Original Research by School Decision on Salazar District Alternative Education Program
The Salazar District Alternative Education Program sits within Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD, serving students in grades six through twelve on Keller Springs Road in Carrollton. It is a district-run alternative school, not a charter, and the student body is very small relative to what you would expect from a school covering that grade span. The enrollment leans heavily toward the high school years, with the ninth grade making up the largest single group.
The demographic picture shows a predominantly Hispanic student population, with Black students making up most of the remainder and very small numbers of Asian and white students enrolled. A large majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, placing this among the highest economic-need settings in the district. Data on English learner status and special education rates were not available in what was provided.
State testing results for this school are effectively absent as a basis for comparison. The only tested data on record is a single administration of the eighth-grade STAAR in both math and ELA, and in each case the state suppressed the reported proficiency results because so few students were tested. No multi-year trend data exists. Because this is an alternative school serving a specialized population, the absence of published proficiency figures is common for this type of setting and should not be read as a simple academic weakness. Alternative programs are designed to serve students who are not thriving in or are otherwise not attending a traditional school, so standard benchmarks apply differently here. No graduation rate data was available for this program specifically, though a parent would want to ask the school directly about completion and transition pathways given that high school grades make up the core of the enrollment.
The comparison data available for Dallas County districts does not produce usable relative metrics for this school, again because the underlying figures are suppressed or missing. That is not unusual for small, specialized programs of this type. No program-specific course access, staffing ratios, discipline data, or attendance figures were included in the data available here.
Carrollton itself is a built-out, diverse suburb within the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. The city functions as both a residential community and a meaningful regional employment center, with a daytime workforce that publicly reported data shows exceeds its resident population. Major employers include Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD itself, Baylor Scott & White, and a range of corporate and manufacturing operations. Outside the historic downtown core near the DART station at Carrollton Square, the city is largely a suburban, highway-oriented environment. The school's address on Keller Springs Road is in that broader suburban fabric rather than the walkable downtown.
Housing in the area has seen modest softening recently. Home values in the relevant zip code are running somewhat below the national median but above the Texas state benchmark, and rents have also declined modestly year over year. With current mortgage rates, monthly ownership costs sit meaningfully above rental costs in the area. For families considering a move, the district context matters: Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD passed a major bond in 2023 to fund safety upgrades and replace three aging elementary campuses, with the district stating the measure would not raise the tax rate. More recently, the board voted in early 2025 to close and consolidate four campuses amid a budget deficit and falling enrollment, redrawing attendance boundaries for the first time in decades. That decision prompted community pushback and legal challenges from parents. These are active, material changes to the district landscape that anyone relocating into the area should track carefully, particularly regarding which attendance zone a given address falls into.
For a family considering whether Salazar fits a student, the most direct path is a conversation with the school and the district about how students are referred or enrolled, what the program's approach to instruction and credit recovery looks like, and what transition support exists for students moving back to a traditional campus or toward a diploma.
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