Wanting to hold students more “accountable,” the school board at Judson Independent School District backtracked on a previous rule that let middle schoolers fail math or reading and still move on to the next grade level.
The new policy, passed in a 5-1 vote on Thursday, requires that students score an overall average of 70 in all their classes and a grade of 70 or above in English, math and science or social studies.
“I definitely think it’s the way we need to go,” said Kristin Saunders, chief instructional officer at Judson, during the meeting. “Is it going to be uncomfortable? 100%. It’s always uncomfortable. … the reality is we have to draw a line in the sand.”
But the revised policy isn’t exactly new to Judson. The district had a similar rule until 2024, when the board decided students could fail math or English and be promoted to the next level as long as they had an overall average of 70 in other classes and were passing three other core subjects.
School district officials at the time recommended loosening the requirements, citing “harsh” and unintended consequences. Then-Deputy Superintendent Mary Duhart-Toppen said some students were reaching 15 or 16 years of age without being able to leave middle school.
Then-Superintendent Milton Fields, who was fired earlier this year, also said failing students led to increased potential for high school dropouts.
At the time, Saunders agreed loosening the policy was “in the best interest of kids.” She argued that the policy unfairly penalized students who showed content mastery on the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR), but who were failing their actual courses.
“We’re talking about kids who can master math and reading but who do not want to turn in an assignment or who are late with an assignment or whatever the case may be,” Saunders said in 2024.
Had Judson not changed its policy in 2024, officials said more than 1,800 middle school students would’ve been held back a grade level, so the board voted 5-2 to loosen the rule, with trustees Monica Ryan and Laura Stanford voting no.
“I’m not really interested in lowering the bar,” Ryan said at the time.
But Judson ISD’s leadership looks different now.
Fields was officially fired in April after a month-long saga that ended in a report that found he mismanaged the district. Duhart-Toppen is no longer on the district’s cabinet and is currently the lead principal at the district’s Metzger Middle School, according to the school’s staff page.
The school board make-up is also different, with four trustees who weren’t on the board in 2024, and Ryan is currently serving as board president.
Judson also has an Interim Superintendent, Ann Dixon, who’s filling in until the board decides to launch a search for a permanent leader.
Ryan brought the middle school promotion policy recommendation forward to undo the changes from 2024. She said requiring students to pass both math and English, along with one other core subject aligns board policy with Judson’s focus on academic growth.
“Instead of looking at the underlying academic problems, we lowered the promotion standard,” Ryan said of the 2024 policy during Thursday’s meeting.
Judson currently has a low C rating from the state, meaning it’s barely passing Texas’ academic standards.
While the district’s academics performance on state tests have steadily improved in recent years, Judson has two schools, Metzger Middle School and Hartman Elementary, with four consecutive F ratings. A fifth failed rating comes with steep penalties — either school closure or state intervention.
Judson students who were in seventh or eighth grade in 2024, when the board made it easier for them to pass to the next grade level, would be sophomores and juniors now and would have taken STAAR end-of-course exams such as Algebra I and English I at the end of the 2025-26 school year.
While English I and Algebra I scores improved from 2025 to 2026, Judson is still significantly behind the region and state.
For the 2026 Algebra I exam, 31% of Judson students who took the test scored on grade level, compared to 51% across the San Antonio region. On the English I test, 41% of Judson test takers met grade level compared to 54% across the region.
Ryan says holding students more accountable could improve overall student achievement and prepare students more, and having at least a 70 in all core subjects is already an expectation for students in extracurriculars like sports and band.
Dixon, Saunders and most of Judson’s board agreed. Ryan’s recommendation passed 5-1, with Trustee Jose Macias Jr. voting against the change. Trustee Suzanne Kenoyer was absent.
Macias was on the board in 2024 and was supportive of relaxing the middle school retention and promotion guidelines at the time.
“To hold a student back for being low in one class could actually have a detrimental impact on their growth,” Macias said. “There could be drop out. There could be all kinds of things. And that’s why we wanted to enforce sort of a continual growth mindset with student development in middle school.”
Ryan pointed to other area-districts requiring middle schoolers to pass both math and reading, like Alamo Heights ISD, San Antonio ISD and East Central ISD, districts that are academically performing better based on state ratings.
“We got to start holding students and parents accountable, too. Everybody has a part of this,” she said.
“It’s a double-edged sword,” said Saunders. “We’re doing a disservice by promoting students that are not prepared for the next grade level. We are also doing them a disservice by retaining them if we have not provided all the interventions.”
This story first appeared in the San Antonio Report.