Riviera Independent School District Riviera Independent School District proudly serves 552 students, making it one of the smallest school districts my Texas School Performance Review (TSPR) has studied. This very small district with its very small budget taught us some very valuable lessons about cooperation and efficiency.
Boundaries mean nothing to all of the school districts located in Kleberg County. As Education Watchdog for the state of Texas, I was excited to see how well these districts worked together to ensure that their students get the best education possible.
Teachers and staff at Riviera ISD are actively involved in the students’ well being, both at school and at home and are committed to help students succeed. The district has taken a number of innovative and cost-efficient steps to reach out to the community and parents. I commend them for their involvement in the student’s lives.
It is this commitment that has helped the dramatic rise in student scores on the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS). In 1998-99, 74.7 percent of all Riviera ISD students passed the TAAS compared to 59.3 percent in 1994-95.
Like any good district, Riviera ISD still has room for improvement. Despite these gains in TAAS scores, the district still lags behind districts of similar size in several areas. We attribute this to the fact that Riviera ISD has no comprehensive curriculum plan nor does it have a designated curriculum leader. The district must provide direction to teachers concerning student learning objectives, assessment methods and classroom strategies by developing curriculum guides for each subject at each grade level.
In addition, the district has no cohesive, long-term strategic plan. While the district has several plans, they are not connected to each other nor to the district’s budget. These plans also lack detailed strategies to achieve the district’s goals, as well as methods to evaluate progress. We recommend the district create such a plan as soon as possible.
Inside the report, you will find 35 recommendations that could result in net savings of $805,614 over the next five years. One of my 10 Principles for Texas in the 21st Century is to redirect more of every education dollar in the classroom–and these recommendations will help the district do just that.
Riviera ISD can be proud of the district it has built, and should be commended for wanting to improve even further. I am confident that school board members, school administrators, teachers and parents are all committed to making the district the best it can be for their students.
Carole Keeton Rylander
Comptroller of Public Accounts
