H M King High School

H M King High School in Kingsville, TX, serves 918 students in grades 9-12 and is part of the Kingsville Independent School District (Isd), which ranks in the bottom 5% of Texas districts. The school has consistently ranked in the bottom 20% of Texas high schools over the past decade, earning a 1-star rating for ten consecutive years. Nearly 75% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch, and the school faces significant academic challenges, with test scores and graduation rates lagging far behind state averages and most nearby peers.

The most striking difference is the performance gap between H M King and its neighbors. While H M King sits in the 17th percentile statewide, Santa Gertrudis Academy High School (just 2.5 miles away) ranks in the 81st percentile, and Bishop High School (7 miles away) ranks in the 85th percentile. Proficiency rates on STAAR exams are dramatically lower at H M King—for example, only 12.25% of students are proficient in Algebra I compared to over 73% at Bishop and 69% at Santa Gertrudis. The school's graduation rate of 82% is the lowest among its peers, while its dropout rate of 4.4% is the highest. Notably, per-student spending at H M King (~$12,000) is similar to or higher than these high-performing schools, suggesting the issue is not funding but how resources are used.

Despite these challenges, there are bright spots. Gifted and Talented students rank in the 84th percentile statewide (4-star rating), and African American students have jumped from the 8th to the 72nd percentile in two years. Special Education students also show improvement, moving from the 12th to the 40th percentile. Biology proficiency has more than doubled from 25.91% to 56.21% in one year, showing capacity for growth. However, Algebra I remains a critical crisis, with only 3.9% proficiency in the prior year, a major barrier to college readiness and STEM pathways.