Скачать или смотреть 9 Hours of Austin ISD’s School Board Meeting in 3 Minutes

Last week, the Austin ISD Board of Trustees voted to close 10 campuses, and relocate most of the district’s dual language programs. The vote came early Friday morning (at around 2am ) after hours of public comment from community members. District officials have said these moves are necessary to balance out a roughly $19 million budget deficit and cut the number of empty seats.

Eight elementary schools are slated to close: Barrington, Becker, Dawson, Oak Springs, Ridgetop, Sunset Valley, Widén and Winn Montessori. Two middle schools will also close: Bedicheck and Martin. Additionally, the International High School program will be disbanded.

The district predicts these moves will help erase AISD’s budget shortfalls. They calculate the plan will generate $21.5 million in savings, and eliminate more than 6,000 so-called ‘empty seats.’

District officials say next steps will include enrollment clinics to help families decide where to transfer their students to, and working to reassign teachers from closing schools.

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