BY CHLOE YOUNG
Potential impacts 85%-90%
The impact
Going forward
In October, AISD officials will present their recommended consolidations to the board of trustees, who will vote in November. Education Austin will start meeting with district administration in September to discuss how the process might look, Underwood said. “This process will only be as good as the input we get from people and the way we are creative about this together,” Boswell said. In November, the board will adopt transition plans for impacted students, staff and programming, Segura said. Those plans could help merging campuses build a shared school culture, he said. Key dates May 13 The district announced the intention to consolidate schools in the 2026-27 school year. Aug. 14 The administration presented a list of all scored campuses using the data rubric tool at a board meeting. Oct. 9 The administration will present their recommendations for campus consolidations and boundary changes. Oct. 9-Nov. 13 AISD will hold community engagement on transition plans. Nov. 20 The board will vote on a campus consolidation package, boundary changes and transition plans.
AISD officials have not said how many campuses will be impacted. The district is aiming to realize $30 million in savings by consolidating campuses. This requires removing around 8,600-13,100 seats. “I’m hoping this is going to be an opportunity to be more fiscally responsible across the board,” AISD parent Deborah Trejo said. Trasell Underwood, vice president of AISD’s employee union Education Austin, said many educators are fearful of what might happen to
target for seats to be filled
$30 million or more in cost reductions
8,557-13,156 seats to be removed
SOURCE: AUSTIN ISD/COMMUNITY IMPACT
have a student population that is 85% economi- cally disadvantaged or higher. Combining schools could provide the opportu- nity to invest additional resources in underserved schools while the district repurposes campuses for affordable housing, Boswell said.
their jobs if their campuses are closed. AISD teacher Mallory Vinson said she is
concerned how this might affect disadvantaged communities. Forty-four of the district’s campuses
What else?
and high schools. Martin Middle School in South Austin currently feeds into five high schools, Segura said at an Aug. 7 meeting. The district allows students to transfer to another school in the district based on availabil- ity. Some students transfer to attend a special program, while some campuses are empty due to students not choosing to go there, French said. About 25% of AISD students transfer to another campus, Segura said “We need to create a system where everyone has no problem going to their neighborhood school,” French said at the July 15 workshop. “The fact that we have some that people don’t want to go to due to reputation is unacceptable.”
Part of the consolidation process could include rezoning students and amending AISD’s transfer policy. The district is seeking to balance enrollment so that schools aren’t overenrolled—with 107% or more seats filled—or under-enrolled—with 64% or less seats filled, according to AISD information. Davis said she believes Joslin Elementary is underenrolled due to the district’s failure to update attendance boundaries in recent years. “We’re underenrolled because AISD drew the boundaries that way, and they haven’t moved them,” Davis said. AISD officials and parents told Community Impact the district has fractured feeder patterns where students are split between multiple middle
SOURCE: AUSTIN ISD/COMMUNITY IMPACT
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