Plano ISD receives 'A' financial integrity rating from state
Plano ISD earned a “superior” rating of its financial integrity during the 2023-24 school year, according to a news release from the district.
The gist: The Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas, also called FIRST, is issued annually by the Texas Education Agency.
The district received a perfect score of 100. Plano ISD has earned a superior rating in every school year since 2015-16, and has earned a perfect score in each of the last two years. The 2024-25 scores are issued based on financial data from the previous school year.
What to know: Most Texas school districts required to display donated Ten Commandments posters under state law
Most Texas public schools are required to display donated posters of the Ten Commandments in classrooms under Senate Bill 10, a state law that took effect Sept. 1.
The details: On Aug. 20, a Texas federal judge temporarily blocked the following 11 school districts from displaying the Ten Commandments:
Alamo Heights ISD
Austin ISD
Cy-Fair ISD
Dripping Springs ISD
Fort Bend ISD
Houston ISD
Lackland ISD
Lake Travis ISD
North East ISD
Northside ISD
Plano ISD
Attorney General Ken Paxton appealed the ruling and directed other school districts to begin displaying donated copies of the Ten Commandments.
The debate: Proponents of SB 10, including Paxton and Republican state lawmakers, have argued that seeing the Ten Commandments on a daily basis will help Texas students better understand U.S. history and learn about morality.
Some religious scholars have stressed the importance of teaching students about religion in an “appropriate educational context.” Democratic lawmakers have expressed concerns that non-Christian students will feel left out or be bullied by their peers for not following the Ten Commandments.
