With two months left in the school year, San Antonio Independent School District plans to close Rhodes Middle School on the west side of the city.
The decision comes two months after the school board approved closing Carvajal Elementary School, which sits on the same lot as Rhodes, located at 3000 Tampico St., separated by some green space.
“We spent a lot of time wrestling with what is right for our students,” said Board President Alicia Sebastian before voting. “Our district has been underfunded, probably since its inception, which has come with many challenges on how we deliver instruction to our most vulnerable students.”
While district leaders have hinted at needing to close more schools in the future, even suggesting plans of tearing Rhodes and Carvajal down to build a new state-of-the-art academy when only Carvajal was on the chopping block, they didn’t publicly announce they were considering shuttering Rhodes until last week. This only gave families a week’s notice before the official vote.
On Monday, SAISD trustees voted 5-2 to close Rhodes, immediately drawing backlash from the crowded room, full of parents and staff who showed up to speak against the closure. Trustees Jacob Ramos and Stephanie Torres were the “no” votes.
District leaders cited similar reasons for closing Carvajal and Rhodes: low enrollment and projected failing academic ratings at the end of the 2025-26 school year.
During the latest round of school ratings, 18 SAISD campuses got failing ratings for the third time in a row. If even one campus gets another bad grade for a fourth consecutive year, SAISD could be subject to state probing.
Getting a failing grade five years in a row requires state takeover, which can mean forcing a school closure, letting an outside group take over the school with a “turnaround” plan or replacing a district’s board and superintendent with state-appointed leaders.
Even though SAISD is expecting most of its “priority” campuses to earn improved ratings this year, a handful of campuses like Rhodes and Carvajal are projected to get yet another failing rating.
If SAISD’s board hadn’t approved the middle school’s closure, they likely would have allowed Third Future Schools, a nonprofit charter school known for its turnaround model, to take over Rhodes.
“Many of these schools have had multiple years of academically unacceptable performance, and what saved several of them was during COVID there was a year that many schools got a C-rating, which reset the clock,” said Deputy Superintendent Shawn Bird. “It has been a problem for many years, and we have to reverse that trajectory for our students.”
What happens next?
Rhodes first opened its doors in 1954 and over 96% of students are considered economically disadvantaged, according to state data.
The school still has an allocated $47.4 million in unspent 2020 bond dollars, but current cost estimates put campus renovations $19 million over budget. The school is also under-enrolled, serving 391 students at a campus with capacity for 717.
Without taking academics into account, the district was still spending too much money to keep the campus running, since public school funding is based on enrollment and attendance.
Rhodes students will be transferred over to Tafolla Middle School, roughly two miles away, but students can apply to enroll anywhere in the district through SAISD’s school choice program. This program had a priority deadline of Feb. 16, but the district’s website says families can still apply and be added to waitlists.
Bird said the office of access and enrollment will work with Rhodes families and proactively reach out to them in case they don’t want to attend Tafolla.
On top of offering the usual electives and programs, Rhodes had a large fine arts program, including marching, concert and jazz band, ballet folklorico, mariachi and visual arts. It was also known for having a strong technology focus with robotics and gaming programs.
Tearing down Rhodes and neighboring Carvajal, which also has millions in unspent bond funds, to build one big pre-K to 8 academy would be the most cost-effective option, district leaders say. This would also mark a start to SAISD’s “new way forward” plan, which entails tearing down the district’s many outdated buildings, building modern learning hubs and potentially asking voters to pass another bond.
Currently operating around 80 buildings, Superintendent Jaime Aquino has several times said the district should have closer to 50 based on enrollment. But most of those buildings wouldn’t have the capacity to host various student programs or meet required standards that came about years after several of SAISD’s facilities were built.
That’s part of the reason why doing a mass “rightsizing” process like SAISD did in 2023 is not in the cards right now, officials say.
Third-party administrator to operate 3 SAISD schools
When students go to Tafolla on the first day of school for the 2026-27 school year, the school will be very different than it was before.
Right after the board voted to close Rhodes, the board approved to enter into a contract with charter school operator Third Future Schools to take over three community schools, including Tafolla Middle School, Hirsh Elementary School and Ogden Elementary School, all campuses that have gotten failing ratings three years in a row.
That motion passed 5-2 with Ramos and Torres voting against the decision.
The lucrative partnership would draw down thousands in additional state funds for each campus under what’s known as an 1882 partnership.
These partnerships, created under Senate Bill 1882 in 2017, allow school districts to partner with education nonprofits, charter operators and public universities to implement innovative models or turn around a campus.
SAISD is the largest 1882 partner district in the state, with over 20 partnerships meant to breed innovation and draw down more funding for specialized resources at those campuses.
Third Future Schools was founded in 2016 by Mike Miles, who a few years ago was appointed by the state to lead Houston ISD after the district was taken over by the Texas Education Agency. It’s also the only TEA-approved partner to implement turnaround models at failing schools and has a presence in Colorado and Louisiana.
Bird, who worked at Houston ISD before it was taken over, warned that the state would be likely to intervene at SAISD if any of its campuses got a fourth failing rating in a row.
In December, the state announced it was taking over districts in Beaumont, Lake Worth and Connally. A few months before that, the state took over Forth Worth Independent School District over a failing school the district had already closed on its own.
State takeover was not required by law in those cases, and SAISD officials worry their district could be next.
Last year, a Spectrum News investigation found that the charter operator Third Future Schools siphoned part of its Texas funds to Colorado to help with a budget shortfall there — a point several parents, teachers and community leaders brought up on Monday night.
Once partnering with Beaumont ISD, Third Future cut its contract short due to uneven revenue concerns.
In February, the board voted to let the superintendent enter into contract negotiations with Third Future Schools with the stipulation that the charter engage with at least three quarters of families enrolled at each campus set for takeover.
Last week, the district sent a letter to families from Hirsh, Ogden, Tafolla and Rhodes notifying them that their campuses were likely to turn into Third Future campuses.
The move is unpopular with parents and the San Antonio Alliance, SAISD’s teacher and staff union, because of the short notice. Parents and teachers said they also felt like they were losing local control of their schools with an 1882 partner moving in.
“The decision came late because I was trying to give [Rhodes, Tafolla, Ogden and Hirsch] every opportunity to improve,” Bird said. “We just do not have data suggesting they’re going to come out.”
Criticism of the operator also focuses on its model: longer school days, one 60-minute elective during the school day with some after-school electives, and a hyperfocus on improving reading and math scores.
Zach Caddock, superintendent for Third Future School, was present at Monday’s meeting to address questions from the board. He said schools would be open from 6:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day, with classes running from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Caddock said the operator was committed to keeping the mariachi program and staying open 184 days a year, even during weather emergency days when other schools close, without hiring substitute teachers to make sure students aren’t being taught by uncertified educators.
Other electives would be based on student demand.
“Our instructional model is really the only difference,” Caddock said.
All staff members at affected campuses will have to reapply for their positions if they want to stay at their campuses.
Several parents at Monday’s meeting said they would withdraw their students from the new Third Future campuses.
