The Killeen Independent School District is shutting down three campuses that have served the community’s children for decades.
KISD’s board of trustees approved a series of measures during an Oct. 28 meeting, as part of the KISD’s plan for District Optimization — a strategy to address the loss of federal funding and declining enrollment. The measures adopted by the board include eliminating campus programs, implementing intervention models, and multiple campus closures.
Here is a look at the schools that are closing.
Peebles
Having opened in 1960, KISD will close Peebles Elementary School at the end of the 2025-26 school year, after more than 60 years of operation. The district will rezone Peebles students to Brookhaven Elementary School, Cavazos Elementary School, Clifton Park Elementary School and Killeen Elementary School.
Principal Shakira Bodon currently leads Peebles, a campus, which, according to the Texas Education Agency, has a total student enrollment of 457 as of the 2024-25 school year.
Peebles’ state accountability scores have increased steadily over the past few years, rising from an F to a B. The elementary school earned a 59 for the 2022-23 school year, followed by a 68 in 2023-24. Most recently, the elementary school earned an 81 for the 2024-25 school year.
Olin Parker, a partner with Civic Solutions Group — a consulting firm comprised of former education and government officials with whom the district has partnered since February to develop District Optimization scenarios — presented his recommendations to the board during an Oct. 21 workshop.
The original recommendation called for closing both Hay Branch Elementary School and Peebles. The combined closures would save KISD around $45 million over the next five years.
Parker said that both campuses are aging facilities and that the schools that would receive the Peebles and Hay Branch students are more efficient.
According to his presentation, most Hay Branch students would be moved from F-rated to A-rated facilities.
Additionally, Parker said there is strong community support for closing both campuses.
KISD previously launched a survey on District Optimization. Available from Aug. 26 to Oct. 3, the district gathered feedback from nearly 1,300 community members on the recommendations.
Parker’s presentation showed that a little over 60% of respondents to KISD’s survey — including parents, staff and community members — favored closing Peebles and Hay Branch.
The board, however, opted not to close Hay Branch, at least for now.
Before the vote on Tuesday evening, Trustee Oliver Mintz proposed a modification to the recommendations regarding Hay Branch. Citing several concerns, including the economic impacts the closure could have, Mintz suggested that the board delay Hay Branch’s closure.
“The northern area of our district has become neglected economically, and it’s kind of fallen into some state of disrepair,” Mintz said. “If you look at that area, there’s nothing there. I think removing a school from there will have a deleterious effect on the community.”
Following some discussion by the trustees, Mintz made a motion to move forward with implementing the District Optimization plan as presented, with the exception of keeping Hay Branch open for at least one more year.
Mintz’s motion narrowly passed with four trustees in favor and three in opposition. The district will move forward with the Peebles Closure.
Middle school closures
The district will also close Palo Alto and Eastern Hills middle schools at the end of the year. KISD will then begin to prepare Palo Alto for use as a District Alternative Education Placement (DAEP) campus.
According to Parker, the plurality of students from Eastern Hills will be rezoned to Nolan Middle School, with some heading to Manor Middle School, Union Grove Middle School, and Rancier Middle School. Students from Palo Alto will likewise be rezoned to nearby middle schools.
Parker said that closing both campuses will save the district around $19 million over the next five years.
However, he said, for this recommendation, staff support for the closures outweighs community support.
According to the survey, around 53% of staff support the closure while only around 42% percent of parents and community members support this scenario. Around 46% of respondents said they favored the recommendation.
Both Eastern Hills and Palo Alto have a history of low performance.
KISD first opened Eastern Hills in 1987, a campus currently led by principal Julie Sims. As of the 2024-25 school year, the campus has a total student enrollment of 586.
Eastern Hills earned a 63 (a D) in the state’s accountability ratings for the 2022-23 school year, dropping to a 57 (an F) for 2023-24. Most recently, the campus earned a 58 for the 2024-25 school year.
Scores of 59 and below are F; while 60-69 is a D.
According to KISD’s head spokeswoman, Karen Rudolph, there has been public discussion about turning Eastern Hills into a future Harker Heights Elementary School. However, there are no definitive plans for the facility at this time.
Palo Alto first opened in 1995 and is currently led by principal Christina Harris.
With a student enrollment of 781 as of the 2024-25 school year, Palo Alto has performed similarly to Eastern Hills in the past few years.
For 2022-23 accountability scores, Palo Alto had a 61, followed by 59 in both the 2023-24 and 2024-25 school years.
Failure at these campuses has caught the state’s attention.
TEA warning
The Texas Education Agency recently ordered KISD to create a plan by Nov. 14 to address its failing middle schools. In addition to Palo Alto and Eastern Hills, this includes Manor Middle School, which received an F in 2023, 2024 and 2025.
