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AISD holds virtual meeting for consolidation plan
North Austin ISD parents jumped online for a virtual Q&A session with district leaders as the district faces a more than $19.7 million shortfall and the possibility of the Texas Education Agency taking over if the district doesn’t get a grip on things. FOX 7 Austin's Katie Pratt reports.
AUSTIN, Texas - Austin ISD faces a shortfall of more than $19.7 million, and the possibility of the TEA taking over if it does not get a grip on things.
While nothing has been finalized yet, the district is hosting a series of meetings to address parents' questions and gather feedback on its rough draft plan.
What we know:
The future of many Austin ISD schools is uncertain after several have not met state standards year after year. While others saw a decline in student enrollment, the district now has to make some difficult decisions.
"The budget deficit we have is growing," said AISD superintendent Matias Segura. "It is something that has not been able to be offset by any state funding or federal funding. And so if we don't tackle this together, we could find ourselves in a situation where we're not able to make payroll."
According to the district, it has more than 95,000 seats available for students, but about 25,000 are empty. The decision-makers feel downsizing is the best way to save money.
"We have 70,000 students," said Segura. "We have to be thinking about providing the highest quality education across all of our schools."
The rough draft plan eliminates 11 elementary schools and two middle schools, for a total of 13.
"When my older daughter graduated from Blanton Elementary in 2022, the 50-something kids and her small fifth-grade class. Graduating class moved on to at least 12 different middle schools. 12, a result of the fractured feeder pattern," said parent Cori Hash.
Another issue it's facing is underperformance. The Texas Education Agency released its annual report card for Texas school districts, rating them on an A-F score. Austin ISD received an overall grade of 79. However, when looking more closely, about ⅓ of AISD's campuses received failing scores. Half of those it is looking to consolidate have received consecutive failing scores.
District leaders are carefully considering a difficult option to prevent he government agency from getting involved. AISD has to develop a TIP or TAP for its failing schools. Those schools must then improve their performance, or the TEA will take over.
Changes to school zones and feeder programs are likely to affect every school within AISD.
"I have a son who is in 8th grade. He's currently zoned to McCallum and is proposed to be rezoned if the plan is adopted to Northeast Early College High School."
The proposed consolidation layout is projected to save the district more than $20 million.
"We are better able to cover the administrative costs associated with providing a high-quality education, and so when you run through the plan and identify what the net cost reductions are, it ends up being a little bit over $20.4 million, which is a conservative number. So we do believe that will go up," said Segura.
The superintendent said the goal will be to identify campuses affected this fall, with consolidations happening for the 2026-2027 school year.
What's next:
The next district-wide meeting will be held on Monday, October 27, at 5:30 pm. The final vote is set for November 20.
The Source: Information in this report comes from reporting/interviews by FOX 7 Austin's Katie Pratt