Oct. 23, 2024—Cypress-Fairbanks ISD received a rating of Superior by the Texas Education Agency (TEA)’s School FIRST (Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas) program, announced in early August – marking the 22^nd  consecutive top rating for CFISD.

The rating system measures the quality of a district’s financial management and reporting system based on 21 indicators. A negative response to any of the critical indicators could have resulted in an automatic “Substandard” rating. CFISD received the highest rating on 18 of 19 scored indicators.

While a score of 70 indicates a passing mark, CFISD attained a score of 98. The highest possible score is 100.

“We are very pleased to once again receive the highest rating of ‘Superior Achievement’ under Texas’ FIRST financial accountability rating system,” said Karen Smith, CFISD chief financial officer. “This is the 22nd year of the FIRST financial accountability rating system, with CFISD receiving the highest possible rating all 22 years. This achievement shows that our district is making the most of our taxpayers’ dollars and demonstrates the quality of the district’s financial management and reporting system.”

A public hearing and presentation on CFISD’s School FIRST rating was held in conjunction with the Board of Trustees work session on Oct. 3.

School FIRST was developed by the TEA in response to Senate Bill 218, which was passed by the 77th Legislature in 2001. The primary objective of School FIRST is to achieve quality performance in the management of school districts’ financial resources – a goal made more significant due to the complexity of accounting associated with the Texas school financial system.

The School FIRST accountability rating system assigns financial ratings to Texas school districts, with the highest being Superior, followed by Above-Standard, Meets-Standard and Substandard Achievement.