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District outlines timeline to open new middle school in 2025–26, with February checkpoints and contingency planning
Summary
Superintendent Tiffany Benson presented a public sixth-grade reorganization timeline with programmatic, facilities and staffing strands and identified key checkpoints (including September environmental review and board decisions by December/January) to meet a 2025–26 opening; the board discussed contingencies and overlap with other projects.
Superintendent Tiffany Benson told the Travis Unified board the district remains committed to a thoughtful sixth-grade reorganization and outlined a public timeline intended to enable a 2025–26 opening for the new middle‑school configuration.
Benson described three primary strands of work: programmatic development (curriculum and instructional design), facilities (architects, funding and construction), and staffing (alignment with collective‑bargaining schedules). She said the district has identified internal checkpoints that, if missed, would push opening from 2025–26 to 2026–27; the September meeting for the final environmental report and a December/January decisions window on facilities contracts were singled out as make‑or‑break dates.
Staff said the district will present academic program proposals and new courses in November and that families will have access to a public website with month‑by‑month action items, drawings and opportunities to survey parents. Trustees asked about contingency planning, student schedules, and the overlap of this work with other major projects such as Golden West and Travis Elementary; staff said design work and regulatory timelines were staggered to limit simultaneous peak loads on small district staff.
Benson said staffing adjustments will be made in concert with union contract timelines and that the district would keep the board informed at every meeting throughout the year.
What happens next: the district will pursue the environmental review in September, develop program proposals for November, and expect a January board window for key facilities decisions needed to maintain a 2025–26 opening. If major checkpoints are missed, the district would postpone the opening to 2026–27 rather than attempt a disruptive midyear transition.
