How we got here
According to board documents, a turnaround plan is a comprehensive improvement plan required by the state for campuses that receive multiple unacceptable TEA ratings. Texas schools are rated on an A-F scale based on the criteria of student achievement, student progress and closing opportunity gaps, according to Community Impact reporting.
Kirby Middle School, Henry Metzger Middle School and Park Village Elementary School were given unacceptable, or "F" ratings from the TEA for the 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25 school years. This requires the district to implement a turnaround plan with the purpose of earning a "C" rating by the TEA within two years, according to board documents.
Masters Elementary School received "F" ratings for 2023-24 and 2024-25, requiring the district to develop a turnaround plan for the campus.
Mary Duhart-Toppen, deputy superintendent of teaching and learning, said several of the ratings were a result of a campus earning higher than an "F" but being assigned the grade due to failing three of four domains scored by the TEA.
The specifics
Turnaround plans focus on key campus changes that address the TEA's Effective Schools Framework, based on five tenets:
- Strong school leadership and planning
- Strategic staffing
- Positive school culture
- High-quality instructional materials and assessments
- Effective instruction
"That campus did show gains for the last two years. It just wasn't enough gains to get them out of the rotation of the Fs that we were in," Duhart-Toppen said.
Strategic staffing is placing strong teachers where they can best serve students, Duhart-Toppen said. Moves made in this area include adding a STEM teacher for sixth grade Kirby students, adding a math academic trainer at Metzger and redesigning a master schedule at Masters.
Kristin Saunders, assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction, said positive school culture involves developing explicit behavioral expectations across campuses and implementing structures for a safe environment.
"We're well aware that if we don't have a positive school culture in place, if we're not making sure that every student feels safe and feels supported, we'll never be able to move instruction forward," Saunders said.
Effective instruction involves new materials introduced at each campus, including the bilingual service Papaya Tutoring at Park Village and Bluebonnet Coaching at all four campuses, according to board documents.
Next steps
The district has until Nov. 21 to formally submit the plans to the TEA, according to board documents. The agency will send a notification of approval or rejection of the plans back to the district on Jan. 23.
If the initial plans are rejected, the district would have until March 24 to submit a revised plan, with a final approval or rejection decided upon by the TEA by April 8.
JISD is also currently working on targeted improvement plans for Escondido Elementary, Converse Elementary, Paschall Elementary, Kirby STEM and Judson High School. The TEA defines a targeted improvement plan as one that aids underperforming individual student groups at the schools.
The board will discuss the targeted improvement plans at a November meeting, Superintendent Milton "Rob" Fields III said.
