LIVE OAK, Texas – The Judson Independent School District school board will gather for a special meeting Saturday to discuss, in part, which schools will be shut down by the end of the school year.
According to a publicly available online agenda, the board will discuss the future of seven campuses:
Recommended Videos
- Kitty Hawk Middle School/JSTEM Academy
- Judson Middle School
- Park Village Blended Learning Academy
- Ed Franz Leadership Academy
- Woodlake Elementary School
- Fine Arts Academy at Olympia Elementary School
- Spring Meadows Elementary School/Spring Meadows College Prep
From the list of seven campuses, the board previously voted to close four during a Feb. 9 meeting: one middle school and three elementary schools.
Judson ISD Interim Superintendent Mary Duhart-Toppen, who replaced the recently terminated Milton “Rob” Fields III earlier this month, is expected to formally present the list of schools to board members Saturday.
The district is considering these moves to cut costs while it faces a $37 million deficit for the 2025-26 academic year.
Following Saturday’s meeting, board members are scheduled to hold another special meeting on Monday to vote on the closures of the four schools.
If trustees vote to close Kitty Hawk Middle School next week, a district spokesperson confirmed to KSAT on Wednesday that students at the JSTEM Academy would be moved to another district middle school.
‘Legal issues’ also under consideration
Two other items on Saturday’s special board meeting agenda include a closed-door discussion with district lawyers regarding separate “legal issues” pertaining to Judson ISD Board President Monica Ryan and Judson ISD Board Trustee José Macias, Jr.
Last month, Macias requested a special meeting to start an investigation into abuse of board authority and employee intimidation allegations against Ryan.
“I am not saying that she has conducted herself inappropriately,” Macias told KSAT Investigates in a January text message. “I am asking that we determine if those allegations have merit.”
In a Jan. 14 Facebook post, Ryan said she was accused of having her children taught alone in a classroom, having a college professor come to teach her children and petitioning the school board to hire a teacher.
“Disgusting does not even begin to describe learning that a fellow board member has shared false claims about my children with members of the public and, now, with media outlets,” Ryan said in the post, in part.
According to Saturday’s agenda, at least one “employee” lodged a “complaint” against Macias. At this time, the nature of the complaint is unclear.
More recent Judson ISD coverage on KSAT: