Texas School District Cancels All Sports

A South Texas school district struggling with grade performance has canceled all student sports and inject that money into improving education, according to a report by the Associated Press.

Premont, a town and school district about 65 miles southwest of Corpus Christi, signed an agreement last week with the Texas Education Agency allowing the underperforming district to stay open through December, but the school took it a step farther to improve learning.

Superintendent Ernest Singleton said the measure will go into effect after basketball season this spring. He said the district will save $50,000 this spring by dropping sports and using the money for two new science labs.

The district, which has about 700 students, earned the state’s lowest academic rating of “unacceptable” in 2011 — for the second time in three years, according to the Corpus Christi Caller-Times.

Should districts take such drastic measures to improve education, especially in a state where high school football is king?