Five local school districts need to implement “turnaround plans” and improve student outcomes at failing campuses to avoid further probing from the state. 

This comes after the Texas Education Agency released preliminary campus and district ratings for the 2024-25 school year, measuring how effective public schools are at teaching students. 

The latest ratings found that San Antonio Independent School District, Edgewood ISD, Northside ISD, Judson ISD and Harlandale ISD all have campuses that have earned a failing rating — a “D” or “F” — for two or three consecutive years. 

All five districts got letters from the Texas Education Agency in September, alerting them to the need to implement turnaround plans for these schools. They have until Nov. 14 to submit those plans for TEA approval, and several of the districts have started making recommendations.

Turnaround plans are more intensive than general campus improvement plans, and are meant to get campuses to at least a “C” rating within two years. 

If a single campus earns an “unacceptable performance” rating for five consecutive school years, the state education commissioner is legally required to take over a school district by replacing elected school boards with an appointed board of managers or closing the failing campus. 

While going from an “F” to a “D” rating does not break the failing streak, it does extend the five-year limit, but this extension is only available twice. 

The TEA could also appoint conservators for these school districts this school year to oversee the implementation of turnaround plans but isn’t required to. 

School accountability has recently come under fire for leaning heavily on state standardized test results, especially after the TEA updated the system for the 2022-23 school year — something the agency is legally required to do every five years under state code .

The update led many public school leaders to feel like they couldn’t catch up, especially as students outcomes were just starting to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

State ratings for the 2022-23 and 2023-24 school years were tied up in legal battles until two courts ruled the TEA was allowed to publish the ratings this year, and results for the 2024-25 school year came out on time in August. Now, the clock is ticking as school districts try to get failing campuses back on track before the five-year limit.

San Antonio ISD

In September, SAISD placed 18 of its campuses on a “watchlist” for getting an “unacceptable” score for at least two or three years in a row. 

The TEA ordered SAISD to develop turnaround plans for all of these campuses, half of which need to implement those plans as soon as the agency approves them. The more urgent orders went to nine campuses, including Davis Middle School and Carvajal Elementary, and a group of nine others including Hot Wells Middle School will have a bit more time to implement the plans.

SAISD schools under turnaround orders

Urgently needing attention: Davis Middle School, Rhodes Middle, Poe Stem Dual Language Middle, Tafolla Middle, Charles Graebner Elementary School, Herff Elementary, Hirsch Elementary, Ogden Elementary, Carvajal Elementary 

Also needing turnaround: Hot Wells Middle School, Rogers College Prep Middle, David Crockett Academy, Highland Hills Elementary, Bowden Academy, Rogers Academy, Woodlawn Academy

SAISD was able to reduce the number of failing campuses from 2023-24 to 2024-25 by 35%, Of those remaining, district officials say 12 of those were “forced,” meaning their ratings were actually higher that what the TEA published  but were forced into a lower letter rating based on state accountability requirements. 

“We’re heading in the right direction,” Superintendent Jaime Aquino said in September. “But … we must accelerate our efforts.”

As part of the district’s efforts to improve outcomes, Aquino said students would be given weekly math tests to measure their progress, add instructional support and bring on a TEA advisor. 

Of the district’s more than 80 campuses, 31 earned failing scores for the 2024-25 school year. 

Based on the results, SAISD has restructured campuses to receive “targeted support” based on level and need, restructuring curriculum and instructions and implementing a new universal curriculum for math, science and reading at some campuses. 

The district is also using more professional development days to get feedback from teachers on implementation. 

SAISD’s board plans to publicly discuss turnaround plans during a Nov. 17 meeting. 

Edgewood ISD

Edgewood ISD has seven campuses that require turnaround plans approved by the TEA.

Edgewood ISD schools under turnaround orders

Urgently needing attention: Brentwood Middle School, Roy Cisneros Elementary, Las Palmas Leadership School for Girls, Roosevelt Dual Language Academy, Stafford Elementary Visual and Performing Arts School

Also needing turnaround: H B Gonzalez Elementary School

All of these campuses except HB Gonzalez are required to implement their turnaround plan as soon as TEA approves them.  

Serving 23 schools, Edgewood has gotten an overall “D” rating three years in a row and has overall 10 failing campuses this year. The low ratings recently sparked tense school board meetings and parent protests against the district administration.

Edgewood officials plan to publicly discuss turnaround plans in November.

Northside ISD

Northside ISD has to implement turnaround plans for four campuses.

Northside ISD schools under turnaround orders

Urgently needing attention: Mead Elementary School

Also needing turnaround: Glass Elementary School, Martin Elementary and Neff Middle School

Only Mead Elementary School will have to implement a turnaround plan as soon as the TEA approves it since it’s received an “F” for three years in a row. The other campuses have scored an “F” for only two consecutive years, giving them a little more time. 

Northside ISD received an overall score of 75 for the 2024-25 school year and has 25 failing campuses overall with more than 120 campuses. 

Board president Karla Duran said the district has already been implementing the plans and will publicly discuss them at the next board academics committee meeting. 

Judson ISD

Following a letter from TEA, Judson developed turnaround plans for four campuses.

Judson ISD schools under turnaround orders

Urgently needing attention: Park Village Blended Learning Academy, Metzger Middle School and Kirby Middle

Also needing turnaround: Masters Elementary School

There are more urgent orders Park Village Blended Learning Academy, Metzger Middle School and Kirby Middle, which will need to implement their plans as soon as the TEA approves them. 

Judson does need to develop a turnaround strategy for Masters Elementary School, but implementation is not as urgent.

All four schools have gotten an “F” or “D” rating for three consecutive years. Their turnaround plans will focus on the TEA’s “effective school framework,” which focuses on “leadership and staffing, culture, instructional materials and assessments and effective instruction.” 

Judson’s overall rating for the 2024-25 cycle was a “D” or 69, compared to a 70 the year before. Of its 36 campuses, 16 received a failing grade this year. 

While only four of the district’s schools require turnaround plans, Judson plans to implement improvement plans for all of its campuses to prevent schools from hitting low-performing streaks and keep high-performing schools from slipping. 

Superintendent Milton Fields said he’s confident the school district can get the four singled-out campuses to at least a “C” rating by the end of the school year, especially since the district has already taken some steps in trying to make campus improvements. 

Over the summer Judson placed new principals at every turnaround campus except Kirby, since the school did see some progress from 2024-25 to the previous year. 

Community members will get a chance to comment and share feedback during a public hearing Oct. 16, followed by a board meeting where trustees plan to vote on officially adopting the turnaround plans.

Harlandale ISD

The TEA notified Harlandale ISD of only one campus which requires a turnaround plan: Vestal Elementary School.

Vestal has gotten a “F” rating two years in a row after getting a “D” for the 2022-23 school year. While the campus doesn’t require immediate implementation like other schools, Harlandale still needs to submit its turnaround plan for TEA approval.

Harlandale received a 69 from the state this year, earning the same rating from the state since the 2022-23 school year. Of its 20 campuses, eight received failing ratings for the 2024-25 school year.

District officials plan to discuss turnaround plans for Vestal Nov. 20.