TEA’s Deputy Commissioner of Governance Steve Lecholop issued a letter dated Sept. 3 to King Davis, KISD’s interim superintendent, and KISD’s board president, Brett E Williams, regarding turnaround plan requirements for campuses that received a second- and third-consecutive unacceptable rating.
Lecholop stated that if a campus has been identified as “unacceptable” for two years in a row, the commissioner shall order the campus to prepare and submit a campus turnaround plan, which includes Eastern Hills.
However, the district is required by TEA to both develop and implement a turnaround plan for Manor and Palo Alto, as the two campuses received an unacceptable rating for three consecutive years.
According to Lechelop, if a campus fails to improve and earns an unacceptable rating for five consecutive school years, the commissioner must either appoint a board of managers to govern the school system or order the campus’s closure.
During KISD’s final town hall on District Optimization, Davis said the TEA commissioner can appoint a conservator to oversee the district due to three consecutive years of failure.
He added that this move, which is ultimately the commissioner’s decision, would result in diminished local control of the district.
Manor Middle School
On Sept. 12, Davis sent a statement to KISD families notifying them of Lechelop’s letter to the district and the possible routes the district could take to improve the identified campuses, including implementing intervention programs.
“District leaders are evaluating proven options and innovative approaches, including ACE (Accelerating Campus Excellence) and SB 1882 Partnership models,” Davis wrote.
As part of the ACE model, districts provide significant stipends to their highest-performing teachers to incentivize them to teach at historically underperforming campuses.
1882 model
Under the 1882 model, the district would partner with an open-enrollment charter school. KISD would continue to manage the facility, while the charter would control the school’s staffing, curriculum, budget, and calendar.
In late August, CSG provided the board with a series of possible scenarios. One of which involves implementing the intervention models at Manor, Palo Alto, and Eastern Hills.
During an Oct. 21 workshop meeting, the firm recommended that the district implement the 1882 model at Manor Middle School alone.
“There is a notable difference in community support for 1882 at Manor versus 1882 at other campuses,” Parker said, referring to the survey results. “You can see over 50% of staff and over 50% of community members support an 1882 partnership at Manor Middle School.”
Led by principal Tomas Sias, Manor Middle School has a total student enrollment of 589 as of the 2024-25 school year.
Manor has earned an F rating for three consecutive years, receiving a 59 for the 2022-23 school year. For 2023-24, Manor’s score dropped to a 52 before receiving a 59 once again for the 2024-25 school year.
KISD’s board of trustees ultimately approved CSG’s recommendation to close Palo Alto and Eastern Hills, while adopting the intervention model for Manor.
Terri Osborne, KISD’s deputy superintendent for curriculum, instruction, and school leadership, explained the benefits the 1882 model would provide and the process of implementing the program.
Osborne said KISD’s board of trustees has the authority to authorize a charter operator, a process in which TEA is not involved.
“We will not just automatically select a charter school to do that partnership with. We will open up an application process to which those entities have to apply, and then we have to vet those entities,” Osborne said.
However, the TEA does have authority over certain benefits, related to both funding and accountability sanctions.
“In order to be eligible for those benefits, you have to navigate a very rigorous and detailed authorization process,” Osborne said.
To receive these additional TEA benefits, KISD must meet specific eligibility requirements and must submit an application to the agency by March 31, 2026.
If approved, a campus that adopts the 1882 model will receive a two-year pause on accountability sanctions, delaying potential state takeover. If the campus earns a C or higher, the chain of Fs is broken.
Additionally, pending approval, the campus will receive state funding, which has historically been around $1000 per student.
Root of the issue
Davis, KISD’s interim superintendent and the board’s lone finalist for the permanent superintendent role, visited KDH News before the board’s decision.
During the meeting, KDH News asked Davis if closures were the best way to fix failing schools.
“I think that depends on the situation,” Davis said. “When we close a school, we still have to educate the children.”
Davis explained that school closures in this instance are about optimization.
“We have to be stewards of taxpayers’ dollars and make sure we’re optimizing being efficient and effective,” Davis said. “If you have a school that’s running with low enrollment, that’s inefficient.”
According to Davis, it takes millions of dollars to run a building. He said a board or school district has to decide if it is the best use of taxpayer dollars to operate a facility that is not being used at its full capacity.
Davis said that assisting students at campuses that received failing grades requires an approach that gets at the root of low performance.
“If you’re failing math and or reading, we have to provide more time in those areas that you’re struggling in, and from then find that time and then provide more supports to bridge that gap,” Davis said. “It’s obviously more complicated than that, but that’s just a simplistic way to describe it to you. Finding more time and more support for those children who are behind as it relates to specific subject area.”