A plan to save Johnston High School got the thumbs up from the Austin Independent School District Board Monday night.

A plan on how to proceed, if the Texas Education Agency decides to shut the school down, also received the nod.

Johnston High School is one of three AISD schools threatened with closure by the TEA.

Its performance has been rated as "unacceptable" four years in a row.

In December, The TEA assigned two specialists to help turn around Johnston and Reagan High School, along with Pearce Middle School.

Johnston's restructuring plan focuses on creating two schools-within-a-school and increased control or monitoring of Johnston's administrative staff by the district.

A finalized campus improvement plan is expected by the end of May.

AISD's board also passed a contingency plan in case TEA does close Johnston.

The 88-point plan covers everything from ensuring that student records are sent to the appropriate campus, to realigning school boundaries.

Parents and community members who would be affected by a possible closure of Pearce Middle School also met Tuesday night.

A finalized plan for Pearce is set to be presented at a May 6 meeting.

Some who attended Tuesday night also encouraged attendance at a rally planned for Saturday.

They're hoping that rally sends a message to the TEA that closing schools is not the way to improve education.