Edgewood Independent School District is taking back the keys to three of its campuses after a yearslong experiment with outside managers failed to deliver the turnaround leaders were hoping for.
On Monday, trustees voted to end the partnerships that handed day-to-day control of Las Palmas Leadership School for Girls, Roy Cisneros Leadership Elementary and Gus Garcia University School to external operators. The district will run all three schools again starting this fall, following years of uneven test scores and a recent slide in attendance.
Board Votes To Cut Ties With Outside Operators
The Edgewood board voted to terminate its SB 1882 agreements with the Texas Council for International Studies and with Texas A&M University–San Antonio’s Institute for School and Community Partnerships, shifting the campuses back under district control, according to the San Antonio Express-News.
Superintendent Eduardo Hernández told the paper the move is aimed at "long-term sustainability" and said families should not see major changes when classes resume in the fall. The Express-News also reported that the three campuses received failing 2025 state accountability ratings and that, on the same night, trustees approved a $98.6 million budget for the 2026–27 school year.
How The Partnerships Started
Edgewood embraced SB 1882 partnerships in recent years as a strategy to bring in outside expertise for its Schools of Innovation. The district contracted with the Texas Council for International Studies to operate Las Palmas and Roy Cisneros starting in 2021, and granted a charter to Texas A&M–San Antonio’s institute to operate Gus Garcia in 2020.
Those agreements and the academic programs they brought in were detailed when A&M–San Antonio signed on to the Gus Garcia partnership in 2020, as reported by the San Antonio Report. The district’s own Schools of Innovation materials, available from Edgewood ISD, describe how the campuses were structured under those deals.
State Scrutiny Tightens On SB 1882 Deals
The Texas Education Agency has been tightening the bar for districts that want SB 1882 benefits after mixed academic outcomes from some operators.
In a May 28 letter to Austin ISD, the Texas Education Agency said the Texas Council for International Studies had not shown the consistent track record required to run turnaround campuses. The agency spelled out what it expects from operating partners, including demonstrated capacity and a history of lifting campuses to academic gains, and noted that some applicants are not meeting that standard.
The letter underscored that districts now face sharper scrutiny when they pitch outside partners to the state.
Budget Pressure, Attendance Slide
On the financial side, Edgewood officials said trustees adopted a $98.6 million budget for 2026–27 that includes a 2% pay raise but still projects a $3.2 million deficit. Administrators told the board that modest improvements in attendance would be enough to close the gap.
Attendance had recovered after the pandemic, but during the 2025–26 school year it slipped to about 89 percent, a dip district leaders flagged as a significant strain on revenue, according to the Express-News coverage.
What Changes For Families And Staff
District leaders say the handoff back to Edgewood control will feel less dramatic inside classrooms than it might sound on a board agenda. Officials expect most classroom staff and daily routines at the three campuses to stay in place once operations return to the district.
Edgewood will maintain its existing agreement with Texas A&M–San Antonio for the Burleson adult-transition program, which is not affected by Monday’s vote.
At the same time, the board has not sworn off outside operators altogether. Earlier this year, trustees approved a partnership with Third Future Schools to run Brentwood Middle School, a turnaround move that has stirred community debate over how far the district should go with charter-style arrangements. Details of that deal and the wider innovation strategy are outlined by Edgewood ISD and covered by Texas Public Radio.
For now, district leaders say bringing Las Palmas, Roy Cisneros and Gus Garcia back under local control is meant to give them a steadier footing as administrators try to boost test scores and attendance. Trustees did not lay out a day-by-day transition plan in public materials, but the operational switch will take effect when schools reopen this fall, and Edgewood will be expected to show progress under state accountability rules.
