La Joya ISD board approves consolidation of four early-college high schools into Jimmy Carter campus

The La Joya Independent School District Board of Trustees voted to consolidate four specialty early-college high schools into a single Early College High School located at the Jimmy Carter campus and authorized the district to begin a program-change process under policy DFFB.

The action, approved by voice vote during the board's Jan. 20 meeting, follows months of community engagement and presentations from district staff who said the consolidation is intended to improve students' completion of associate degrees earned through dual-credit coursework.

District administrators told the board they recommend the consolidation after reviewing outcomes across the four early-college sites. Dr. Little, a district administrator presenting the recommendation, said the four-site model had duplicated course offerings and that "the driving motivation behind this recommendation" is ensuring students finish associate-degree pathways.

The proposal keeps four high-impact pathways for the consolidated school: interdisciplinary studies, biology, teaching and mechanical engineering. Chief of Human Capital and Talent Development Leslie Miller told the board the administration is restoring mechanical engineering to the list of pathways after community feedback and that the district intends to support students who enter that pathway so they "finish mechanical engineering with that associate degree moving forward."

Students and community members filled the meeting's public-comment period and urged the board to reject consolidation. Jeremy Johnson, a freshman at Thelma Arcelinas Early College High School, presented a petition with 486 signatures and said the school provides "a sense of belonging, mentorship, and personal growth." Several alumni and seniors described early-college programs they credited with college acceptances and scholarships, and said a merge would reduce opportunities for students from low-income families.

Administrators spelled out specific guarantees the district will provide if the board approved consolidation: every current 9th-, 10th- and 11th-grader at the four early-college campuses will automatically have a place at the consolidated Jimmy Carter Early College High School if they choose to attend; current 10th- and 11th-graders may complete the pathway they started; transportation to allow continued participation in extracurriculars at home campuses will remain available; and campus-level decisions about student life, clubs and traditions will be made by the new school community.

On staffing, Chief Miller said the district will follow policy DFFB to place certificated staff and will treat employees from all four campuses "equally and fairly and equitably." She said the program-change vote tonight would allow the district to begin applying the DFFB placement criteria; any list of unfilled positions subject to board action would come back to trustees on March 12. Miller also described a priority transfer window and regular job fairs to help affected non-chapter-21 staff find other positions within the district.

Administrators cited data showing that while some early-college campuses exceed STAAR expectations, associate-degree completion rates have been lower than district goals. Dr. Little said less than 40% of freshman cohorts in a recent full dataset completed an associate degree four years later and that the consolidated model is intended to raise persistence and course success so more students reach degree attainment.

Superintendent Dr. Marcy Sorensen acknowledged the depth of feeling among students and families and said the recommendation was made with "none of this ... taken lightly." The board then approved a resolution to consolidate the four specialty schools into one Early College High School at Jimmy Carter and to initiate the program change process.

What happens next: if the resolution stands, the district will start placing staff under policy DFFB, conduct further analysis on class-rank implications and collect enrollment decisions from current 9th'11th graders and incoming 8th-grade applicants to determine final 2025'26 enrollment. The district said it will continue bilingual outreach and community engagement during the transition.

Votes and formal actions taken at the meeting included multiple procurement approvals and grievance rulings; the consolidation resolution was approved by voice vote. The district recorded the program-change timeline and said further board action on staffing placements is scheduled for March 12.

The board's approval sets in motion the consolidation and starts a process that district leaders say aims to increase the number of students who complete associate degrees while the community and student advocates have vowed to monitor implementation closely.