Cleburne ISD: Complete Family Guide

Cleburne ISD Overview

Cleburne ISD serves the city of Cleburne, the Johnson County seat, about 30 miles southwest of Fort Worth, and portions of the surrounding rural community. It's a smaller, community-rooted district that doesn't generate the same headlines as fast-growth suburban ISDs to the north, but it offers something families moving to Cleburne for affordability genuinely care about: a 95.3% four-year graduation rate that beats the Texas state average by five full percentage points.

The honest context: Cleburne ISD earned a TEA C rating for 2024–25, with matching C scores across all three accountability domains. College readiness metrics sit below state averages, and the district's student population is majority economically disadvantaged. Families prioritizing elite AP performance or a high TEA score should cross-shop Joshua ISD or Burleson ISD before committing. But for families buying in Cleburne because it delivers real house-per-dollar value while staying within Johnson County, this is a district that keeps kids in school through graduation at a rate that matters.

One standout financial note: Cleburne ISD's $1.17 per $100 tax rate is meaningfully lower than neighboring Joshua ISD ($1.26) and Burleson ISD ($1.26). On a $350,000 home, that difference adds up to roughly $315 per year in property tax savings, worth factoring into any budget comparison alongside the school quality picture.

TEA Accountability Rating

Cleburne ISD received an overall C rating from the Texas Education Agency for the 2024–25 school year. All three accountability domains also earned a C: Student Achievement, School Progress, and Closing the Gaps. The prior year (2023–24) rating was a B with a score of 80, a meaningful shift downward that families should note. The district's accreditation status remains Accredited, and its FIRST financial rating is Superior Achievement.

What the three domains actually measure for families:

Student Achievement (C), This domain looks at STAAR test performance, graduation rates, and College, Career, and Military Readiness (CCMR). Cleburne's strong graduation rate helps here, but lower STAAR proficiency and college readiness scores pull the domain rating down.

School Progress (C), This domain measures how much students grow academically year over year, relative to their starting point and relative to schools serving similar populations. A C here means students are growing, but not at the pace Texas considers exemplary.

Closing the Gaps (C), This domain tracks whether performance gaps between student groups are narrowing. Given Cleburne's diverse population and high economically disadvantaged percentage, this is the domain most directly tied to equity outcomes across the district's campuses.

Academic Performance

The most meaningful academic signal for relocating families: Cleburne ISD's four-year graduation rate was 95.3% for the Class of 2023, compared to a Texas state average of 90.3%. The dropout rate for grades 9–12 was 1.6% (2022–23), below the state average of 2.0%. These are real outcomes: more than 19 out of 20 students who enter Cleburne High School as freshmen earn a diploma.

AP/IB participation: 26.2% of juniors and seniors took at least one AP exam in 2022–23, slightly above the statewide rate of 24.2%. However, the AP pass rate (score of 3 or higher) was 37%, meaningfully below the statewide rate of 53.3%. Families planning around AP credits toward college admission or placement should note this gap and discuss it directly with Cleburne High School's counseling department.

SAT and ACT: Average SAT scores for 2022–23 graduates were 927 (statewide: 978). Average ACT was 17.5 (statewide: 19.2). College readiness rates, the percentage of graduates meeting TSIA, SAT, or ACT benchmarks, were 30.3% in reading and 16.9% in math, well below state averages of 62.8% and 54.3% respectively.

Putting these numbers in practical terms: if your child is a strong, self-directed student who pursues tutoring and dual credit aggressively, Cleburne ISD gives them the access points to build a competitive college application. If you're counting on the district environment itself to produce elite college prep outcomes at scale, the data says to look at Joshua ISD or Burleson ISD, where metrics sit higher. For families focused on keeping their child safe, engaged, and graduated, Cleburne's performance is genuinely solid.

Campuses

Cleburne ISD operates 12 campuses serving pre-K through 12th grade, including seven elementary schools, one intermediate school, one middle school, two high school options, and a Disciplinary Alternative Education Program campus.

