Austin ISD unveils consolidation rubric and story map, sets October timeline for draft boundary package

Austin Independent School District staff on Thursday walked trustees through a publicly released consolidation story map and data rubric that score every campus on facilities, utilization, cost and student‑need factors, and outlined a compressed fall timeline that would produce a draft package of boundary changes and consolidations in October.

District planning and operations staff said the rubric and story map are planning tools intended to identify misalignments across the district’s school network and are not a final consolidation list. Christine Steenport, operations officer, and Dr. Rachel French, director of planning, told trustees the tool combines campus utilization, facility condition, per‑student building and operating costs and the Student Resource Index to create a transparent, scored list of campuses for planning.

The story map includes interactive maps, a rubric explainer and links to the underlying data. Dr. French emphasized that the rubric’s outputs will be supplemented by contextual, campus‑level information collected from principals and community stakeholders. Staff said principals provided campus histories, program inventories and local context that will factor into decisions and that the district has already held dozens of community meetings and workshops.

Timeline and process: staff said the district will deliver a draft package — including recommended boundary changes, program relocations and any proposed closures — to the board at the Oct. 9 meeting. Public engagement on transition plans will run from Oct. 9 through Nov. 13, and the board is scheduled to vote on the final package on Nov. 20. Staff stressed the work is system‑wide and that any consolidation decision will be paired with a clear academic and staffing plan for the receiving campus(es).

Trustees raised questions about how program models (for example dual language, Montessori, or pre‑K–8 models) would be evaluated and whether accountability outcomes should factor into the scoring. Dr. French said the rubric is the first pass focused on physical and economic alignment and that the next round will explicitly address programmatic fit, student outcomes and community preference.

Community engagement: staff said the district has run three virtual information sessions, four multi‑hour deep‑dive workshops, at least one public survey and dozens of neighborhood and partner meetings. The district also launched a campus feedback form for principals to submit local context and said it will produce a “campus toolkit” to help principals and community groups engage when the Oct. 9 draft is released.

Staff told trustees the district’s primary objective is to improve the alignment of campus resources to student need and to create well‑resourced neighborhood schools; they said savings from consolidation would be redirected to instructional staffing and student supports. Trustees asked staff to develop a clear academic‑program rubric and to be explicit about how historic underinvestment, mobility and family choice are weighed.

Provenance

Topic intro: “Tonight, we're just giving you a board update, about school consolidations and where we are.” (transcript block starting at 14237.25 — evidence excerpt)

Topic finish: “Thank you. Any additional comments or questions?” (transcript block starting at 16475.205 — evidence excerpt)