AISD Releases School Closure Plan

The Austin Independent School district just released their school consolidation plan. Here’s how it’ll impact Rundberg students.

What’s happening?

AISD is proposing to close 13 schools, including Barrington Elementary.

• Barrington ES
• Becker ES
• Bedicheck ES
• Bryker Woods ES
• Dawson ES
• Maplewood ES
• Martin mS
• Oak Springs ES
• Palm ES
• Ridgetop ES
• Sunset Valley ES
• Widen ES
• Winn Montessori

Four campuses will become campus wide, non-zoned Spanish dual-language programs.

• Pickle ES
• Wooten ES
• Odom ES
• Sanchez ES

But the enrollment boundaries will change for just about everyone. AISD says 98% of campuses will see substantial boundary changes.

Some of the schools that might close are ones that have gotten high marks from the TEA, like Ridgetop and Maplewood. Others, like Barrington, have had three years of failing grades and are in the middle of creating turnaround plans for those campuses. AISD Superintendent Matias Segura said that a school’s rating was not the main factor into whether or not a school closed.

“It wasn't a driving factor by any means. And you'll see within our turnaround plan, schools that are staying open,” said Segura. “There's a lot in there. But the foundation of it was really premised in our overall goals. We just said that we had to align it to be responsive to the obligations from the state. And also to ensure that our students get what they need, no matter where they are in our city.”

AISD says their goal was to clean up feeder patterns, balance out school sizes, but most importantly, cut costs. The district is in a multi-million dollar deficit. 20% of staff were let go in the spring to bring down costs.

__What does this mean for Rundberg students? __

For kids at Barrington, it means they’ll be rezoned to either Guerrero Thompson or Woolridge Elementary.

Now, Barrington is one of the schools that has to undergo a turnaround plan because of failing accountability scores. That plan will follow those students to their new campuses.

What about schools like Dobie and Webb that are in the middle of a turnaround plan? They actually have to stay open.

“Since we're already in the turnaround plan, we're just marching forward with making sure that we meet our goals as a school to stay open,” said Dobie Principal Michael Walker.

Dobie’s enrollment boundaries will also get smaller. AISD says that Dobie has low enrollment but its boundaries are too full. On the other hand, Lamar Middle School has too many students, so some will be reassigned to Webb.

The biggest change for high school students is that the International High School in east Austin will close, and that program will move to Navarro Early College High School.

What now?

AISD says this plan isn’t finalized.

Families have five weeks to provide feedback either at in-person meetings or online. Meetings will take place on October 14, 16, and the 27. The AISD Board will vote on a final plan in November.

In the meantime, parents can check out the district’s new interactive map to learn more about the new boundaries.