Summary:
The Harts Bluff Independent School District (Isd) is a small, unified district in Mount Pleasant, Texas, serving approximately 891 students across three schools: Harts Bluff Elementary (PK-5), Harts Bluff Middle (6-8), and Harts Bluff Early College High School (9-12). The district serves a predominantly economically disadvantaged population, with free/reduced lunch rates ranging from 59.8% at the high school to 66% at the middle school, and it holds a 2-star rating from SchoolDigger, placing it in the 46th percentile of Texas districts.
The standout school is Harts Bluff Early College High School, which consistently earns 3-4 star ratings and shows strong academic performance, particularly in advanced coursework. It significantly exceeds state averages in Biology (83.3% vs. 70.5%) and English I Reading (73.7% vs. 55.4%), and its ranking has improved from the 51st to the 68th percentile. In contrast, Harts Bluff Middle is a school of concern, experiencing a sharp decline from the 62nd to the 40th percentile over two years, with critical weaknesses in 6th and 7th-grade math—only 20.6% and 15.6% of students are proficient, respectively, compared to state averages of 38.6% and 29.4%. Harts Bluff Elementary remains relatively stagnant, fluctuating between the 31st and 54th percentile and struggling to meet state averages in reading and math.
A key finding is the "Algebra I anomaly": while middle school math proficiency is very low, 8th graders taking Algebra I achieve a 92% proficiency rate, suggesting a highly select group or exceptional instruction for that course. There is also an inverse relationship between spending and performance—the elementary school receives the highest spending per student ($11,053) but has the lowest star rating, while the high school receives the lowest spending ($5,852) but is the highest performer. The district's schools are moving in opposite directions, with the high school improving and the middle school declining, indicating that successful strategies are not being evenly replicated across all levels.
Thank you for your feedback!