District financial accountability ratings in School FIRST are based on the number of points received. The four primary levels of ratings (Superior Achievement, Above Standard Achievement, Standard Achievement, and Substandard Achievement) are based upon the points received for indicators by each school district.
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Failure to meet the criteria for any one of these critical indicators:
No evidence of a deficit unreserved fund balance
No evidence of a deficit, unrestricted net asset balance
No evidence of default on debt
No evidence of filing the annual financial report more than one month late
or failure on both of these critical indicators will result in an automatic rating of "Substandard Achievement".
No evidence of a qualified opinion to the annual financial report
No evidence of material weaknesses in internal controls
The highest (best) possible score is 85, and "Yes" for all critical indicators, which results in a "Superior Achievement" rating.
If the district's academic rating does not exceed "Academically Unacceptable", the district can not receive a "Superior Achievement" rating.
If serious data quality issues arise from the analysis of a district's information, or if the district has not submitted the information by the established due date, a rating of ”Suspended Due to Data Quality” may be applied until the district successfully resolves the data quality issues.
A district receiving a rating of "Substandard Achievement" or "Suspended Due to Data Quality" is required to submit a corrective action plan to the Texas Education Agency, addressing the factor(s) that may have contributed to the rating, as well as the actions the district plans to take to improve their rating.
If a district's data has not been received in full, or is in the process of being analyzed, a rating of "Undetermined" may be applied.