Community Impact reports that Willis ISD learned at its January 14th meeting that compared to the 2024-25 school year the number of students in the Willis ISD emergent bilingual program has decreased 13% in the 2025-26 school year.
The district currently serves 1,677 emergent bilingual students, according to bilingual coordinator Erika Del Rio. She says the highest concentration is at Willis High School with 481 students. She said the decline in students is because of the students “successfully exiting the program compared to the previous year.”
Del Rio said, if they meet the state requirements, students can exit the program. The requirements include passing the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness for reading in third through 12th grade and earning an advanced score on the Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment System.
