A child adjusts his backpack during a holiday celebration at Webb Middle School in Austin, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025. Parents could petition the state to close their schools instead of take over Austin ISD.
Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman
After years of changes meant to improve academics at Webb Middle School, families told Austin Independent School District leaders that they’re weary and frustrated over a proposed petition to close the campus.
However, the petition may be the only option families have to provide input as the state decides how to intervene in Austin ISD after both Webb and Burnet middle schools received five consecutive F ratings, Superintendent Matias Segura said at a Thursday night Webb community meeting.
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A sign is displayed in the school hallway during a Webb Middle School community meeting at Webb Middle School on Monday, May 12, 2025 in Austin. Parents could petition the state to close their schools instead of take over Austin ISD.
Aaron E. Martinez / American Statesman
The gathering came two weeks after Mayor Kirk Watson pitched Burnet and Webb families on the petition idea. He wrote in a newsletter that the school communities could, under state law, petition the Texas Education Agency to close their campuses instead of having TEA leaders take over all of Austin ISD. A takeover would sideline elected trustees and install appointed managers.
Under a 2015 law, Education Commissioner Mike Morath must decide between campus closures and a districtwide takeover after the two North Austin campuses reached their fifth consecutive F rating in 2026.
During a three-hour meeting in Webb’s cafeteria on Thursday, Segura listened as parents insisted they wanted to preserve their school community and said they were upset at the prospect of shuttering the campus. On the wall of the cafeteria, someone had hung a yellow poster board with the message: “AISD stab us on the back.”
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Webb families are exhausted from constant changes, said Bertha Valera, whose daughter is in seventh grade at Webb. Parents pour their hearts into the school, which is a hub for the North Austin community, she said.
“My job as a mother, I’m doing it,” Varela said. “My daughter passed all her exams this year.”
Earlier this month, Segura wrote to Austin ISD families saying the district wouldn’t advocate for a parent petition or participate in gathering signatures. He said the district would “allow impacted families to use their voice without our guidance.”
But on Thursday, Segura told Webb families he thought it was likely the campus would either close — regardless of Morath’s decision — or be different next year.
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“Webb will go through a change,” he said. “It will be different.”
The petition gives families a chance to provide input on the next steps, Segura said. He cited several examples of possible next steps, including moving students to a new school, splitting students between different schools or creating a new school at Webb under a new model, such as a sixth through 12th grade school or a STEM academy.
“We are at the mercy of the laws when it comes to what we can do next,” Segura said. “The input of what this community wants to have happen next, it can only be done by way of petition.”
Impact on students, families
Several Webb parents and teachers said the spotlight on the schools had been especially hard on students because they assume it’s their fault that the school may close.
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Students have read negative social media comments about Burnet and Webb and asked their teachers about them, some educators said.
Vanessa Gamez, president of the Webb PTA, said her own children asked her if people want to close the school because the children who attend are largely Black and Hispanic. Webb’s student body is 86% Hispanic and 98% economically disadvantaged.
Her own students worry about the school closing, she said.
“They say ‘Why do we need to work hard if they’re going to close the school? ’,” she said.
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Several parents said Webb hasn’t gotten the resources it needs to be successful — and this isn’t the first time Webb families have faced the possibility of closure.
In spring 2025, Austin ISD proposed closing the campus after the district learned it would receive four F ratings. The district ultimately kept the campus open and began academic turnaround plans at Webb, Burnet and Dobie middle schools — three campuses that had, at the time, all scored three consecutive failing ratings from the state.
This year, Dobie scored a D, narrowly avoiding mandatory state consequences. Burnet moved from a 54 to 59 out of 100, while Webb decreased from a 59 to 58.
Austin ISD increased staffing, math and reading instruction and other resources at the schools this year, Segura said. The district also planned to partner with a nonprofit to run the campuses in a bid to buy them more time to improve their academics. But after the state rejected the partnership as a way to avoid state intervention, Austin ISD ended the contract with the group.
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Parent choices
Mayor Kirk Watson’s early September newsletter cast a spotlight on families at Webb and Burnet by suggesting they could petition Morath to close their schools. Under state law, if a majority of parents at the schools ask for the closure, Morath would be compelled to agree.
In Snyder ISD, families successfully petitioned Morath to close Snyder Junior High School instead of installing a board of managers, after the school received five consecutive F ratings. The school reopened later that year with a new academic model.
If Webb and Burnet parents petition to close their campuses, Austin ISD would work with parents to develop a proposal for the future of their students, Segura told families Thursday. Morath would need to approve the plan.
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During a panel on Thursday afternoon at the Texas Tribune Festival, Segura said families should take advantage of their right to petition.
“Schools do not continue on with six F’s and seven F’s,” Segura said. “There’s going to be a closure, and the school is going to change. What happens after that — whether it reopens, whether it combines — that is where the input from the community needs to be considered.”
Segura hopes to continue using the Burnet campus, where a $158 million renovation is underway. Construction is scheduled to finish next year.
The state hasn’t always closed schools when intervening.
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Wheatley High School, which triggered the 2023 takeover of Houston ISD, remains open. Marilyn Miller Language Academy in Lake Worth ISD and Connally Elementary and Connally Junior High in Connally ISD also remain open after consecutive failing grades at those campuses prompted TEA takeovers.
If Webb and Burnet parents choose to petition, they have until Oct. 15 to submit the paperwork to Austin ISD. The district must then verify the petition is accurate and submit it to TEA by Dec. 1.
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