Summary:
Zip code 79772 in Pecos, Texas, is home to two elementary schools—Zavala Elementary (serving grades 2 through 5) and Austin Elementary (serving Pre-K through 1st grade)—both part of the Pecos-Barstow-Toyah Independent School District (ISD), which ranks in the bottom 16% of Texas districts.
Zavala Elementary, the larger school with 861 students, is the only one with standardized test data, and its performance is consistently below state averages. For example, in the 2025-2026 school year, 4th-grade reading proficiency was just 31.8% compared to the state average of 51.08%, and 5th-grade science proficiency was critically low at 14.74% versus the state’s 29.57%. However, a notable bright spot is that 3rd-grade math scores (43.09%) nearly matched the state average (44.33%), and the school’s state ranking has improved for three straight years, from the 14th to the 17th percentile. Austin Elementary, with 583 students, serves the youngest learners and has the highest rate of economically disadvantaged students (69.47% free/reduced lunch) and the highest spending per student ($21,517), along with a slightly better student-teacher ratio (13.8:1) than Zavala (14.3:1).
An interesting finding is that Zavala’s 5th-grade math scores on the Spanish-language STAAR test (50% proficient) were dramatically higher than on the English test (33.15%), suggesting that native-language instruction may be boosting math outcomes for some students. Despite both schools spending over $21,000 per student—well above the Texas average—academic results remain low, indicating a need to evaluate how funds are used. The district’s high investment has not yet translated into strong test scores, but Zavala’s slow upward trend in state rankings offers a glimmer of hope for families seeking improvement in this area.
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