AUSTIN, Texas — Austin ISD’s consolidation plan draft is now under a month away from heading to the district’s board of trustees for a vote. For students living in neighborhoods expecting a school to shutter, routine and community are on the line.

Sally Stadnick’s fifth grader and kindergartener attend Widén Elementary School in southeast Austin.

They live less than half a mile from the school and are able to skip a car or bus ride by walking or biking over in the morning.

Her daughter, Abby, described the comfortable environment of her school as they walked to Widén early Thursday morning.

“I can just get there safely without going on the big streets,” Abby said.

It’s a path she was hoping her younger brother would get to walk for more than just a year.

“I honestly don’t even know how to put it into words,” Sally Stadnick said when asked about the possibility of Widén closing its doors for good next fall.

Widén is one of 13 schools listed for closure in the district’s consolidation plan draft. It comes as the district tackles a budget shortfall, falling enrollment, and a risk of takeover by the Texas Education Agency.

“I don’t think the solutions should be combined like they are being,” Stadnick said.

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If the plan is approved in its current state, Stadnick’s family will be re-zoned to Rodriguez Elementary School, which is over a mile away, across Stassney Lane.

Across town at Bryker Woods Elementary School, families are feeling similar frustrations.

What’s just a morning walk of a few blocks for students now could turn into a two-mile drive next year.

“Sometimes I ride my bike to school. Sometimes I just walk with my friend,” second grader Sadie Brown said as she walked to school Wednesday.

But with Bryker Woods also on the list of closures, the walk to school would turn into a bus or car ride.

We asked third grader Catharine Magnuson how she felt about the possibility of moving to a new school next fall.

“Horrible,” she answered simply.

Families have had a chance to ask questions of the district and share their thoughts on the consolidation plan through virtual Q&As and an online comment card in recent weeks.

Superintendent Matias Segura has explained that the changes are urgent to give the district a better future.

“I want to be proactive and not be at a point where we have a few options or where someone or an entity is doing or making changes for us. I want to make sure we keep that control in this community,” he told CBS Austin last week.

According to the district, the plan would save over $20 million immediately, better manage resources, and create more balanced enrollment patterns.

“It’s difficult, but if we as a city believe in public education, which I believe we do, we can be successful. It just means that each of us is going to have to make an adjustment in this new reality that we’re in,” he said.

The draft consolidation plan is heading to a vote by the AISD Board of Trustees on Nov. 20.