From the Chronicle: State orders North Forest ISD to close

Some material for our eventual look at public education in the state.

State officials on Thursday once again recommended pulling the plug on the troubled North Forest Independent School district.

Texas Education Commissioner Michael Williams recommended that the district of 6,900 students be annexed into the mammoth Houston ISD effective July 1. His statement came just two days after the district said it would seek a partnership with Texas A&M University to assume day-to-day operations of its 10 schools.

. . . North Forest ISD's enrollment is down more than 40 percent in 10 years. The district has garnered the state's lowest performance rating for three years and has also struggled financially, amassing an $8 million debt and nearing bankruptcy.

North Forest High School, where the Class of 2011's dropout rate was slightly more than 30 percent, has been deemed "academically unacceptable" by TEA for six years straight. In spring 2012, ninth-graders' HISD.