Members of the East Austin community set out to answer two questions at a public meeting Oct. 16 at Eastside Memorial High School: how should the currently vacant Allan Elementary School campus be used, and what factors should the Austin ISD board of trustees and administration consider when deciding how to use the site?

"I think it should be reverted back to the elementary school," said local resident Angelica Noyola. "It should not be an AISD office space, except for the staff that's needed to run the school, because AISD already has buildings it pays leases on. If [the district] got itself into some financial difficulty getting into those expensive leases, that's their issue; they need to figure that out."

Geneva Govea, a past PTA president at the former Johnston High School—now known as EMHS—said she was among the community members who objected when AISD brought the charter school group IDEA Public Schools in to take over programming at Allan.

"It should have never been done," she said. "It just made it harder for our students."

In December, the AISD board terminated the district's contract with IDEA, which was operating an in-district charter at the school. Since then, IDEA Allan has reopened at a temporary location in Southwest Austin and held its first open house Oct. 15.

The AISD board advised the administration not to reopen the Allan building as a school for 2013–14 and now is assessing a variety of options and seeking public input on how to use the campus.

About 30 community members including teachers, parents and residents broke into small groups at the Oct. 16 meeting to share their comments with Austin Voices for Education and Youth, a local organization that helps institutions such as AISD collect data.

Attendee Justine Salsbury said she thinks Austin would benefit from transforming the campus into a workforce development center offering training in trades such as construction, cosmetology and computer literacy.

Parent Angelica Rivera said she opposed that idea, as well as the option of turning the site into a boys' school.

"It would be better as an elementary or junior high school," she said.

Other schools in the area are overcrowded as a result of Allan's closure, she said, adding her first grader had to transfer to Govalle Elementary when Allan shuttered.

"I feel like my son doesn't get a proper education at Govalle Elementary. he's not getting the structure, the discipline or the education, any of that, with one teacher and 35 kids in one crowded classroom the size of a restroom," she said.

Johnston High School alumnus Pete Montoya said he thinks a middle school would be the best use of the campus.

"We need a feeder school, and in my opinion, making [the Allan campus] a junior high school would fill that need," he said.

Attendees emphasized board trustees should consider what is best for the neighborhood.

"I don't know what kind of data they're looking at they need to come down to the community and see what's really going on," Noyola said.

Additional community meetings will take place Nov. 6 and Dec. 4. More information is available at www.austinisd.org/community/allan/input.