At a work session Nov. 12, the Austin ISD board of trustees talked about two recommendations—a potential school for young men and proposed new designs for two District 1 middle schools—in preparation for a Dec. 17 vote.
Each year, AISD puts forth a list of recommendations to improve facilities and academics in the district. These proposals go through a long vetting process involving research and community input, and they are then put before the board for approval.
The board already has draft scenarios for four other recommendations it will vote on during its Dec. 17 meeting, but these two require further discussion among board members before then, Superintendent Meria Carstarphen said.
Community against co-locating school for young men
During the board work session, the trustees reached a consensus that establishing a school for young men at a new or existing site, such as the old Anderson High School or Alternative Learning Center, is preferred over co-location.
The community has been vocal in its opposition to co-location, one of the options the board had considered, Carstarphen said. In public hearings and conversations, renovating an existing site was preferred over co-locating the school for young men with an existing school and then reassigning students in the existing school to nearby middle schools. Covington, Lamar, Pearce, Garcia and Martin middle schools were among those being considered as possible sites.
"It's just not welcome," she said, adding the planning team has also said it wants to renovate the ALC.
The proposed school for young men would likely open in the 2013–14 school year and would be a brother school to the existing Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders, Carstarphen said, noting its enrollment process would be similar. The Moody Foundation said it will contribute up to $4.6 million for strategic planning and operations at the school for young men, pending board approval, Carstarphen said.
Trustee Robert Schneider said co-location was his preference, primarily because of the cost involved with paying for a school for young men. The proposal indicates it would take $20 million–$22 million to renovate an existing site, and without money from a bond or a grant, building the school would not be possible, he said.
"Twenty-two million dollars is really starting to push the cost of what it would cost to open a brand-new elementary school," he said.
The board can leave it up to the voters to decide, Trustee Cheryl Bradley said.
"We're talking about putting it in a bond," Bradley said. "If the bond passes, we get the school, and if it does not, then we don't have a young men's leadership academy. To me, I think it's kind of black and white."
Planning team finds model for District 1 middle schools
The planning team working on the District 1 recommendation has held many meetings and recently visited two schools in Grand Prairie that are set up like the first of three scenarios it is considering. The team was impressed, Carstarphen said.
"[The recommendation] is still being shaped, and there is yet no agreement from the planning team on exactly which scenario is the preferred scenario just yet," she said.
The team agrees programming should have pre–advanced placement courses, be college preparatory, and focus on leadership, character and academic rigor.
"The question is whether or not this program should be implemented in a single-sex environment," Carstarphen said.
The first scenario being considered for the two District 1 middle schools would establish two single-sex middle schools serving 500 boys and 500 girls in sixth through eighth grades in a combined attendance area. AISD would combine the attendance area for Garcia and Pearce middle schools, and students who choose not to attend one of the single-sex middle schools would be assigned to a middle school such as Dobie, Martin, Lamar or Webb.
The planning team will visit more single-sex sites in the Houston area this week and share findings with the AISD board at a future meeting, Carstarphen said. Two other scenarios are also being considered—one serving 250 girls and 250 boys, and one in which Garcia and Pearce would remain coed.
