Austin, TEXAS — Officials with Austin Independent School District (AISD) are set to decide by the end of the month whether to move elementary-aged students to a different East Austin campus while a new facility is built at another campus.
AISD trustees initially proposed to close Oak Springs Elementary School in November’s approved consolidation plan. Now, they could decide to close the nearby Blackshear Elementary School and build a new facility at Oak Springs.
This move would then transport the zoned community to Blackshear for the 2026-27 school year, sending them back to the new Oak Springs campus when construction is completed, according to a letter for AISD parents from assistant superintendent Jennifer Pace.
AISD’s decision to close 10 schools and re-zone areas of the district aimed to address a budget deficit of over $20 million. Superintendent Matias Segura said consolidation could help the district avoid a state takeover by the Texas Education Agency (TEA), where a district’s self-appointed school board is replaced by a state-appointed governing board for at least two years. Houston ISD, Fort Worth ISD and others are currently under TEA leadership.
Blackshear Elementary first opened in 1891, serving Black children in a segregated area of East Austin. Now, it operates as a public fine arts academy, the first and only elementary school in the city to offer programs like classical guitar, piano, dance, visual arts and more.
District parents said they worry about the cost-effectiveness of students moving campuses twice in two years, as well as accommodating Blackshear students who use the fine arts programs.
In a meeting with Blackshear parents in November, Segura said that if AISD officials decide to move forward with the proposal to merge while Oak Springs is under construction, he would update the new campus’ design to accommodate Blackshear students’ needs in the fine arts departments.
Segura will make the final decision, according to the letter from Pace. The trustees’ next meeting is scheduled for Jan. 15. Parents of both schools can fill out a survey with suggestions about the upcoming decision.