To the Administrator Addressed (TAA) Correspondence

Official Release of Final 2025–2026 FIRST Ratings

Final 2025–2026 Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas (FIRST) ratings based on fiscal year 2025 are publicly available today, November 5, 2026, on the () website:

A previous “To the Administrator Addressed” letter, dated August 6, 2026, instructed school districts and charter schools to view its preliminary FIRST rating. The letter also provided information about the data the analyzes to produce the rating and described the appeal process available to school systems. This appeals process is now complete, and the FIRST ratings are final.

Required Reporting

Within two months of the release of its final FIRST rating, school systems must announce and hold a public meeting to distribute a financial management report that explains the school system’s rating and its performance under each indicator for the current and previous year’s ratings. The report also must provide the financial information described in . encourages school systems to include in the report additional information that will be beneficial to stakeholders, especially information explaining any special circumstances that may have affected the school system’s performance under one or more of the indicators.

The required newspaper notice to inform taxpayers of the meeting must be published no more than 30 days and no fewer than 10 days before the public meeting. School systems may combine the meeting with a scheduled regular meeting of the board of trustees.

For full requirements related to the report and meeting, see . For a template that your school system can use in developing its financial management report, see the School FIRST web page for school districts or Charter FIRST web page for charter schools.

Accreditation Status

Please note that the considers a school system’s FIRST rating when assigning an accreditation status, as required by the accreditation status rules in .

Contact Information

If you have questions about your school system’s FIRST rating, please contact financialaccountability@tea.texas.gov.