A new high school will not be built in Southwest Austin, according to Austin ISD school officials.

Instead, two parcels of land will be purchased by Austin ISD to build a new high school in Southeast Austin, and to expand the overly-crowded Bowie High School, located in the 78749 zip code. Austin American-Statesman first reported the plans Friday.

According to AISD trustee Yasmin Wagner, who represents the southwest portion of the school district, the decision to forgo a land purchase in Southwest Austin was based on a few factors, but primarily resulted in the area's development limitations because of protected lands, which will inevitably stunt the region's population growth, she said.

"If we had bought land for a new high school in Southwest Austin, we would have been setting up a situation where we may have never really reached the full population growth necessary to fill that new high school," Wagner said. "Or at least not to fill it without substantially underenrolling Bowie in the process."

How the decision was made

The debate over whether to build the high school in southwest or southeast Austin started when voters approved a bond referendum in 2008 allocating $32 million for a south high school land purchase.

Southwest Austin residents argued that another high school in the area would alleviate overcrowding at Bowie High School, which currently houses 2,900 students, or 435 students over capacity. According to the Statesman report, demographers predict the campus to be at 128-percent capacity by the 2021-22 school year before leveling out a few years later.

Those advocating for a school in Southeast Austin claimed that continued development in the region would eventually necessitate the construction of an additional high school to offset the population burden shouldered by Akins High School—something that has not been accomplished in Southeast Austin in more than 50 years.

Ultimately, the decision to purchase land in Southeast Austin was based on the impact of housing developments slated for the area, such as the Goodnight, which is projected to bring 3,500 units into Akins attendance zone.

"The southeast right now will get a new tract of land because there is a demonstrated need for the development coming online there," Wagner said. "Akins will not be able to absorb that additional growth."

Still, Wagner said bond money will be divided equitably between the needs of the southeast and southwest.

"We are resolving what voters put forward as an expectation in 2008," Wagner said.

What does this mean for Bowie?

The immediate expansion and modernization of Bowie High School is included in AISD's plans moving forward. According to Wagner, this entails utilizing bond monies leftover from the southeast land purchase to buy additional land for impervious cover. "Bowie has room to expand on its current tract of land, but the limitation has always been that there is not enough impervious cover to be able to do so," she said. "So we are looking into that possibility in our conversations with the city." Wagner said that negotiations indicate a significant amount of contingency funds for Bowie. "That is the good news for Southwest [Austin]. Because we are advocating to use the contingency dollars of that bond after the purchase of a southeast tract, we don't have to go back to voters for more money for improvements at Bowie," she said. "If the rest of the board votes to do so, and I'm hopeful that we will get there, those funds can go directly into Bowie." And while Wagner said the details of the design proposal are still in the works, she expects students at Bowie to be minimally impacted by the proposed expansion. "We would try to get most of the work done in the summer," she said.

What's next?

According to Wagner, she and Trustee Saldaña are actively negotiating the final acquisition pieces for the two tracts of land. Once completed, the plan will be contingent upon approval by the board, which the Statesman reports is slated for the end of February. "We have been in negotiations for a few months now so I am hopeful we will be able to come to a resolution very soon," Wagner said.