Austin ISD's consolidation plan continues to get more pushback

More parents rally against AISD's plan to close schools

The pushback intensified on Friday to the plan to close and consolidate several schools in Austin. A protest rally followed a contentious school board meeting Thursday night.

AUSTIN, Texas - The pushback intensified on Friday to the plan to close and consolidate several schools in Austin. A protest rally followed a contentious school board meeting Thursday night.

Fight to keep Govalle Elementary

Local perspective:

The plan is an effort to address a major budget shortfall for Austin ISD. 

The people in a group that stood along Airport Blvd. Friday morning tried to attract the attention of the rush hour commuters, and hoped to send a message to Austin ISD. 

They are upset Govalle Elementary, which was recently rebuilt, may be repurposed for a non-zoned Montessori program.

"What saddens me about the takeover is the fact that this is not the first time that Govalle has had to fight for our school," said Tommie Soliz.

Soliz says she attended Govalle as a child. She returned to the school to be a teacher assistant in the special needs program.

"My concern is, what's going to happen to them? We have no answers about what's really going on," said Soliz.

AISD's proposed consolidation plan

Dig deeper:

The AISD consolidation and boundary plan would close 13 schools. Seven of those schools have failing grades from TEA.

On Thursday night at the AISD school board meeting, parents from several neighborhoods facing change came looking for answers.

"Three years ago, AISD tried to rezone us from Kiker, which is a 15-minute walk, to a school that required driving several miles on MoPac. This proposal repeats that mistake," said a South Austin parent who spoke during the board meeting.

Parents protest AISD consolidation plan

Ahead of an Austin ISD board of trustees meeting, concerned community members gathered to protest a proposed consolidation plan

The plan could eventually become a ballot box issue, according to Brian Smith with St. Edwards University.

"The danger, of course, is losing political office. The other danger is losing the goodwill of the community," said Smith.

Local schools, especially elementary schools, Smith noted, have deep foundations in neighborhoods.

"For the community, it means a part of their identity is gone and has moved somewhere else. And that's a difficult thing," said Smith. 

The battle for both sides could be a no winner.

"It is an absolutely no-win situation. You can't claim political credit for closing down someone's school, and by addressing a budget shortfall, it means you're just doing your job. There are no winners anytime there are school closures," said Smith.

Parents urge AISD to rethink school closures

As 13 schools across Austin ISD face possible closures, parents are pushing back. A new group is working to slow down the consolidations, hoping the district will reconsider its timeline.

At Thursday’s board meeting, Adam Sparks suggested looking at the 2019 school closure plan to address the current budget shortfall.

"The campuses of Metz and Brooke are still empty. You can make $15 million by selling those two immediately. Those people did hard things. Those people had shared suffering for the Austin community. And did AISD get better? Are we going to be here seven years from now? Everybody in this room knows the answer is yes to that. We need the trustees to say to the district, please present us with multiple plans on November 6," said Sparks.

Parents respond to AISD's consolidation, closure plan

Sweeping changes could be on the horizon for Austin ISD. AISD says it's fighting to save the district amid a nearly $20 million budget deficit.

During the meeting, AISD superintendent Matias Segura appeared to defend some of the big expenditures made by the district. 

Segura said that every two years, AISD spends between $6 and $8 million to have its own classroom curriculum. The material is available at no cost from TEA, but Segura indicated the district preferred to spend more to have more control over classroom content.

The school district is planning to hold three virtual community discussions later this month and one in early November.