Specialty Programs

Enrollment Steps

Cleburne ISD uses an online enrollment portal through Skyward. Here is the step-by-step process for families relocating to Cleburne:

1. Verify Your School Zone

Before gathering documents, confirm which campus your address is zoned to using the Find My School Zone tool on the district website. Not all Cleburne addresses feed to the same elementary campus — and some Johnson County addresses outside city limits may fall in a different district entirely.

2. Gather Required Documents

Standard residency verification documents required include: proof of residency (utility bill, lease, or mortgage statement with your Cleburne address), student's birth certificate, up-to-date immunization records, prior school records and most recent report card, and any existing IEP, 504, or ARD documentation if applicable.

3. Complete Online Registration

Visit c-isd.com/departments/student-services/student-enrollment to access the Skyward online registration portal. The 2025–26 enrollment window typically opens in spring. Contact the district at (817) 202-1100 for specific dates if you are enrolling mid-year.

4. Intra-District Transfers

Families already within Cleburne ISD who wish to transfer to a different campus within the district may submit a transfer request. Approval is based on available space at the receiving campus. Contact Student Services at (817) 202-1100 for the current transfer policy and timeline. Transfers are not guaranteed and must be renewed annually in some cases.

5. Inter-District Transfers

Families residing in a neighboring district (Joshua ISD, Burleson ISD, Crowley ISD) who wish their child to attend Cleburne ISD may apply for an inter-district transfer. Acceptance is at the discretion of Cleburne ISD administration and depends on campus capacity. Review current policy at c-isd.com/departments/student-services/transfers.

6. IEP / 504 / ARD Transfers

Texas law requires that when a student with an existing IEP transfers to a new district, the receiving district must convene an ARD (Admission, Review, and Dismissal) meeting within 30 days to review and adopt or adjust the IEP. Bring all prior IEP, 504, evaluation, and assessment documentation to enrollment. Contact Cleburne ISD's Special Education department at (817) 202-1100 as early as possible, ideally before closing on your home, to discuss your child's specific needs and timeline.

Boundary Verification

Cleburne ISD's boundaries follow city and county lines that are not always intuitive from a map or a Zillow search. Here is what families need to know before making an offer:

Which Areas Cleburne ISD Serves

The district primarily serves the city of Cleburne and portions of the surrounding Johnson County. The core of Cleburne, established neighborhoods closer to downtown and the high school, are solidly within district boundaries. Growth areas on the eastern and northern edges of the city, as well as rural acreage properties with Cleburne mailing addresses, are more likely to require address verification.

Neighboring Districts: Where Boundaries Blur

Johnson County contains multiple ISDs. Joshua ISD and Burleson ISD both cover nearby communities, and some properties with Cleburne city addresses or ZIP codes may actually be zoned to those districts. Rural route addresses are particularly susceptible to boundary mismatches. Never assume a Cleburne address means Cleburne ISD. This is especially important for new construction developments on the outskirts of the city.

Elementary Campus Boundaries

Within Cleburne ISD itself, the seven elementary campuses have their own attendance zones. Families specifically targeting a bilingual pre-K campus (Cooke, Irving, or Santa Fe) should verify their home address feeds to that campus before purchasing, boundary maps do not always match intuitive neighborhood geography.

How to Verify Your Address

Use the district's official tool: Find My School Zone at c-isd.com. You can also use the TEA School Locator at tea.texas.gov/apps/school-directory for a secondary check. If results are unclear, call the district directly at (817) 202-1100 before closing.

Property Taxes & Finances

2024 Certified Total Tax Rate: $1.17 per $100 Assessed Value

Cleburne ISD's total certified tax rate is among the lower rates in the greater DFW and Johnson County area. To put it in practical terms:

• $300,000 home: ~$3,510/year in Cleburne ISD taxes ($293/month)
• $350,000 home: ~$4,095/year ($341/month)
• $400,000 home: ~$4,680/year ($390/month)

These figures are before the Texas homestead exemption. Texas law provides a $100,000 homestead exemption from school district taxes for your primary residence, meaning the first $100,000 of assessed value is removed from the calculation. On a $350,000 home, you'd pay taxes on $250,000 assessed value, reducing the annual bill to approximately $2,925 ($244/month).

