La Joya ISD consolidates early college high schools, associate degree programs

LA JOYA — The school board here voted Wednesday evening to approve the consolidation of all four of its early college high school programs and changing the associate degree programs, streamlining offerings down to four options to improve student outcomes and associate degree attainment.

The board voted unanimously on the consolidation.

The plan aims to merge La Joya Early College High School, Thelma Salinas STEM Early College High School, and the Academy of Health Science Professions and STEM into the Jimmy Carter Early College High School for the 2025-2026 school year.

Enrollment at each of the schools currently ranges from around 300 to 400 students with Thelma Salinas having 469, Jimmy Carter with 326, Health Science Professions at 340 and La Joya Early College at 388, according to the district.

The degree pathways at the early college high schools will also be consolidated down from eight different options to four “high-impact” pathways

The decision had pushback, with several students and parents making their voice heard during public comments.

“Take a second and imagine a place you called your second home, a place that shaped your identity and where you learned from failure and celebrated successes,” Brisa Bernal, a junior at Academy of Health Science Professions and STEM, said during public comments. “Think about the people that have supported you. Your teachers that saw your potential and pushed you to do better … Imagine all of that being stripped away from you without any warning.

“Without any regard for your hard work and without any regard to the impact it will have on your future … think about the employees who will lose their livelihoods. That is the reality we are currently facing and it feels like betrayal.”

Brisa Bernal, a junior at Academy of Health Science Professions and STEM, speaks during public comments Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025, at La Joya ISD’s board meeting. (Courtesy La Joya ISD)

La Joya ISD Superintendent Marcey Sorenson said she understood the passion and concerns expressed by the public regarding the consolidation.

“None of our decisions are taken lightly,” she said.

Sorenson said the goal is improving outcomes for students, which is what the consolidation aims to do.

“I’m charged with making a recommendation to the board that improves those student outcomes for what that particular space is designed to do. Which is 100%, which is the goal of students achieving associate degrees,” Sorenson said.

La Joya Chief of Academics and School Leadership Derek Little gave a presentation breaking down the rationale of the recommendation to consolidate to improve outcomes for students and the data behind it.

The presentation listed that the district’s early college programs are currently duplicating offerings across the high schools, has unsatisfactory collegiate outcomes and is inefficient.

“Despite the incredible success stories that you heard from some of our individual students and alumni, across the population of students and the cohorts that we have, we aren’t getting the outcomes that our students deserve,” Little said. “So we have to think about, how do we improve those opportunities?”

Across the four early college programs, students choose from eight different pathways which include interdisciplinary studies, biology, computer science, criminal justice, mathematics, mechanical engineering, physics and teaching.

The consolidation lowers student options to four pathways which are interdisciplinary studies, biology, teaching and mechanical engineering.

Little said the four pathways combined account for 90% of recent associate degree graduates.

Data from fall 2023 showed that dual enrollment students across the district had an average cumulative GPA of 2.80 with nearly 15% making unsatisfactory progress.

Data also showed that less than half of students that started a program as a freshman in 2019-2020 attained an associate degree in 2022-2023.

The La Joya school board is seen during a meeting Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. (Courtesy La Joya ISD)

In the 2022-2023 school year, 71% of the degrees earned are concentrated in just one of the previously offered 10 pathways, with three pathways having no graduates.

“We got to stay transparent,” he said. “We got to stay rigorous and committed to this, because we should have many more students in La Joya being able to be part of the success stories that you heard, thinking about the opportunities that they have for the lifetime after they finished school with us.”

La Joya Chief of Human Capital and Talent Development Jaime Miller also gave a presentation on the process of staffing for the new consolidated early high school and what employees can expect.

“I understand the impact that this may have on our staff,” Miller said. “I understand that we have dedicated teachers that our students pointed out and staff members that not only have responsibilities for their job, but responsibilities to families and to the community. I want you to know that we do not see this as a list of positions on the page … We see it as people and we want to really be human in this process.”

The presentation states that a program change policy determines how staff are selected for the new early college high school. The policy uses five criteria to determine staff assignments. Those are qualifications, performance, extra duties, professional background and seniority.

It also states that anyone that does not secure an assignment at the new high school will be able to participate in a property transfer window/job fair for other openings or during a regular transfer window/job fair.

In an email response to The Monitor, the district is expecting to create a facilities master plan and review that will help inform facility usage and needs across the district that includes the Abraham Lincoln building, which housed the Thelma Salinas STEM Early College High School, and the Academy of Health Science Professions and STEM.

The response also stated that any savings from the consolidation plan will not be known until after students complete their commitment for next year and the application process. Final enrollment will then determine staffing needs and then any financial impacts.

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