaged population is 18 percent, which is one-third of the average district ratio.

Within the past decade, 2007 marked the first time that our TAKS scores did not exceed the previous year. How did this affect us? Here now are the 2007 state rankings. 

We were ranked 45th out of 1,166 school districts and charter schools in the area of reading achievement. We were ranked 79th in math, 230th in writing, 42nd in science, 60th in social studies and 70th overall (all tests combined). Although the writing score appears comparatively low, keep in mind that the rest of the state is essentially catching up to Boerne ISD. (We had 98 percent of the students pass the writing exam in 2006 and 95 percent in 2007.) 

We tested 99 percent of our student body on the various state tests, a percentage that is 1.3 percent higher than the state average. Similarly, our drop out rate of 0.1 percent and our high school completion rate of 98 percent place us in the top ranks of the state (meaning high accountability standards, low drop-out rate, and a superior high school completion rate).

Finally, here are financial rankings:

Our property wealth (tax base) ranks us 126th in the state. We are about 40 percent wealthier than the average school district – and therefore “pay the price” through Robin Hood checks to the state each year.

Our 2007 maintenance and operations tax rate ranks us 672nd in the district (or a rate significantly below the state average.) But when the interest and sinking tax rate is added in to calculate the total tax rate, we are ranked 116th highest in Texas. The I&S rate is used to build new schools – and as our student population has swelled, we have doubled our facility square footage over the last decade.

Boerne ISD spends 61 percent of its budget on Instructional costs compared to a state average of 59 percent. This ranks us among the top 200 in the state.