Summary:
The Jacksonville Independent School District (Isd) is a small, high-poverty district in Texas with 8 schools serving approximately 4,700 students from Pre-K through 12th grade, where all schools report over 80% of students qualifying for free or reduced lunch.
The standout school in the district is Joe Wright Elementary, which is the only school to earn a 3-star rating and ranks in the top half of Texas elementary schools despite 94% of its students being economically disadvantaged. It outperforms the district average in every subject and grade level tested. In contrast, West Side Elementary and Fred Douglass struggle significantly, with rankings dropping to the 9th and 14th percentiles respectively. A notable anomaly is the Compass Center, which serves only 20 students in grades 6-12 with a 4.4:1 student-teacher ratio and per-student spending of $52,671—nearly five times the district average—yet maintains a 0% dropout rate. Jacksonville Middle shows a hidden strength with 87.5% of its 8th graders proficient in Algebra I, far exceeding the state average, even as its 7th-grade math proficiency drops to just 10.1%.
Key metrics reveal the district ranks in the 13th percentile statewide, with academic performance consistently below state averages—for example, only 25.89% of 3rd graders are proficient in math compared to 44.33% statewide. A concerning trend is the decline in school rankings over the past three years, with East Side Elementary dropping from the 50th to the 14th percentile. The district's average per-student spending is about $10,600, and the student-teacher ratio averages 14:1. The success of Joe Wright Elementary proves that high poverty does not have to mean low performance, while the Compass Center demonstrates a costly but effective safety net for the most at-risk students.
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