After Corpus Christi ISD shuttered Martin Middle School, Cunningham Middle School at South Park inherited a little more than half of the closed school's students. It will also take on the school's accountability history.
This month, the Texas Education Agency released A-F ratings for every public school campus and district in the state.
See how Corpus Christi schools were rated.
Martin Middle School was improving before its closure, though gains were too slow too meet the expectations of state regulators.
- 2022-23 rating: 51
- 2023-24 rating: 58
- 2024-25 rating: 64
- 2025-26 rating: 69
It takes two low ratings to earn a statutory designation of unacceptable, starting the count of consecutive years of unacceptable performance. This means that Martin Middle School has two consecutive years of unacceptable performance.
The Texas
Education Agency has the authority to reassign this status to a campus that receives students from the closed school, a measure intended to ensure school districts can't use school closures as a loophole to circumvent the accountability system.
Martin Middle School was split between Cunningham Middle School at South Park and Driscoll Middle School, with the former taking slightly more students.
Though Cunningham Middle School at South Park earned C's in the 2024-25 and 2025-26 academic years, it will carry Martin Middle School's consecutive year count and campus rating. Driscoll Middle School won't.
This year, Cunningham Middle School at South Park will be responsible for implementing a TEA-approved turnaround plan.
"They're going to engage in a lot of extra work," school board member Steve Barrera said during an Aug. 24 meeting, adding that Cunningham Middle School at South Park will need more staff and smaller classroom sizes.
Barrera is a former Corpus Christi Independent School District educator. Before retiring, he led Cullen Place Elementary School when it opened, consolidating three elementary schools.
If Cunningham earns an A, B or C based on the current school year, its consecutive year count will reset to zero.
But, if Cunningham instead falls short, earning a D or F, and continues to score lowly for several more years, Corpus Christi ISD would be at risk of a state takeover of the entire school district.
That might never happen — Martin Middle School was slowly making progress before the consolidation and Cunningham Middle School at South Park had a higher rating.
Along with Martin Middle School, Corpus Christi ISD closed six other campuses. The seven schools weren't closed because of their performance.
Sanders Elementary School, Travis Elementary School and Browne Middle School all earned B's. Kostoryz Elementary School and Haas Middle School earned C's.
Of the closed campuses, only one other campus earned a D rating — Fannin Elementary School. However, Fannin Elementary School earned a B the previous year. The Texas Education Agency approved Fannin Elementary School's closure without reassigning its status to a new campus, according to an Aug. 24 Corpus Christi ISD school board presentation.
Two campuses that remained open, Gibson Elementary School and Driscoll Middle School, also fell from C's to D's.
Cullen Place Elementary School, which was a D campus the previous year, successfully rose to a C this year. Because of its earlier low rating in the "closing the gaps" domain of the TEA accountability system, Cullen Place Elementary School is still a campus identified for school improvement. It will shed that label with another year of maintained progress.
Olivia Garrett reports on education and community news in South Texas. Contact her at olivia.garrett@caller.com.
This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Martin MS has earned two D's. Cunningham MS will take on this history
