Waiver Request for Special Campus Accountability Requirements
| Date: | December 4, 2025 |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Waiver Request for Special Campus Accountability Requirements |
| Category: | Assessment and Accountability |
| Next Steps: | Share with appropriate staff |
The purpose of this communication is to provide notification that the Texas Education Agency (TEA) is requesting a waiver from the United States Department of Education (USDE) related to the rate of participation in statewide assessments and high school graduation rates for special campuses, which are campuses in which at least 90 percent of the students receive special education services and have been identified as having a significant cognitive disability. House Bill 8 (HB 8), passed during the 89th Texas Legislature, 2nd Called Session (2025), added Texas Education Code §39.0511, requiring the agency to submit a request to waive these two federal accountability requirements for special campuses.
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 (ESSA), §1111(c)(4)(E)(ii)(II) requires the state to annually measure the achievement of not less than 95 percent of all students based on the number of students participating in state assessments. ESSA §1111(c)(4)(B)(iii) requires the state to annually measure for public high schools the four-year adjusted cohort graduation rate. TEA is requesting a waiver to exclude these special campuses from the participation calculation under ESSA §1111(c)(4)(E)(ii)(II) and from the graduation calculation under ESSA §1111(c)(4)(B)(iii). This waiver is being requested beginning with the 2025–2026 school year and for the next three school years through the 2028–2029 school year.
Prior to submitting the waiver request to the USDE, the draft waiver, Texas Waiver Request for Special Campus Accountability Requirements, is available for public comment and posted on the Every Student Succeeds Act web page.
Public Comment Period
TEA is accepting public comments regarding the need to request a waiver for these accountability requirements related to special campuses. Please provide comments via email to performance.reporting@tea.texas.gov. The public comment period begins Thursday, December 4, 2025, and ends Wednesday, December 24, 2025, at 11:59 p.m. (CT).
Please forward this notification to all interested persons.
Contact
If you have questions about the information in this communication, contact the TEA Performance Reporting Division at performance.reporting@tea.texas.gov.