Wilton Harris is often struck by a sense of deja vu while at work.
\n“This school has changed very little since I came to Dobie,” Harris says. “As you interact with the kids, you find yourself kind of going, that's a little bit of me, you know, that I was like that in my own way.”
\nHarris is both a proud alum of Dobie Middle School and a current staff member, and his goal is to help students get excited for their future. As the ACE Site Coordinator, Harris has kickstarted more than a half-dozen free afterschool programs, from medical academies to barber programs.
\n“People say, ‘who cut your hair? It's pretty good.’ And I go, seventh grader,” Harris says. “You should come over and let her cut yours.”
\nBut the future of these programs is uncertain. Grant funding is coming to a close at the same time that the Austin Independent School District is facing a multi-million dollar budget deficit that may impact extracurricular activities. At the same time, the Texas Education Authority denied approval for a plan that, in part, would have provided Dobie Middle School more funds while they worked to improve accountability ratings.
\n“One of the things that Dobie has not had for some time is stability,” Harris says.
\nACE stands for Afterschool Centers on Education, and it is in 22 campuses across the Austin Independent School District. The goal of the program is to provide enrichment opportunities, academic support and career readiness. It’s all in hopes of improving academic outcomes for students, and it’s been shown to be effective. According to the Texas Education Agency, students who regularly attended ACE programs in the ‘23-’24 school year improved their STAAR math and reading scores and had lower absenteeism rates.
\nAnd while Harris wants to see students improve their test scores, he also wants them to walk away with other things as well.
\n“It's about enhancing. It's about enriching,” Harris says. “It's about getting them ready for life, getting them ready now so that when situations come into their life, they at least have a roadmap to follow.”
\nThe ACE program will continue within AISD, but it will no longer be offered at Dobie. The district is at the end of the Cycle 11 ACE grant, and Dobie was not included in the new grant proposal written by the district. In an email, AISD communications specialist Maritza Villela said the change was made to strengthen the program long-term.
\n“At the time the Cycle 13 grant application was being developed and submitted, there was no clear long-term plan for Dobie,” Villela said in an email. “To minimize the risk of future disruptions and strengthen the continuity and sustainability of the program over the five-year grant period, we elected to relocate the grant to a campus that also demonstrated a need for additional support.”
\nAll this comes as AISD wrestles with a $181 million budget deficit. The district has pointed to enrollment declines, rising costs and federal immigration policy as the cause of the shortfall. District leaders are considering cutting staff positions, reducing planning time and trimming contracts with organizations like Communities In Schools. In a letter to families, Superintendent Mathias Segura said the deficit would be felt across the district.
\nAt the same time, AISD is preparing to hand the operation of Dobie, Webb and Burnet middle schools over to the Texas Council for International Studies. The three campuses were at risk of triggering a state takeover of the district due to a string of low accountability ratings. Those ratings rely heavily on STAAR test results. Through this 1882 charter partnership, the district hoped to get more time and funding to improve test scores. But on May 28, TEA stated they were turning down the proposal. In a letter to Superintendent Seguras, TEA said the district may still enter into a partnership with TCIS, but the campuses would not receive any extra funding that is usually associated with the program.
\nIt’s unclear how the lack of funds, in addition to the loss of the ACE grant funding, will impact the afterschool programs at Dobie. But TCIS have previously signaled to Dobie staff that they want to maintain programs that are working for students.\n“On behalf of TICS we are honored to be a partner with the district and look forward to anything we can do to help students and the community,” says TCIS chief executive officer Margaret Davis.
\n“It's not something that people are happy with right now,” Harris says. “And I think that's why there's such an effort to say, no, we need to try to maintain an after school programs.”
\nHarris is uncertain about his future within AISD. If the district is awarded another ACE grant, he believes he’ll be moved to another campus. His time at Dobie is coming to a close. But he hopes his presence will remain.
\n“I tell my kids you want to be a legacy,” Harris says. “Sometimes people won't say thank you, but you do it because of your heart. You do it because somebody did it for you.”
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