Protest held against AISD proposed bond plan that would move Eastside Memorial High

Dozens of people from the East Austin community are fighting a proposed bond plan by the AISD school board that could move Eastside Memorial High School.

Bertha Delgado was one of many who spoke to a crowd outside of Eastside Memorial which once was Johnston High Saturday afternoon, “If your kids, if your family, if your history is here, then this is where your pride stays and this is what you fight for. Johnston High is a school that my mother went to, that my aunts and my uncles went to, that many of these people went to,” she said.

The group said they were upset after they heard the plan would move Eastside Memorial High into the old Anderson High campus across town. LASA or the Liberal Arts and Science Academy which is currently in LBJ High School would then be moved to Eastside to become a stand-alone school.

Larry Amaro was at the protest and is also against the plan.

“We went to elementary schools here, we went Allan Junior High here, we went to Johnston High here, we're the ones that built this school and we don't want anyone, any other group and no other school. We don't want any other people to take it over,” he said.
 
Meantime, parents and some school officials held an AISD supported meeting inside Eastside with most seeming to be in support of the plan. “I see a lot of wins for Eastside for it to stay a small school,” said Vincent Tovar a parent of an elementary student in the area.

“I think that the conditions that the students want, which could be a strong partnership with ACC Eastview, (it) could be a great win for the future of Eastside and just it's stability for a school that's been so unstable for a couple of decades,” he said.

Those outside, mostly Johnston alumni said it just doesn't work for them.

“Moving these children to the other side of town and bringing in talented magnet programs that our children can't even quality for because they're not academically educated for that, it's wrong, it's injustice, it's discrimination, it's racist,” said Delgado.

The group said the board is expected to talk about the plan again before voting on it at a meeting on June 19th.  If approved the bond would go to voters to decide in November.