The Austin ISD board of trustees discussed five advanced academic programming proposals for South Austin high schools during its April 11 work session—magnet options that the district will seek public feedback on in the coming weeks. The magnet proposals staff presented were civics and legal, comprehensive advanced academics, computer science, enterprise and leadership, and health sciences options. Edmund Oropez, chief officer for teaching and learning, said AISD is looking at the proposals because no high school magnet program exists in South Austin, the Liberal Arts and Science Academy [LASA] has reached capacity at its location in Northeast Austin, and a slight majority of LASA students during the 2014-15 and 2015-16 school years live in South Austin. The board has discussed a potential 'LASA South' option at previous meetings. The South Magnet Planning Committee, comprising AISD staff, community members and parents, met from January to March and developed four of the proposals. AISD staff developed the computer science proposal. District 7 Trustee Yasmin Wagner, who represents Southwest Austin, asked staff what the feasibility of the five proposals are when considering costs, staffing and facilities needs. Oropez said the committee has already begun discussions about current staffing at high schools and the recurring costs of equipment over the years, and staff departments including facilities and human resources have looked at the proposals. Wagner also questioned some of the enrollment criteria in the draft proposals which included reserving 75 percent of magnet program space for students from schools that are part of Title I, federal program that provides financial assistance to local educational agencies and schools with high numbers or percentages of children from low-income families. Wagner said she still wants the district to find ways to get students at Title I schools graduating with skill sets. "But I don't know that a south magnet piece, with all the things we are trying to solve, is the right place for a solution," Wagner said. District 1 Trustee Edmund Gordon, representing a Northeast Austin area where LASA is located, said he does not think rigorous programs around the district can remain inequitable, so the solution can be either  to "elbow in" space in the existing programs, or expand capacity in rigorous programs and then work toward equity. "This is not about making an equitable alternative for LASA," Gordon said. "This needs to be a way of making all our exclusive educational opportunities in the district more equitable." The board plans to discuss the magnet proposals again at its work session on May 9.