The Waco Independent School District held a public hearing on its 2025 School FIRST financial accountability report and announced an overall score of 94, a grade of A.

"We got a 94 this year. So we have superior achievement," said Cheryl Smith, the staff presenter, during the hearing opened by President Vidania. Smith told trustees the district passed all four critical School FIRST indicators and that most solvency indicators received full points.

Smith said the district lost two points on solvency indicators 11 and 12 and two points on indicator 13. Indicator 11 measures the ratio of long-term liabilities to total assets (the district's ratio was 69.95% in August 2024). Indicator 12 evaluates the correlation between future debt requirements and assessed property value (the district's ratio that year was 5.16). Indicator 13 assesses whether administrative costs are at or below the threshold for districts of comparable size; the district's administrative-cost ratio improved slightly to 9.66% but still cost it points under TEA's methodology.

Smith said the issuance of 2022-B and 2023 bond series contributed to the solvency indicators' changes but noted the district improved its overall score from last year and is tracking against a strategic-plan goal to raise the School FIRST score to 98 by 2030.

The School FIRST report includes required disclosures such as the superintendent's contract, travel and reimbursement schedules, and any business transactions between board members and the district. Smith told the board that copies of the report would be posted on the district website and made available through the public information office.

The public hearing began at 06:42 and concluded at 06:50 with no public commenters recorded during the hearing.

Board materials: the district provided the full 21-indicator School FIRST breakdown and a comparative analysis against last year; Smith highlighted the specific solvency indicators where the district lost points and described planned monitoring steps.

Looking ahead, Smith said staff will include the School FIRST results in the district's annual financial-management report and continue to monitor debt-service ratios and administrative-cost metrics as bond-funded work proceeds.