Community members shared feedback and asked questions Oct. 29 about the master plan Austin ISD is developing to guide how it assesses and addresses facility needs.
There are more than 100 schools in AISD, Chief Operations Officer Lawrence Fryer said. The facility master plan, or FMP, will inform how the school district funds its facilities and will support planning for future bond elections.
"The facility master plan will be a living document, which means that although it's a long-range, 10-year plan, there will be opportunities to make future adjustments, and there is going to be a two-year review cycle," Fryer said. "So, every two years it will go back to the board for a formal review. Just because it's a long-range plan does not mean it's locking things in concrete for the next 10 years."
At the community meeting at Crockett High School, South Austin resident Deborah Trejo said that she wants the district to share data with the public and conduct thorough analysis before releasing documents such as a list of schools at risk of closure. Trejo, a mother of students attending Becker Elementary School and Fulmore Middle School, said the district released such a list years ago.
"I have a very grave concern about the damage that is done to schools when they're placed on a list," she said. "We learned in two previous rounds of experiences with the district and its proposal for closures that when you tell the community you're closing a school or that you're planning to close their school, that really harms the school."
Paul Turner, AISD executive director of facilities, said the district has experienced an enrollment decline of about 1.4 percent during the past year. He said AISD will work with a new demographic consultant, Davis Demographics & Planning Inc., to determine the effect the decline will have. Nevertheless, schools throughout the district are overcrowded, and Turner said the district has implemented efforts to relieve overcrowding in areas including North Austin.
"We're looking at strategies we might have to use in other parts of the district that are really overcrowded right now," he said, citing Blazier Elementary School as an example.
Trejo said she hopes the district will consider boundary adjustments as an option to better utilize schools in Central Austin.
Southwest Austin resident Debby Clarke asked the facilities team when AISD plans to purchase land for a new South Austin high school. Bond money for the land purchase was secured in the 2008 bond election.
"I know there are a lot of parents in Southwest Austin wondering 'Hey, what's the deal with this?'" she said, pointing out the district sought community input on academic programming options and has not yet released the results.
Fryer said public input indicated that most of the community wants a comprehensive school design, possibly with a focus on science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM.
Turner said the district will have a report in January showing where growth is happening.
"There has been growth in Southeast [Austin]; we expect a lot more growth with Goodnight Ranch development," Turner said. "All of that's been slowed down, as you know, by the recession. But we do expect over time, since that's where most of the raw land exists, for that to be a higher-growth area than any other part of South Austin."
Fryer said there is no timeline for the south high school project. Austin voters did not approve funds for a feasibility study as part of the 2013 bond. Turner said the next step would be for the board to schedule time to discuss the south high school.
AISD plans to hold additional community meetings about the FMP on Oct. 30 from 6:30–8 p.m. at Austin High School, 1715 W. Cesar Chavez St., and on Nov. 6 from 6:30–8 p.m. at Lanier High School, 1201 Payton Gin Road. There is also a hotline for FMP questions: 512-414-2FMP. The district aims to complete the FMP on or before June 30, 2014.
