5 major Austin ISD updates: Turnaround plans, Brooke Elementary sale, enrollment improvement efforts

From efforts to improve enrollment to intervention plans at struggling schools, here are five of the biggest stories happening in Austin ISD.

State education agency approves 22 of 24 AISD turnaround plans

The Texas Education Agency has approved turnaround plans for 22 out of 24 low-performing campuses.

The agency has requested additional details for the two remaining campuses—Widén Elementary and Winn Montessori. The district anticipates receiving approval for these campuses after submitting the requested information, according to AISD information.

The AISD board of trustees approved turnaround plans for the 24 campuses in November. Twenty-three of these campuses received two or more consecutive unacceptable A-F ratings from the state, while one failed to meet federal accountability standards.

Next school year, the district plans to close seven of these campuses, restart five campuses and implement implement school improvement plans at the remaining 12 schools.

AISD board approves sale of former Brooke Elementary

At a Jan. 29 meeting, the AISD board approved selling of the former Brooke Elementary site to Trammell Crow Company and High Street. The board's vote will allow Superintendent Matias Segura to negotiate and execute a sale with the developer.

AISD closed the East Austin campus alongside three additional elementaries in 2020.

The district was planning to sell to campus for $19 million to reduce a more than $100 million budget shortfall, according to district documents from September.

Community Impact reached out to Austin ISD to learn more about the proposed development but did not receive a response as of press time.

District to consider future attendance boundary changes, school closures

The AISD board could vote to close more schools and rezone thousands of students this fall.

In early November, the district walked back on an initial proposal to close Palm, Bryker Woods and Maplewood elementaries. The district changed course after community members shared concerns about some district leaders in charge of applying community feedback to the district’s school consolidation plan.

In an online update posted Jan. 29, Segura said the district had concluded an internal investigation, which determined "that the integrity of the process was maintained throughout the entire process."

The district now plans to resume work and community engagement around potential boundary changes this spring before deciding in October whether to rezone or close additional campuses in the 2027-28 school year, according to AISD information.