Comparison to Neighboring Districts

Cleburne ISD's $1.17 rate is notably lower than both Joshua ISD ($1.26) and Burleson ISD ($1.26). On a $350,000 home (after homestead exemption, taxed on $250,000), that $0.09 difference saves approximately $225/year compared to Joshua or Burleson. Over 10 years, that's $2,250 in property tax savings, meaningful when you're also making a mortgage payment.

Per-Pupil Expenditure

Cleburne ISD spends approximately $10,989 per student annually, a figure consistent with smaller Texas districts and reflective of the district's operating scale. This figure includes state funding, local tax revenue, and federal contributions.

FIRST Rating

The district holds a Superior Achievement FIRST (Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas) rating, the highest category, indicating sound financial management despite serving a high economically disadvantaged student population.

2025 Bond Proposal

Cleburne ISD put a bond proposal before voters in 2025 to address aging campus infrastructure, including construction of a new multi-use stadium to support athletics and fine arts events. Bond elections, if approved, result in an I&S (Interest & Sinking) component being added to or adjusted within the total tax rate. Families buying now should check the current status of the 2025 bond and its tax rate impact directly with the district.

How Cleburne ISD Compares

Families buying in Johnson County most commonly cross-shop Cleburne ISD against Joshua ISD (smaller, higher academic scores) and Burleson ISD (larger, Fort Worth suburb feel). Here is how the key metrics stack up:

Families who prioritize a higher TEA score and are willing to pay a higher tax rate will find Joshua ISD (score 86, grade B) the most direct alternative to Cleburne within Johnson County. Burleson ISD sits to the north, serving a more suburban corridor along US-35W toward Fort Worth, with a B rating and a similar $1.26 tax rate. Cleburne ISD is the right fit if Cleburne's housing values, community character, and lower tax rate are doing most of the work in your decision, and you've made peace with the C TEA rating after reviewing the graduation rate data.

Community Feel

Cleburne is the county seat of Johnson County, an older, established Texas city with a historic downtown, a livestock show tradition, and a strong sense of local identity that differs noticeably from the fast-growth suburbs to the north. The school district reflects that character: this is a community where the same families have sent kids through Cleburne High School for generations, where Yellow Jackets football draws a real hometown crowd, and where parent booster organizations for athletics and fine arts are active and well-established.

Parent sentiment in forums and local Facebook groups tends to be positive about individual teachers and coaches, the district's average teacher experience of 12.6 years (above the state average of 11.1) suggests a more stable teaching workforce than some fast-growth districts where turnover is high. Criticisms tend to focus on aging facility conditions (being addressed by the 2025 bond proposal), the academic performance gap compared to higher-rated neighbors, and the resource constraints that come with serving a majority economically disadvantaged population.

For relocating families, Cleburne ISD occupies a specific niche: it's the district you choose when Cleburne the city is already the right choice for your family's budget and lifestyle, and you want to understand what the schools realistically look like. The graduation rate, the CTE opportunities, and the lower tax rate are genuine positives. The TEA C rating and below-average college readiness metrics are genuine considerations. Families who go in with clear eyes on both sides tend to be satisfied with what they find.

Frequently Asked Questions

Related Places to Explore

Sources

• Cleburne ISD official website (c-isd.com), campus list, programs, enrollment, transfer policy, CTE pathways
• Texas Education Agency, txschools.gov, 2024–25 A-F Accountability ratings (overall and domain scores)
• The Texas Tribune Schools Explorer (schools.texastribune.org), 2023–24 enrollment, graduation rate, dropout rate, demographics, AP data, SAT/ACT averages
• Texas Comptroller, comptroller.texas.gov, 2024 certified total tax rate
• Niche.com, district overall grade (third-party); label accordingly
• U.S. News Education (usnews.com), per-pupil expenditure supplementary reference