Austin ISD school closures: District to hold meetings on repurposing properties
AUSTIN, Texas - Austin ISD is set to hold a series of informational meetings about how they plan to repurpose six school properties after the campuses close at the end of the school year.
PREVIOUS REPORTING: Austin ISD school closures: Board votes to close 10 campuses next school year
What we know:
The district says that due to the closures, it has developed a "holistic process for evaluating district owned properties" with the goal of ensuring "each property is used in a way that supports the district’s mission and long-term needs."
That includes determining if a property should continue to support education or operations, or be used for something else.
AISD says the process began with one question: Will the district need this property for educational and/or district use within the foreseeable future (e.g. next 20 years)?
If yes, the property is "land banked" for educational use, allowing for AISD to retain ownership while planning for future needs.
If no, the property enters the "Surplus Property Repurposing Process" for further evaluation.
Six out of the 10 campuses set to close were determined not to be needed for educational or district use, so have entered that second process:
- Becker
- Dawson
- Ridgetop
- Sunset Valley
- Widen
- Bedichek
The district notes that the Bedichek building has been selected for landbanking and will be home to several district departments, 18 plus programming, and community partners. However, the property has excess land that is beng evaluated for potential repurposing.
Community meetings
The district says that the community sessions are designed to:
- Explain the property evaluation process
- Share the criteria that will be used
- Provide space for community input
- Answer questions about the process
As the same information will be shared at each meeting, community members can attend any session to provide their input.
The meeting schedule is set as follows:
- Monday, March 9: Dawson Elementary from 5:30-7 p.m.
- Wednesday, March 11: Widen Elementary from 5:30-7 p.m.
- Monday, March 23: Sunset Valley Elementary from 5:30-7 p.m.
- Tuesday, March 24: Ridgetop Elementary from 5:30-7 p.m.
- Monday, March 30: Becker Elementary from 5:30-7 p.m.
- Tuesday, April 7: Bedichek Middle from 5:30-7 p.m.
- Wednesday, April 8: Virtual meeting from 6-7 p.m.
What's next:
AISD says that after this first round of community meetings, staff will review feedback alongside other operational, legal, environmental, and financial considerations, score the properties for each potential reuse, and develop recommendations.
A second community meeting will then be held to share the decisions for each property, outline next steps, and gather more feedback.
Recommendations will be presented to the Board for consideration in a public meeting.
What you can do:
Community members are also encouraged to share feedback through the online survey, which will remain open until Friday, April 10.
Austin ISD to close 10 campuses
Austin ISD consolidation & turnaround plans pass
Early this morning, the Austin ISD Board of Trustees vote to close 10 campuses next school year. The board's vote comes nine months after the district began discussing consolidating campuses to address failed state ratings. FOX 7 Austin's education reporter Jessica Rivera has the details.
The backstory:
The Austin ISD board voted last November to pass the district's school closure and consolidation plan.
Ten schools will now close next school year.
The latest recommended plan, released on Nov. 14, will:
- Reassign students from two schools with state-mandated turnaround plans due to multiple years of unacceptable ratings
- Reassign students from six schools that will have program shifts, including school-wide dual language, Montessori and International High School programs
3,796 students are expected to be reassigned and 6,319 seats will be eliminated.
Schools set to close
The following schools are now set to close at the end of the school year:
- Barrington ES — students will be reassigned to Guerrro-Thompson ES or Wooldridge ES depending on address
- Dawson ES — students will be reassigned to Galindo ES
- Oak Springs ES — students will be reassigned to Blackshear ES
- Winn Montessori — students will be reassigned to Andrews or Pecan Springs ES based on address; Montessori program will move to Reilly ES
- Widén ES — students will be reassigned to Rodriguez ES
- Becker ES — students will be reassigned to Galindo or Zilker ES based on address
- Ridgetop ES — students will be reassigned to Reilly ES
- Sunset Valley ES — students will be reassigned to Boone or Cunningham ES based on address
- Martin MS — students will be reassigned to Kealing, Marshall or Lively MS based on address
- Bedichek MS — students will be reassigned to Covington, Paredes, or Mendez MS based on address
- International HS — students will return to home campus and be provided with specialized Newcomer support
Turnaround plans will be implemented at the following schools:
- Guerrero-Thompson ES (Barrington ES's plan)
- Galindo ES (Dawson ES's plan)
- Blackshear ES (Oak Springs ES's plan)
- Rodriguez ES (Widén ES's plan)
- Kealing MS (Martin MS's plan)
- Covington MS (Bedichek MS's plan)
The district will also be no longer offering sixth grade at Blazier, Mathews, and Lee elementary schools starting next school year.
To read the latest plan, click here.
The Source: Information in this report comes from Austin ISD and previous reporting by FOX 7 Austin