With four chronically failing high schools under threat of closure in Dallas, Superintendent Michael Hinojosa says he's prepared to go to court to block the state from forcing students to leave their schools.
I know a lot of good lawyers," Hinojosa told parents gathered this week at Seagoville High School, one of the four struggling schools. If the state requires at least 50 percent of students to transfer – a solution available under the law – "I'm gonna fight them on that," Hinojosa said. "We'll do what we gotta do."
Hinojosa's stance comes as pressure mounts over the fate of Seagoville, Kimball, Pinkston and Roosevelt high schools, all of which have repeatedly been labeled "academically unacceptable" by the state and face closure if they don't meet state standards this year.
A plan is due to the Texas Education Agency next month, outlining how the district plans to turn around the four high schools.
Community meetings across the district have revealed intense loyalty among parents who want their children to stay at the schools, whatever the problems.
Thursday, the Dallas Independent School District Board of Trustees unanimously approved a plan that involves creating magnet programs within each of the four schools, in hopes of drawing students who could help boost test scores and graduation rates.
The plan would place a magnet in science, math and engineering at Kimball; a law magnet at Pinkston; an education magnet at Seagoville; and a health and science magnet at Roosevelt.