By Edmond Ortiz
The Judson Independent School District board, in separate votes Feb. 16, chose to close Judson Middle School and opted to pick a new interim superintendent, but the meeting included more heated exchanges between trustees and the removal of one board member from the session.
School closure
The Judson ISD board has recently ramped up discussions around shuttering multiple campuses in order to help reduce the district’s $35 million-plus budget shortfall.
According to JISD administrators, 53% of the Judson Middle School campus is currently being utilized, and that number is expected not to change up or down through the end of this decade. Judson Middle School presently has 744 students.
While JISD leaders also explored shuttering Kitty Hawk Middle School and its JSTEM Academy, they opted to focus on Judson Middle School, a 40-year-old campus whose overall physical condition rates poorly.
District officials said they would have to spend an estimated $70 million to make necessary repairs at the campus. Closing Judson Middle, on the other hand, would save JISD $7 million.
Many parents, staff and JISD leaders have said they understand tough decisions must be taken to address the district’s deficit, but that closing any campus – much less multiple schools – without a carefully crafted consolidation plan will adversely affect employees, students and the community.
The board voted 6-0 to approve Judson Middle’s closure.
“It’s a difficult decision that we are making and I am not happy about any of it, but it is my job to sit here and make decisions that are in the best interests of the district,” trustee Suzanne Kenoyer said.
In December 2024, trustees approved a cost-cutting measure by moving the JSTEM Academy and its 400-plus student population from Judson Middle School to Kitty Hawk Middle School.
District officials said relocating JSTEM Academy helped to provide equitable student distribution as part of the opening of Cibolo Creek Middle School at the start of the current academic year.
Board President Monica Ryan said the rezoning of students to Cibolo Creek Middle School, and moving the JSTEM Academy to Kitty Hawk Middle has yielded positive results.
“What has emerged (at Kitty Hawk and JSTEM) is a vibrant, unified community,” she added.
Ryan said the school board will soon address administrators’ recommendations to close three of five elementary campuses before the next academic year: Park Village Blended Learning Academy, Ed Franz Leadership Academy, Woodlake Elementary, Fine Arts Academy at Olympia Elementary, or Spring Meadows Elementary/Spring Meadows College Prep.
Interim superintendent selection
After the school closure vote, Ryan moved to have the board enter an executive session to discuss a new interim superintendent even though trustees voted Feb. 4 to appoint Mary Duhart-Toppen interim superintendent following the firing of Superintendent Milton Fields.
Kenoyer immediately questioned the process by which the school board was proceeding to tap another district leader, adding that the move would further “destabilize” JISD, where many community members are already puzzled by Fields’ ouster.
“I’m just acknowledging the perception and the optics out there,” Kenoyer said. “There’s a perception that the process was pushed and strong-armed, and that voices were shut down and not allowed to be fully heard. There is a sense of a lack of transparency and board involvement, and there is a perception that this was done around us.”
Kenoyer said she had no issue with the interviewed interim superintendent candidate – Robert Jaklich – but she questioned Ryan and other trustees and their actions. An argument ensued between Kenoyer and Ryan.
As Kenoyer sought to continue her comments and queries via parliamentary procedure, Ryan signaled to have a police officer remove Kenoyer from the meeting room as the exchange between the two board members escalated.
When Kenoyer rejected calls to leave the room, Ryan had the board go into closed session. Kenoyer then left the building, not returning for the rest of the meeting.
Following the lengthy closed session, trustee Jose Macias, who was absent from the meeting and tending to his regular job during the school closure vote, appeared and chided Ryan for ordering Kenoyer’s removal.
Macias then exchanged words with Ryan and trustee Amanda Poteet, saying there was an appearance of collusion within a narrow board majority on recent key decisions, such as the firing of Milton Fields and the selection of a second interim superintendent since Fields’ termination.
Macias also echoed Kenoyer’s concerns about how the board has conducted business in recent months. He and Ryan, through board votes on Feb. 14, authorized internal investigations into each other as to whether either person violated any codes governing the school district.
“Voices have been muted, voices have been ignored,” Macias said. “There’s a perception that we are not working as a team.”
Like Kenoyer, Macias said he had no personal issue with Jaklich, but opposed the appointment of another interim superintendent. The board approved the move anyway, 5-1, with Macias in dissent and Kenoyer absent.
District leaders did not say how long Jaklich will lead Judson ISD. He previously was superintendent of the Harlandale and Victoria independent school districts before serving as interim superintendent of the San Antonio Independent School District.
Trustee Laura Stanford said Jaklich appears ready to guide JISD during a tumultuous time when many employees feel demoralized, and community members’ trust is low.
“I have hope that this will help us turn a corner, and that bridges can be mended,” she added.
