Summary:
The two public schools in zip code 79839, serving the Fort Hancock area, are both part of the Ft Hancock Independent School District (Isd), which holds a 2-star rating and ranks in the 35th percentile statewide. Benito Martinez Elementary serves grades PK-6 with 227 students, while Fort Hancock High School serves grades 7-12 with 163 students, and both schools have very high rates of economic disadvantage, with over 82% of elementary and 91% of high school students eligible for free or reduced lunch.
The standout school is Fort Hancock High School, which has shown remarkable improvement, jumping from a 1-star rating (28th percentile) in 2024-2025 to a 3-star rating (67th percentile) in 2025-2026. It boasts a 100% graduation rate and a very low 0.5% dropout rate, and it outperforms state averages in several end-of-course exams, including Biology (78.79% proficient vs. 70.51% state), U.S. History (80% vs. 70.17%), and Algebra I (60% vs. 54.03%). In contrast, Benito Martinez Elementary has declined from a 2-star rating (36th percentile) in 2023-2024 to a 1-star rating (16th percentile) in 2025-2026, with mixed academic performance that is generally below state averages, though 3rd-grade reading and math scores are strong.
A key finding is the effectiveness of the elementary school's bilingual program: in 4th-grade reading, students taking the Spanish STAAR exam scored 55.56% proficient, dramatically outperforming the 20.83% proficiency of those taking the English exam. The high school's success despite high poverty rates demonstrates that strong outcomes are achievable, and it spends $3,034 more per student than the elementary school ($15,931 vs. $12,897), which contributes to a more favorable student-teacher ratio of 11.2:1 compared to 15.6:1 at the elementary level. This spending gap raises questions about whether reallocating resources could help reverse the elementary school's declining performance and better prepare students for high school.
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