Valley View Elementary to shut down after Eanes ISD vote

AUSTIN, Texas - Eanes ISD Board members decided on the proposal to shut down an elementary school in Westlake. 

The Board of Trustees met Tuesday evening to vote and hear public testimony. 

Autumn Woods is a parent whose children attend Valley View Elementary School. She was a speaker at the meeting who opposed closing down the school.

"Everybody’s coming here from our community kind of realizing that it feels like the vote is already going to be ‘we’re closing Valley View,’" said Autumn Woods. 

To cut costs, the board selected to shut down the K-5 school in West Austin, which has been experiencing a decline in enrollment for several years.

"I don’t think we should close it," said a fourth-grade Valley View Elementary School student.

Those children will now attend classes at Barton Creek Elementary School, a few miles away. 

"I really like Valley View because I came from a different school, and I got bullied really bad there. When I came to Valley View, everybody there was super nice," said Merit Leahy, a seventh-grade Westridge Middle School student who graduated from Valley View.

The district states that blending the two schools will save $2 million.

"I just think that displacing all these teachers and our community and these students instead of finding a way to find the funds is just unacceptable," said Woods.

RELATED: Eanes ISD considers closing Valley View Elementary School

The campus merger is one of a few options the district pitched to ease the $6.3 million budget shortfall that Eanes ISD faces for the 2025-26 fiscal school year.

"Squishing us up into another school that already has a lot of people is just not right, so we want to keep Valley View," said another student who attends Valley View.

The school district said the lack of state funding forces them to make these difficult decisions. 

"Smaller classroom, less disturbances, more quiet, better learning," said Cash Boban, a seventh-grade Westridge Middle School student who graduated from Valley View. "Bigger classroom you have a higher chance of getting someone who is really disturbing, tries to say jokes all the time, stuff like that."

The board also determined that discontinuing Spanish immersion as a K-5 program could save an additional $600,000. 

Board members will meet again on January 28 to review the resolutions and consider taking additional measures, if necessary.

Eanes ISD Superintendent Dr. Jeff Arnett released a statement on the closure:

"Since 1981, Valley View Elementary has been a place where students discovered themselves, staff poured their hearts into every moment and families built lifelong connections. It’s unfortunate we are facing these challenges, but the reality of reduced public school funding and shifting demographics requires us to make decisions that are both complicated and emotional."