If there is ambiguity in Fort Bend Independent School District’s plans for Marshall High School’s Electronic Engineering Academy, program proponents have chosen not to notice.

Or so it would seem after Monday night’s FBISD Board of Trustees meeting, where academy supporters thanked Superintendent Dr. Timothy Jenney for allowing the academy to remain at Marshall.

The meeting came two days after hundreds of people marched to the Missouri City high school in a show of support for keeping the engineering academy at Marshall. That demonstration came as a result of previously expressed district plans to move the academy to Elkins High.

One of the Saturday march’s organizers, Fort Bend Pastors Association President Theodore Deaver, thanked Jenney Monday night “for coming to a conclusion” to leave the academy at Marshall, adding “we are so happy you heard our cry in the midst of the night.”

But questions remain: How long and under what circumstances will the academy by left at Marshall?

In a statement issued Friday in response to a query by FortBendNow, Jenney recounted a June 16 meeting in which he told four community leaders “it would be acceptable to keep the Electronic Engineering Academy at Marshall High School and I committed to ongoing district support. I stand by my commitment.”

Yet in that same statement, the district says Marshall’s academy will be combined with Hightower High’s Mechanical Engineering Academy and both “will come together at Elkins High School starting with the 2010-2011 school year…”

That discrepancy did not appear to be lost on Missouri City Councilwoman Cynthia Gary, who told board members she was addressing them as a private citizen and an educator, but not in her official capacity.

She thanked Jenney for “extending the program” at Marshall, but added, “if the program can be successful at Elkins, it can be successful at Marshall.

“We want to make our entire district a district of superior schools,” Gary added. “We need to ensure that a quality education is received by every student.”

FBISD high school academy programs are open to students from all district high schools. At the Electronic Engineering Academy, administrators have said they believe not enough students are enrolled, especially among students from other schools.

Earlier this year, the FBISD administration indicated academy supporters would have to register at least 75 incoming freshmen in the academy for it to remain viable at Marshall.

The district administration has not clarified any new requirements, but presumably still has attendance goals for the Electronics Engineering Academy.

FBISD Trustee David Reitz, the only board member who attended Saturday’s rally, thinks attendance won’t be a problem.

“I was just impressed with the community support,” Reitz said. “I think with the support I saw out there on Saturday, I wouldn’t be surprised if we have 300 or 400 people in that academy in a few years.”