Two Crandall ISD elementary schools have been placed on the preliminary Public Education Grant list for the 2027–28 school year, potentially giving families assigned to those campuses the right to request transfers to other public schools.
Opal Smith Elementary School and W.A. Martin Elementary School appear on the preliminary list released by the Texas Education Agency. Both campuses received overall F ratings in the state’s 2026 accountability system.
The designation is not yet final. Crandall ISD can appeal the underlying accountability ratings before TEA publishes its final PEG list. If either school remains on that final list, families assigned to the campus would become eligible to request a transfer for the 2027–28 school year.
The statewide preliminary list contains 274 campuses.
What the designation means for families
The Public Education Grant program gives an eligible student’s parent the right to request a transfer to another campus within the student’s home district or to a public school in another district.
It does not guarantee that the requested school must accept the student.
Receiving districts may approve or reject PEG transfer applications under their established transfer policies. Applications can be denied because of limited space or other neutral policies applied to transfer applicants.
A district cannot base its decision on a student’s race, ethnicity, academic achievement, athletic ability, language proficiency, sex, socioeconomic status, or special education needs.
Students also cannot use the PEG program to move from one PEG-listed campus to another PEG-listed campus.
If an interdistrict transfer is accepted under the program, the receiving district cannot charge tuition or a special transfer fee. Neither the home district nor the receiving district, however, is required to transport the student to the new campus.
The program does not require families to leave Opal Smith or W.A. Martin. Students may remain at their assigned schools, and Crandall ISD remains responsible for educating them.
Parents should wait for final list
Because the new list is preliminary, the transfer rights connected to it have not taken effect for 2027–28.
TEA publishes a final PEG list after accountability appeals are resolved. Districts generally must notify affected families by February 1 before the school year covered by the list.
If Opal Smith or W.A. Martin remains listed, Crandall ISD would be required to notify parents of students assigned to that campus about their eligibility to request a transfer.
Parents would then contact the district or campus they want their child to attend and submit a written application. The receiving district—not TEA—would decide whether to approve the request.
A parent who does not receive or cannot locate the district’s notification letter may use the final PEG list as evidence that the child’s assigned campus qualifies.
Incoming students may also be eligible. For example, a child entering kindergarten could qualify if the child is assigned to a campus appearing on the final list, even if the family did not receive the original notification sent to parents of students already attending the school.
Ratings produced major changes
The preliminary list is based on 2026 accountability results and includes campuses that received overall F ratings.
Opal Smith’s appearance represents a change from the final PEG list covering the 2026–27 school year. That list included Hollis T. Dietz Elementary School as Crandall ISD’s only PEG-designated campus.
The new preliminary list does not include Dietz. Instead, it identifies Opal Smith and W.A. Martin.
That shift demonstrates why parents must look at the list for the specific school year involved. A campus can be added or removed as accountability ratings change, and eligibility is tied to the student’s assigned campus and the applicable annual list.
It also means the preliminary designation should not be interpreted as a permanent label. A campus must improve its overall performance to avoid future PEG identification, but TEA does not impose separate staffing ratios, teacher-training requirements, or other special operating conditions solely because a school appears on the list.
No Seagoville schools listed
No campus in Dallas ISD’s Seagoville feeder pattern appears on the preliminary 2027–28 list.
The feeder pattern includes Seagoville High School, Seagoville Middle School, Central Elementary School, Ebby Halliday Elementary School, Kleberg Elementary School, Seagoville Elementary School, and Seagoville North Elementary School.
Only two Dallas ISD campuses appear on the statewide preliminary list: Edward Titche Elementary School and Harrell Budd Elementary School. Neither is part of the Seagoville feeder pattern.
What happens next
The immediate question for Crandall families is whether Opal Smith and W.A. Martin will remain on the final list.
Until TEA completes the accountability appeal process, the preliminary designation does not guarantee that either campus will carry PEG status into the 2027–28 school year.
If the designations become final, families will gain an additional school-choice option—but not an automatic transfer. Parents would still have to apply, identify a receiving campus or district, and obtain approval.
For now, Opal Smith and W.A. Martin are the two local campuses Crandall families should watch as the state moves toward its final decision.
