Progress is underway on a comprehensive overhaul of Austin ISD’s facilities master plan, or FMP, the document that outlines the current status of district facilities and how they will be used over the next 25 years. Of the schools assessed in Central Austin, three were identified as needing significant repairs or replacement within the next six years.

“This [FMP] is a 30,000-foot view,” said Paul Turner, executive director of AISD’s Department of Facilities. “This is about a transformational change in the school district to bring schools into the 21st century.”

The group tasked with forming recommendations for the FMP to the AISD board of trustees is an 18-member citizen committee known as the FABPAC, or the Facilities and Bond Planning Advisory Committee. The FABPAC recently received preliminary options for the FMP from one of the district’s facility development consultants, Brailsford & Dunlavey Inc.

“This is a stakeholder-driven process,” said Frank Fuller, communications administrative services supervisor for the facilities department.

Public feedback has been a key element of the FMP process in determining how facilities can be modernized to serve the community, Turner said. Two more community engagement series events are scheduled for January and February to prepare for March 27 when the board is scheduled to vote on the FABPAC’s recommendations.

Based on objective data gathered through evaluations of each facility, a series of planning strategies was developed to guide the project recommendations, sequencing and priorities. In a nutshell, the FABPAC will base its prioritization of schools on a system coined “The Worst First.”

Each school was assigned two separate grades based on the findings of assessments that measured the facility’s condition and how well it fosters teaching and learning. A school that scored in the “average” range on the facilities condition assessment will require minor repairs as well as infrequent larger system repairs within 12 to 25 years of the plan’s implementation. Significant repairs or replacements will be required within 12 years of the plan’s implementation for schools scoring in the “poor” range, and schools scoring in the “very poor” range will require either an overhaul or  replacement within the first six years of the plan’s implementation in order to operate at ideal conditions. 

Three schools in Central Austin received a grade of “very poor.” Those schools were Casis Elementary School, Lucy Read Pre-Kindergarten School and the Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders.

Turner was careful to note that even for schools that require extensive repairs, construction is still several years down the road, and AISD will always opt for repairs over demolition.

“Taking a facility to the ground will be the exception, not the rule,” he said. “If we can use the existing structure and redo the inside of it to reflect what we are looking for with modernization … that is the preference.” 

Smith also pointed out that preliminary options are not set in stone and will be contingent upon review by the FABPAC, community input and, eventually, a vote from the board of trustees.

The FMP process was already underway when structural deficiencies were discovered in the crawl spaces of Brown Elementary School, located in North Austin, prompting the district to initiate an indefinite closure of the building and emergency relocation of Brown’s 360 students. Turner said the closure of Brown has influenced inspection guidelines.

“We have things we need to work on,” he said. “We are setting up [inspection protocols] in the maintenance department to check those crawl spaces regularly, so that if conditions are deteriorating we can take care of it before it gets too bad.”

Over the next few months, the FABPAC will continue to review preliminary options and begin to draft a recommendation to present to the AISD board of trustees. Once the FMP update has been approved, Brailsford & Dunlavey Inc., along with the FABPAC, will develop bond recommendations for a potential bond election next November.