ILT Katy Elementary's state accountability rating fell 11 points to a D/69 in the 2026 TEA ratings released Aug. 14. The school serves 936 kindergarten-through-fifth-grade students at 24406 Franz in Katy.

The Texas Education Agency (TEA) graded 9,105 campuses statewide this cycle, and results for Katy-area charter schools split sharply. Calvin Nelms Charter Schools earned an A/90, up from B/87 last year. ILT Katy Elementary dropped from B/80 to D/69. For the families of those 936 students, the grade signals trouble in school progress and equity measures.

The elementary scored C/71 in student achievement, D/67 in school progress and D/65 in closing the gaps. The school progress and closing the gaps scores dragged the overall grade down.

That grade is not new for the campus. ILT Katy Elementary also received a D/69 in the 2023-2024 cycle and a C/72 the year before that. Last year's B/80 now looks like an outlier rather than a trend.

The school is part of International Leadership of Texas (ILTExas), a charter network headquartered in Richardson with 44 campuses and roughly 25,500 students statewide. Nearly 60 percent of ILT Katy Elementary students are economically disadvantaged, and more than half are classified as emergent bilingual. No public response from ILTExas leadership regarding the D rating has appeared in public records as of publication.

ILT Katy Middle School, which shares the Franz campus, fared better with a B/83, down slightly from B/84 last year. The middle school serves 451 students in grades six through eight.

Calvin Nelms climbs back to A

Calvin Nelms Charter Schools, at 20625 Clay Road, earned an A/90 after two years rated B. The two-campus district serves 414 students and scored B/88 in both student achievement and school progress, with an A/93 in closing the gaps. Calvin Nelms last held an A in the 2022-2023 cycle.

Aristoi Classical Academy, based at 5610 Morton Road, held steady at B/83 with 1,713 students across three schools. Aristoi has earned a B in each of the last three rating cycles.

Ratings are preliminary

The 2026 grades are not yet final. Districts and charter schools have until Friday, Sept. 11 to appeal if they believe the TEA made an error, according to the Austin Current. The agency then has 90 days to review appeals, with final grades expected in early December.

TEA ratings are based on three domains: student achievement, school progress and closing the gaps. Statewide, 85 percent of rated campuses scored C or above, according to Community Impact.

Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath said on Aug. 14, as reported by My Neighborhood News, that the ratings "illustrate the progress Texas public schools are making and acknowledge the hard work of our educators while illuminating areas of needed improvement."

Families can view detailed campus-level data at txschools.gov.