At a special meeting May 6, the Austin ISD board of trustees unanimously approved Talent Development Secondary, a program of Johns Hopkins University's School of Education, as the partnering entity to step in at the at-risk Eastside Memorial High School.

"What we're doing here is accelerating the time frame by which we're going to do work at Eastside Memorial," trustee Gina Hinojosa said.

With the school at risk of a Texas Education Agency takeover or closure, earlier this year AISD sent out a request for proposals to potential partner entities to help the school improve and received five proposals. An evaluation committee scored those proposals, and the two with the highest scores were Johns Hopkins University and the American Institutes for Research. Those organizations both presented to the community and the evaluation committee, and the committee recommended the board choose Johns Hopkins.

"This is true due diligence toward delivering what the commissioner has asked for," trustee Tamala Barksdale said of the district's process.

With the May 6 vote, the board authorized Superintendent Meria Carstarphen to negotiate an agreement with Johns Hopkins. Carstarphen said the administration will work to get that contract to the board for consideration as soon as May 13.

Several EMHS parents and community members attended the meeting. One attendee opposed the Johns Hopkins partnership, while the majority asked board members to support it.

Community member Monica Guzman told the board that a vote against—or an abstention from the vote—would be "a vote to close Eastside."

Parent Luke Muszkiewicz said he hoped the board would vote in favor of the evaluation committee's recommendation.

"This is our best shot," he said. "This is our path forward out of this mess and into a period of sustained growth, improvement and stability."

The fight to keep EMHS open is not over yet, Carstarphen cautioned the board. If TEA Commissioner Michael Williams determines that the campus is not fully implementing its updated targeted improvement plan or if the students enrolled at the campus do not demonstrate "substantial" academic improvement, the commissioner can order repurposing of the campus, alternative management of the school, or school closure.

In June 2008, when Johnston High School received an Academically Unacceptable rating for the fifth year in a row. In the 2008–09 school year, the TEA allowed AISD to repurpose the Johnston campus, and it became EMHS. After additional unacceptable ratings, AISD implemented a reconstitution plan in 2011-12 to meet TEA requirements. Then in 2011 the board approved a contract with IDEA Public Schools to develop an in-district charter at the school, and that decision linked the IDEA partnership to the EMHS reconstitution plan, according to AISD. At its Dec. 17 meeting, the board adopted a motion to end the district's contract with IDEA Public Schools at the end of the 2012–13 school year and to prevent IDEA from extending its programs to EMHS.

In April, the AISD board approved a contingency plan with steps including how the district would reassign students to other campuses, relocate classroom equipment and reassign teachers to other schools. The plan also addresses how students' class rankings would change and says AISD could consider creating a new campus within a campus for rising 12th grade EMHS students.

All of the trustees weighed in on Johns Hopkins as the partner entity, with most expressing strong support.

"Speaking as a former educator, what struck me the most about the proposal from Johns Hopkins Talent Development Secondary is that they would treat existing teachers and staff as professionals...and would collaborate with them rather than replace them," trustee Ann Teich said, adding the group said the same thing of students.

Trustee Robert Schneider said while he agreed Johns Hopkins was the best choice, he thinks AISD needs to examine issues within the EMHS vertical team as well as transfer policies and district boundaries.