La Joya ISD reports mixed high-school readiness results, sets enrollment window Jan. 12–Feb. 6
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Summary
District staff reported TSI college-readiness is slightly below target (26% vs. 31%), associate-degree progress is on track, freshmen-on-track is narrowly on target, and the district is launching an enrollment and transfer window from Jan. 12 to Feb. 6 to address a decade-long 27% enrollment decline.
Dr. Derek Little presented the Lone Star governance GPMs for La Joya ISD’s high schools on Jan. 9, reporting mixed results across college-readiness and completion measures and outlining a coordinated enrollment and transfer timeline to improve planning for staffing and budgets.
"We're sitting right now at 26, and our target for the year is 31," Dr. Little said of the district's TSI measure of students passing both reading and math college-readiness exams, calling that indicator "slightly off track." He described targeted summer and in-year supports (after-school programs, camps, and content interventions) to raise performance.
Dr. Little said nearly 12% of students were on track to earn an associate degree based on fall data and that 27% of students already have industry-based credentials in hand; he emphasized that some credentials cannot be earned until later in the school year or after students turn 18.
On the freshmen-on-track measure, the district is "on track" but narrowly so, and attendance remains the largest single driver of students being off track. Dr. Little said the district has added attendance specialists, freshman success coaches, testing strategists and CCMR coaches to meet students' needs and will run student-by-student audits to tailor interventions.
To improve planning and recruitment, the administration told families it will open a consolidated online enrollment, transfer and course-selection window from Monday, Jan. 12 through Feb. 6; the administration said that alignment will give budget and staffing teams timely data. Dr. Little noted that pre-K eligibility is constrained by state rules (districts cannot determine pre-K eligibility before April 1).
He also flagged a long-term enrollment decline: "27% enrollment loss in a decade, that's 8,000 students," and said the district will combine outreach and in-person support (in English and Spanish) during the enrollment sprint to bring families back and to recruit new students.
The board asked for access to the engagement questions gathered in community sessions; Dr. Little said a summary of recurring themes and administration responses will be part of a Jan. 21 presentation and can be shared earlier on request.
The presentation included program updates — P-TECH expansion, a new culinary kitchen at Juarez Lincoln and coaching support from the National Center for Collegiate Success (University of Chicago partnership) — and noted no additional funding requests for the highlighted investments; they are already in the budget.