Austin ISD trustees hold work session on consolidation after thousands of public comments

AUSTIN, Texas — The Austin Independent School District’s board of trustees met Oct. 29 for a work session on a districtwide consolidation plan that administration officials say aims to address enrollment imbalance and budget pressures.

The meeting opened with Superintendent José Segura saying the district had received more than 6,500 public comments and, by his count, “over 7,000 of these cards” that staff had reviewed. Trustees heard 20 pre-recorded public comments during the meeting and extended discussion into eight topic areas — from dual-language programming and Montessori to middle- and high-school feeder alignments.

The most sustained public feedback focused on a set of neighborhood elementary schools slated for closure in the draft plan. Several parents of Bryker Woods Elementary told trustees that closing the school would damage a neighborhood hub that keeps families in AISD. “You would see our neighborhood association meetings happening in our cafeteria in the evenings,” Mackenzie Coronado said in a recorded comment. Parents and community members warned trustees that past closures led to enrollment loss and that this plan could trigger further attrition. “Every family that leaves costs AISD $13,000 plus in annual per-pupil funding,” parent Ben Hooten said in a recorded comment.

Segura said the administration has used community feedback to refine the draft and will…