In two separate votes during a special meeting Dec. 17, the Leander ISD board of trustees voted against consolidating Steiner Ranch Elementary in the 2026-27 school year but will move forward with consolidating Faubion Elementary with Westside Elementary.

The board first unanimously voted to direct administration to bring back a comprehensive districtwide alignment plan for the Vandegrift High School feeder pattern, which includes Steiner Ranch and other campuses located in the southern part of the district facing declining enrollment.

The board voted 5-2 in a separate vote to consolidate Faubion with Westside, with trustees Paul Gauthier and Trish Bode casting the dissenting votes.

What you need to know

Per the first approved motion, district administration will develop:

• A comprehensive districtwide secondary alignment plan that includes consideration of expanded grade span models that integrate elementary and middle grades
• Consolidation scenarios, if appropriate as determined by enrollment thresholds, for the 2027-28 school year in the Vandegrift High School feeder pattern that includes clear plans for facility use

Trustee Gloria Gonzales-Dholakia presented the idea for this alternative motion, saying campuses such as Canyon Ridge and Four Points middle schools are also facing declining enrollment and have not been part of the conversation.

"It's clear that we need to look at school consolidations in the Steiner Ranch area; however, I'm concerned about how we determined which school to close," Gonzales-Dholakia said. "Closing an elementary school [is] emotional, it hurts, but we have two under under-enrolled middle schools that we haven't talked about in this scenario."

Following the vote to consolidate Faubion, administration could consider utilizing the campus for a New Hope High School expansion, Leander Extended Opportunity Center or the Early College High School, in line with LISD's long-range plan.

"We know that there's kind of no silver bullet, and we'll have to pull multiple levers in order to save our district," trustee Nekosi Nelson said. "I definitely want to acknowledge the loss and the disruption that comes from the transition. I think that there's an opportunity for Faubion students to flourish in some of the fantastic programs of Westside. ... I want us to be really thoughtful about integrating two communities."

Looking back

During its Dec. 11 meeting, the board voted to implement thresholds that will identify campuses with low enrollment and provide mitigation strategies to prevent further decline.

Based on current enrollment projections, Steiner Ranch and Faubion are both in threshold 2, or campuses that fall below 400 students, which triggers a formal review process for potential consolidation.

Next steps

District staff will prepare a rezoning and restaffing plan for Faubion, and develop a task force to support the transition plan.