October 16, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

From: Temple Independent School District
200 N. 23rd Street
Temple, Texas 76504
Contact: Regina Baird/PR Director – (254) 215-6791

Temple Independent School District officials announced at the regular Board meeting on Monday, October 08, 2007, that the district received a rating of “Superior Achievement” under Texas’ Schools FIRST financial accountability rating system. The Superior Achievement rating is the state’s highest, demonstrating the quality of Temple ISD’s financial management and reporting system.

Temple ISD received a rating of “Superior Achievement” under the Texas’ Schools FIRST financial accountability rating system for the fiscal year 2007-08 according to Rigo Abrego, MBA/M.Ed., Chief Financial Officer for the district. This achievement demonstrates the quality of the financial management and reporting system of the district with Superior being the highest rating the state awards. Temple ISD has been rated “Superior” every year, since the FIRST system was implemented in 1999.

The Schools FIRST accountability rating system assigns one of four financial ratings to Texas school districts. The rating system consists of twenty-one indicators. To receive the “Superior Achievement” rating the district must have positive responses to at least 19 of the 21 indicators. Temple ISD scored positive responses in all 21 indicators.

The Schools Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas is a financial accountability system for Texas school districts that was developed in 1999 by the Texas Education Agency in response to Senate Bill 875 of the 76th Texas Legislature. The primary goal of the Schools FIRST is to achieve quality performance in the management of school district’s financial resources. A challenging goal due to the complexity of accounting associated with Texas’ school finance system.