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Southwest ISD updates master schedule process, seeks to boost cybersecurity CTE enrollment
Summary
Trustees heard a master-schedule update for 2025–26 and district staff outlined recruitment steps after low cybersecurity enrollment at some campuses; districts set a June 26 target to finalize schedules and said new enrollments and test scores could change counts.
Southwest ISD trustees received an update on the district's 2025'26 master schedule and Career and Technical Education (CTE) program offerings at their March meeting, with staff highlighting efforts to recruit students into cybersecurity and other pathways and a June 26 target to finalize the master schedule.
District staff said the process begins with student interest inventories in SchoolLinks, followed by exposure events (guidance lessons, Passport to Success evenings and elective showcases), counselor visits to middle schools and automatic prepopulation of four'year course sequences once a student selects an endorsement. The district noted that the counts presented do not include students who enrolled after the first phase of selections and therefore are expected to rise.
"Our primary goal is to ensure that all of our students and parents have all of the information on all of our CTE programs of study," said Dr. Ortiz, who presented campus tallies and recruitment priorities. Dr. Ortiz identified legal studies, HVAC and cybersecurity as focus programs at Southwest Legacy High School and said animation and audio'video offerings will be streamlined with photography content folded into AV courses.
Staff told trustees that cybersecurity enrollment varies by campus. At Legacy, leaders described low recent enrollment and said they are considering different program articulations and marketing; at Southwest High School staff reported larger rosters in some cohorts and listed per-course counts for recent class selections. Dr. Ortiz said one reported cohort count for cybersecurity was seven students while Southwest High School course rosters shown during the presentation listed freshmen 27, sophomores 27, juniors 24 and seniors 23 in related cybersecurity courses. Staff emphasized those numbers represent an early tally taken before spring break and prior to later enrollments.
Board members pressed staff on the discrepancy between earlier larger cohorts and the current low counts and urged using industry partners to rekindle student interest. A board member suggested inviting industry representatives to speak directly to students to demonstrate career pathways; staff agreed to pursue that outreach and to refine marketing and recruitment.
Staff also reminded trustees that the master schedule timeline calls for campuses to complete the schedule by June 26, with adjustments expected after EOC (end'of'course) results and as new students enroll. "As new enrollments come in, they will go through the same process and so you'll see the numbers that will continue to grow," a district presenter said.
Next steps identified by staff include continued campus recruitment efforts, additional outreach to feeder middle schools and tapping industry partners to promote cybersecurity and other CTE pathways.
Ending: The presentation did not include any board action; trustees received the report and directed staff to continue recruitment and to return with further updates as counts change and as campuses finalize their schedules.
