An academically struggling South Texas school district has decided to cancel student sports and use the money for improving education.
Trustees of the Premont Independent School District last week signed an agreement with the Texas Education Agency allowing the underperforming district to stay open through December.
Premont is a town of nearly 2,700, located 65 miles southwest of Corpus Christi. The district has about 700 students.
The Corpus Christi Caller-Times reported Wednesday that Premont in 2011 earned the state's lowest rating, of unacceptable, for the second time in three years.
Superintendent Ernest Singleton says the ban on athletics will start following the end of the basketball season.
He says the district should save $50,000 this spring by dropping sports and using the money for two new science labs.
