Board approves Shepherd Middle School turnaround plan, installs new leadership and NIET support

The South San Antonio Independent School District Board of Trustees approved a turnaround plan for Shepherd Middle School following a presentation by district leaders on June 16, 2025. The plan responds to Shepherd’s second consecutive unacceptable rating (an “F”) under state accountability and its designation as a comprehensive support campus for falling in the bottom 5% on Domain 3, Closing the Gaps.

District staff presented a needs assessment that identified inconsistent instructional leadership and low expectations for student outcomes as primary root causes. The assessment, compiled from campus data, staff and parent focus groups, and statewide accountability results, said teachers on Shepherd had been allowed to use multiple, misaligned curricula and that accountability systems and communication were weak.

To address those problems, the plan installs a new campus leadership team — a new principal, assistant principal and two master teachers — and partners Shepherd with the National Institute for Excellence in Teaching (NIET) for leadership development and coaching. The district will train teachers on lesson-internalization protocols and high-quality instructional materials; implement a balanced-assessment system; require weekly cluster meetings and regular classroom walk-throughs; and use beginning-of-year data as a baseline for progress monitoring.

Board members were told the turnaround plan will be funded in part by the Effective Schools Framework grant, the Strong Foundations grant and Title I funds. The plan also commits to quarterly stakeholder review meetings, student voice panels and progress monitoring dashboards. The presentation noted the campus already has a newly assigned principal who has begun meeting staff and setting expectations.

The board voted to approve the plan as presented. The motion was made by Board Member Pardo and seconded by Dr. Kelly Murguia; the roll call vote recorded all seven board managers as voting yes. The plan will now move into implementation with district monitoring and external support from NIET.

The district will present ongoing progress data to the board at regular intervals; staff said quarterly stakeholder meetings will also invite community input and updates on implementation.

The approval follows the district’s recent focus on strengthening academic leadership and aligning curriculum and assessments districtwide.