Austin ISD is working to form a master plan for how the school district funds its facilities, and AISD's board of trustees is working to develop guiding principles that will shape the way that plan is developed and implemented.

During the group's Sept. 23 work session, trustees discussed the language of draft guiding principles for its Facility Master Plan and made changes to the wording to add clarity.

"We need to make sure that the words we use [in FMP guiding principles] reflect exactly what our intentions are," trustee Lori Moya said.

The board is scheduled to take action on its FMP guiding principles Sept. 30.

Board members stressed the need for community engagement around the guiding principles. Superintendent Meria Carstarphen said the administration could post the updated guiding principles on AISD's website and leave them up for a month or so, giving the public some time to provide their comments.

"We could send a call out to all our families [and] let them know that it's on the Web. They're the ones that are most affected," she said.

Board President Vincent Torres noted it should be made clear to the community in an introduction that the facility master plan will be continually updated and its guiding principles are not concrete decisions. The board also agreed the document should not list the principles in order of importance or priority.

"All of these [principles] are important ... I just think rank-ordering them is not the intent of the facility master plan," Torres said.

Once it is complete, the FMP will chart the current and future uses of AISD facilities. It will also guide capital improvements and help plan for future bond elections, according to board documents.