The situation is getting desperate at East Austin's Johnston High School. The school is at-risk of closing at the conclusion of this school year.

"If it means I have to stand in front of the doors as the bulldozers are coming through, I will do that," Austin Independent School District Trustee Cheryl Bradley May said.

Final TAKS scores that could end or extend the school's future are hanging in the balance. Though nothing has been finalized, supporters are making their case.

"They have made a difference this year—you see it," Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, said.

But whether or not we see it in the scores is another story. About half of Johnston's students are facing discipline for truancy, an issue state leaders say is part of their responsibility.

"We need to make sure that the students in our schools are being educated," Watson said.

Many continue to argue that shutting a school down is not the way to do it.

"If they were failing at the school they are leaving, they are failing when they get to that school and they continue to fail," Bradley May said.

Johnston's fate is in the state's hands. It will ultimately decide if Johnston's strides are strong enough to hold its doors open.

"[We'll] try to figure out a way to follow the law but do it in a way that benefits the children," Watson said.

For now, the answer to that question will be decided later whether or not Johnston's progress is enough.