As Austin ISD's 2012-13 school year comes to a close, district officials are looking ahead to address stalled projects that were included in failed propositions 2 and 4 in the district's May bond election.

Proposition 2 included funds for safety and security upgrades, facilities expansions, classroom additions and new schools, while Proposition 4 aimed to support facilities for career and technology education and development, fine arts, athletics and special education programs. Most of those projects will have to wait while the district seeks alternate funding options, according to AISD board of trustees President Vincent Torres.

"We are going back and will be having some discussions both with the board and the community as to why did those two propositions fail and at what level is the community willing to support a bond program in the future," he said.

In the May election, taxpayers conveyed the message that the district should work with existing resources, Superintendent Meria Carstarphen said, noting the votes were close and hovered around the 50 percent mark.

"The voters have said, 'we're not going to [approve funding to] build additions. We're not going to give you money for new schools. We want you to think more about efficiency and the use of your existing space,'" Carstarphen said.

Cindy Anderson, a parent of two AISD students, spoke during a recent board meeting and said some members of the community distrust the district, and that showed in the bond election results.

"The failure of propositions 2 and 4 indicates to me as much as any other reason a lack of confidence in leadership that relates to both the board and the administration," she said.

Ken Zarifis, president of Education Austin, which is part of the Texas branch of the American Federation of Teachers, said he thought the most important of the four propositions passed, and he noted the district can learn from the election results when considering future tax initiatives, bonds and tax ratification elections.

"There hasn't been enough engagement on large issues," he said. "I think that the district needs to do some work on how [to] build trust with the community so that as we move forward with large initiatives, they'll move forward with us. It's encouraging and it gives us an opportunity to find out what went wrong."

Torres said that the district will continue to pursue additional funding to support the district's facilities needs during the coming years.

"At some point, we are going to have to go out for another bond. We're going to have to go out for a TRE," Torres said.

Downtown, stalled projects will include the school for young men, for which funding was included in Proposition 4. The district had planned to renovate the current Alternative Learning Center as the site of the new single-sex college preparatory school. Torres said now, the project will likely slow down until another funding source is identified. However, the board has continued taking steps forward and recently approved Sterlin McGruder as the future school's principal.

In South Austin, stalled projects will include the area's new high school. Torres said the district will continue to work on determining the academic programming, but as far as an eventual feasibility study, land selection and construction go, the project might be slowing to a halt.

"We'll only be able to go so far," he said. "And then we'll have to put it on a shelf until we decide how we can fund the next phase of it, and it may or may not be the feasibility study. It may just have to sit there until we can determine how we're going to proceed."