AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin Independent School District on Friday released an updated version of its draft consolidation and boundary change plan. The district first released the draft plan to families in early October, and the district said it has received more than 7,200 comments through their online comment card.
The plan proposes closing 13 schools, redrawing boundaries for most other campuses and reassigning students to improve campus capacity and program consistency. The plan to close schools and move students comes as Austin ISD is trying to reduce a nearly $20 million budget shortfall. The district has also seen a 14.5% decrease in enrollment over the last decade, from more than 84,000 students in the 2014-15 school year to about 72,000 in 2024-25.
“We have received over 7,000 comment cards and these are detailed and these are really thoughtful comments that we have received about how to consider different things,” said AISD Superintendent Matias Segura.
The plan has not been met with open arms, as many parents and teachers have rallied to save their schools. Austin ISD has used the past several weeks to hold information sessions and answer questions from the community.
The majority, 45%, of the comments from parents and students was about boundaries, according to data provided by the district. Almost 18% of people discussed school closures, and about 10% of those who commented discussed school-wide dual language programs.
The district says in this second round of updates to the draft plan, they refined the proposed boundary changes using community input.
Changes for transfer students
The district’s first draft plan only allowed students who are currently zoned for a school to stay at the campus until they finished all the grade levels offered. For example, a third grader who is currently zoned for Cowan but re-zoned for Boone under the plan – would have the option during enrollment to stay at Cowan for fourth and fifth grade.
But the previous plan did not allow transfer students the option to stay at their current school.
Under the new draft plan, all families who wish to continue at their current school or program will be allowed to stay. The district said students will need to apply and request the transfer to their current campus – but the request will be granted, according to the district.
The district called the proposed policy “continuation transfer” and the plan notes that transportation will not be provided for transfer students who stay at their current school.
The district’s new plan also creates a way for transfer students at closing campuses to stay with their peers. One of the changes allows transfer students to move to the newly consolidated campus along with their classmates instead of going to the campus in their school zone.
The plan notes that parents will have to select these choices through the re-enrollment process in the spring and annual re-registration forms.
What about siblings?
The original draft plan allowed for students to stay at their current school until they finish the grade levels offered at the campus – even if their neighborhood or address is re-zoned for a different school. But it stopped short of giving their siblings, who are not currently enrolled in Austin ISD, the ability to enroll in the same school as them.
“I, as a superintendent, never want our families to have to go to two elementary schools, to go drop a third grader off and then drop a first grader off. That’s not who we are,” Segura said during a school board work session on Wednesday.
The updated plan recommends that siblings of students who are “grandfathered” in and allowed to stay at their campus, despite being re-zoned, also be able to enroll at the same school.
The plan proposes that families seeking to utilize this change will have to apply for the sibling transfer within a designated window – and stipulates that these requests will not be granted in cases where the campus is over capacity.
Changes for dual language students
The updated school consolidation plan still repurposes Pickle, Wooten, Odom and Sanchez elementaries into school-wide non-zoned Spanish dual-language programs. The district said moving the dual language programs will bring the programs closer to where emergent bilingual students live.
The new draft plan does expand what types of dual language programs will be offered. Wooten Elementary School will now also offer a Mandarin dual language program.
The district also made changes for the students who currently attend Sanchez, Pickle, Wooten and Odom elementary schools. The updated plan allows third and fourth grade students at those schools who are in the English/ESL class, to stay at their current school and participate in the temporary English/ESL strand.
“In those programmatic moves you are going to see Pickle, Wooten, Odom, and Sanchez all have transportation within those existing attendance boundaries to ensure our emergent bilingual students have access to that program,” said Segura.
The district said they would continue offering a dual-language strand at the Montessori campus.
More changes coming?
The district said it was exploring the feasibility of continuing construction of the new modernized facility Oak Springs was promised during the 2022 bond but said the updated draft plan for next school year is still to move Oak Springs students into the historic Blackshear Elementary School building.
“This could create an opportunity for the facility to support the Oak Springs ES and Blackshear ES community. Before changing direction, we will collaborate with both communities and explore the feasibility of the design and construction to support desired programs as well as potential implications for the historic Blackshear ES building,” the plan stated.
Bond records show that as of July, the district had already spent more than $3.5 million on a new modernized campus for Oak Springs and “committed” more than $45 million through contracts and purchase orders.
The district told KXAN it has not spent the $45 million committed to the Oak Springs modernization project and added that funds being committed does not mean they will be spent.
“We have not canceled the project, and we have not canceled any contracts. We are pausing to protect the funds while a determination is made concerning consolidations,” an Austin ISD spokesperson told KXAN.
AISD says they are exploring how to resolve the three-way split for Small Middle School and they are working to understand any implications a change would have on surrounding schools and feeder patterns.
The district is considering relocating Garza Independence High School to the Martin Middle School building and also expanding the programming to serve 6-12th graders.
The district is also considering relocating the Alternative Learning Center to the building currently supporting Garza. AISD says this would give them increased flexibility to explore options for the future of Mendez Middle School.
Bedichek Middle School was initially named as one of the schools that could close. Now, the district says they are exploring strategies to ensure the school continues to serve as a school, including a potential Early Childhood-8 or 6-12 dual language program.
The original draft plan called for Winn Montessori to close and for the Montessori to move to Govalle Elementary School. District officials said in the updated plan they are exploring alternative locations for the relocation of the Montessori program — including Zavala and Ortega Elementary schools as potential locations. The plan stated whichever building supports the Montessori program would become non-zoned and the neighborhood would be reassigned to another nearby campus.
Discussions with parents and the board will continue over the next several weeks, and plans could change again before the final vote by AISD trustees on November 20.
For a full list of changes to the draft plan you can explore Austin ISD’s updated draft plan here.
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