Austin ISD to pause additional school closures, advance rezoning amid $181M budget shortfall

Austin ISD is planning to hold off on future school closures while moving forward with adopting new attendance boundaries.

District officials discussed potential changes for the 2027-28 school year as AISD faces a $181 million budget shortfall and considers potential staff layoffs for fiscal year 2026-27. AISD Superintendent Matias Segura confirmed his decision to pause additional school closures in a letter posted to the district's website April 26.

“I am very much committed to moving forward the boundary process but have concerns around taking on consolidations,” Segura said at an April 23 board meeting.

The big picture

In November, the AISD board of trustees voted to close 10 campuses this summer to address declining enrollment and mounting budgetary concerns.

Weeks before the board’s vote, AISD scaled back its initial plans to rezone students districtwide along with closing Maplewood, Bryker Woods and Palm elementaries amid community pushback and a district investigation. The district opened an investigation after community members shared concerns about district officials leading the school consolidation process.

In an online update from January, Segura said the district's internal investigation determined "that the integrity of the process was maintained throughout the entire process." Segura said the district would resume its rezoning work and consider future school closures this fall.

In April, AISD announced it would begin discussing districtwide rezoning at the following community meetings while suspending further school closures:

• Boundary process kickoff meeting: May 11 from 6-7:30 p.m.
• Boundary process kickoff meeting: May 16 from 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
• North Austin community boundary workshop: June 8 from 6-7:30 p.m.
• East Austin community boundary workshop: June 9 from 6-7:30 p.m.
• Central Austin community boundary workshop: June 15 from 6-7:30 p.m.
• South Austin community boundary workshop: June 16 from 6-7:30 p.m.
• Districtwide virtual community boundary workshop: June 22 from 10-11:30 a.m.
• Districtwide virtual community boundary workshop: June 23 from 6-7:30 p.m.

Going forward, AISD will focus on strengthening the district's special education services while improving student achievement at low-performing schools with turnaround plans, Segura said in an online update. Additionally, AISD will work to stabilize its budget, support families impacted by school closures next school year, improve declining enrollment and advance its 2022 bond projects.

"Given the challenges we have taken on recently, I cannot put additional strain on our community that might detract from this strong progress," Segura states in his letter.

At the April 23 meeting, AISD board President Lynn Boswell said families at campuses posed for potential closure were leaving the district and applying for private schools. District 1 trustee Candace Hunter—who represents northeast Austin, including Maplewood Elementary—said her constituents have been asking for new attendance boundaries that do not split students between several different schools.

“Another consolidation will not serve our district. ... What District 1 has been asking for and what we have needed is our boundaries so that we can look like the rest of Austin,” Hunter said. “I think we're done with consolidations.”

What else?

AISD is weighing $117 million-$132 million in budget cuts for next fiscal year, which could include laying off staff and reducing academic programming.

The district’s projected budget shortfall has increased from $49 million in FY 2025-26 to $181 million in FY 2026-27 due to a decrease in property values, drop in enrollment and the delay of a $26 million property sale, Chief Financial Officer Katrina Montgomery said.

The district’s enrollment has steadily declined since the 2019-20 school year, with a loss of nearly 3,200 students from last school year to this school year. In Texas, public school districts are funded based on the average number of students that attend school each day.

AISD has seen its enrollment decline amid changes to federal immigration policies, Segura said. More students have begun attending charter or private schools while families are moving outside of Austin to buy homes in the surrounding suburbs, district officials told Community Impact.

The approach

District officials discussed three options to cut costs at the April 23 meeting. The district may adjust schedules for music, art and physical education classes to save $6 million, which would reduce planning time for elementary teachers, AISD Chief of Staff La Kesha Drinks said.

At secondary campuses, the district could cut $16 million by adjusting the number of teaching positions, class sizes and campuses’ master schedules so that educators teach seven of eight periods instead of six periods, according to district documents.

“I want to be really clear that ... we're talking about people who won't have jobs,” Boswell said. “We're talking about people who have jobs now who won't have jobs.”

AISD could also save $31.9 million by reducing or eliminating stipends and allowances—the majority of which would impact bilingual and special education staff.

“We are doing everything we can to do this the right way,” Segura said. “It is incredibly hard. There are no good options.”

Learn more

The district is surveying families to provide feedback on the budget through April 30. AISD has received 4,300 survey responses so far, Segura said.

The district will host meetings to discuss its budget with families, staff and community members on the following dates:

• April 28, from 6-7 p.m. at Austin High School
• May 9, virtually from 11 a.m.-noon