Austin ISD proposes closing Woodane Elementary; most students to move to Rodriguez under TEA turnaround plan

Austin ISD officials told attendees at a community meeting that a draft plan to close Woodane Elementary School would reassign roughly 70% of Woodane students to Rodriguez Elementary School and about 30% to Houston Elementary School, and that Rodriguez would inherit the campus's required turnaround plan.

"This plan is a draft plan. Your feedback, what you share with us will help us move forward," Superintendent Matias Segura said, opening the district's explanation of the proposal and the rationale behind it. Segura said the district faces enrollment declines (about 20,000 empty seats systemwide), persistent budget pressures and state accountability deadlines that have limited the options available to the district.

District staff framed the proposal as an attempt to keep neighborhoods together, align feeder patterns and concentrate resources where students need them most. "We want our families not to feel like they have to go across town to get to a strong neighborhood school," Segura said.…