Texlonghorn75":1spbioxx said:
My reference to students transferring to Rochelle concerned the pursuit of better educational opportunities. San Saba ISD would no doubt be a good choice when looking for educational opportunities for children but it is a much larger school. According to the Texas Tribune in 2017 Richland ISD students had a higher average ACT score of 19.5 versus Rochelle ISD students with an average ACT score of 18.7. Rochelle has or had an enrollment of 185 versus Richland Springs of approximately 130. The test scores for one year doesn't indicate If the students are trending up or down, meaning some students could be learning and improving on scores or those students who aren't learning or scoring well on the test . It can take several years to improve average test scores. However the movement of coaches, quitting or otherwise, doesn't normally effect test scores and the educational experience. I know some(few) coaches take their teaching responsibilities seriously but most are focused on sports. And unfortunately a lot of the school boards and adminstrations(who are sometimes former coaches) are lead around by the nose by the current coaches instead of focusing on the educational process itself. Richland Springs is the classic example.
Okay so it boils down to this Richland Springs is based around their football scores not their test scores. According to the TAPR which is found on the TEA website, all of the 2017 students took the SAT and only 12.5% of those students were at or above criterion. The test scores do not always show the full picture but it gives a glance into the perspective. Only 62% of students were at approaches on the STAAR scores or above in English and only 71% at or above approaches in math. The students scores are not near as impressive as the football scores, but no one is talking about that because of the championships Richland Springs holds. The saddest thing is that things don't change if you continue to keep doing them the same way. The school board keeps letting Burkhart come back and yet again same old same old. So until Richland Springs makes some changes they are a joke to the rest of the world. The students at this school are only looked at for their athletic talent. People can disagree, but it is true everyone is wondering are the Rigdon boys going or staying. If it wasn't about the talent they had then the question wouldn't come up. The talent that Richland Springs has keeps coming up. Stacked team keeps being said. Nobody is saying man those kids are awesome young men who work hard and are going places after they graduate. Oh man look at that kid he is a hard worker and he won all those stockshows. Oh man watch that kid over there he is one talented actor. No all of that gets swept to the side because it is about their talent. At the end of the day kids can be talented in so many areas, and even when the shine in something like one act play it is not given the credit it is due because that talent in the Richland Springs community is not near as impressive as the athletic talent these students hold. That is sad for students who are not as athletic, but love school and work hard in other aspects of the school.
