Austin ISD board members will consider handing three chronically failing middle schools to an outside nonprofit as the district races to avoid potential state intervention if the campuses receive another failing grade.

The group under consideration, Texas Council for International Studies operates through the state’s SB 1882 partnership campuses in several Texas districts, where results have been mixed. Burnet, Webb and Dobie middle schools are approaching a critical threshold in Texas’ accountability system. If any of the campuses receive a fifth consecutive failing grade under the state’s accountability system, state law allows the state education commissioner to either close the school or install a state-appointed board of managers to replace the district’s elected school board.

District leaders say a partnership with the nonprofit group, which would work in collaboration with Region 1 Education Service Center, could begin this fall and last three school years. Trustees are expected to discuss the proposal Thursday and could vote later this month. Austin ISD must submit an application for SB 1882 benefits by March 31 naming its proposed partner to the Texas Education Agency.

Whether the organization can quickly lift Austin ISD’s chronically struggling campuses remains a central question as the district tries to beat the state deadline that could determine whether it keeps local control.

Under Texas law, surrendering operations of chronically failing schools to an outside organization is one of the last options districts can use to avoid broader state intervention. If approved, the partnership would give each school a two-year reprieve from state accountability ratings while the partner organization works to improve the schools’ standardized test performance.

For years, Burnet Webb and Dobie have sat at the center of Austin ISD’s most persistent academic challenges. The campuses serve some of the district’s highest concentrations of low-income students, and have struggled for years to raise standardized test scores enough to escape failing ratings.

Community meetings are scheduled Wednesday at the schools ahead of Thursday’s board discussion, giving families and staff a chance to question the proposal before trustees consider next steps.

Texas Council for International Studies has worked with several districts through the state’s Texas Partnerships program, created under SB 1882 in 2017. Schools listed on the nonprofit’s website include partnerships in Edgewood, Longview and San Antonio school districts. The program allows districts to bring in outside organizations to operate campuses while receiving additional state funding tied to the partnership.

According to their website, Texas Council for International Studies was founded as a partner organization focused on supporting students and schools implementing the International Baccalaureate programs in Texas as the number of IB schools grew.

Region 1 Education Service Center, which TCIS selected as an advising partner, is one of 20 regional service centers established by the Texas Legislature in 1967 to provide training, consulting and other services to school districts.

Neither TCIS nor Region 1 ESC responded to a request for comment.

The nonprofit group currently operates seven schools in San Antonio, the district with the most SB 1882 partnerships statewide. Those campuses entered the partnerships with ratings ranging from C to F under the Texas Education Agency’s accountability system.

Some campuses have seen uneven improvement since the partnerships began in 2019. But last October, San Antonio ISD placed the partnership at Woodlawn Academy and Woodlawn Hills Elementary on probation after the schools continued receiving D or F accountability ratings beginning the 2022-23 school year.

State law allows districts to pursue these partnerships as part of turnaround efforts for chronically low-performing schools. Districts also can pursue them to launch new academic programs at high performing schools. Either approach brings additional per student funding from the state tied to the partnership.

An Austin Current review of Texas Education Agency accountability ratings from 2019 through 2025 found five of 15 schools currently operated by the Texas Council for International Studies had entered their partnerships with D or F accountability ratings in their most recent rating before the partnership. The analysis excludes the 2019-20 and 2020-21 school years, when campuses weren’t rated because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Of those, three received a failing rating in the last school year. Another, which began with a C rating, was rated an F in the most recent rating.

The uneven outcomes have prompted a former school board member to question whether the model has consistently delivered the kind of rapid turnaround required for campuses facing repeated failing ratings.

Joshua Jeon, executive director of governance, accountability and board services, said district leaders carefully evaluated the organization’s proposal and track record, particularly in turning schools around.

District administrators also visited schools operated by the potential partner to observe its work first hand, Jeon said. He declined to say how many organizations responded to the district’s request for proposals or were considered, citing the ongoing procurement process.

Austin Current previously requested records identifying bidders for the request for proposals the district issued last fall in search of potential partners. The application window closed in October, according to the request for proposal. However, the district asked the Texas Attorney General’s Office to determine whether the information must be released publicly.

“We know that Dobie, Webb and Burnet have made great progress this year, but we are sitting at four unacceptable ratings,” Jeon said. “We are in a situation where we need to quickly turn those campuses around, so we are looking for that.”

District administrators also weighed community input through community meetings and a survey, Jeon said. Additional meetings this week will allow members of the school communities to ask staff questions and integrate such input before the board votes to finalize the partnership.

For Austin ISD, the decision carries consequences far beyond the three campuses. If the schools don’t demonstrate two ratings worth of progress by the end of the year and the Texas Education Agency rejects the partnership, the future governance of one of Texas’ large urban school districts could ultimately be decided by state officials rather than local voters.