The city of Austin is seeking to have a say in the future of some Austin ISD campuses—10 of which are slated to close this summer.

At a March 26 meeting, the Austin City Council adopted a resolution to form a policy around the redevelopment of public land by AISD and other entities. Additionally, council approved refining the city’s process for managing condemnations of city-owned parkland, including some AISD school playgrounds.

“These schools are located centrally in our neighborhood,” council member Vanessa Fuentes said in an interview with Community Impact. “They’re the heartbeat of our communities.”

The overview

AISD will close 10 campuses after this school year to address mounting budgetary concerns and declining enrollment. This spring, the district held meetings with community members around repurposing these campuses for other uses, including leasing or selling the properties.

The district’s repurposing conversations have prompted action from the Austin City Council to increase the city’s involvement in how this public land might be used going forward.

Fuentes’ resolution seeks to preserve publicly owned land for uses that are beneficial to the community. Following council’s approval, the city manager will develop a land policy around when to acquire or partner in the redevelopment of land owned by other public groups, such as local school districts, CapMetro, Central Health, Austin Community College and Travis County.

These sites could be used for housing, health care services, food pantries, libraries, workspaces, community centers and child care facilities, among other purposes, according to the resolution.

“What the school gets redeveloped into will depend largely on the community around it,” Fuentes said. “What it turns into should be subject to community feedback and to the vision and plans of the school district.”

What else?

Council member Ryan Alter said his resolution aims to raise transparency and protect the public’s interest in the condemnation of city parkland by other governmental entities.

Austin does not have enough parkland, Alter said. The city is only at 70% of its goal of providing all residents access to parks and public spaces, according to the resolution.

“We have too many areas in the city, especially in East Austin, that are what we would deem park deficient, which means you really can’t walk to a park from your home,” Alter told Community Impact.

Previously, the city could greenlight the condemnation of city parkland without the council’s approval, he said. Under Alter’s resolution, the city manager must now develop a process for managing these condemnations, including:

Posting discussions or action items on council agendas and notifying the Environmental Commission, Parks and Recreation Board and other partner entitiesConsidering when to conduct an independent appraisalDeveloping a framework for when the city should assert its rights over condemned land when not used for public purposesCreating a plan for the replacement of parkland and how mitigation funds are used for park purposesSince 2020, AISD has condemned 95 acres from the city across 10 campuses, according to city documents. The city currently has joint ownership of parks at Barton Hills, Cook, Cunningham, Gullet, Odom, Ortega, Pillow, Reilly, Sanchez, St. Elmo and Williams elementaries as well as Kealing Middle School.

“We do still have a number of schools where we have a joint interest, and I want to put protections in place that make sure that this isn’t just like a cash transaction, but we’re protecting access to those spaces,” Alter said.

The background

Fuentes said she developed her resolution in response to campus closures by many Austin-area school districts, including the closure of Widén Elementary in Southeast Austin. Widén is one of six campuses AISD has identified as surplus, meaning it could be leased or sold.

“The community was just heartbroken over the school closure,” Fuentes said about Widén Elementary. “It really has had a deep impact on community morale, and I wanted to do something about it.”

AISD has been working to sell the former Rosedale School site in Central Austin to OHT Partners—a multifamily housing company that has proposed developing a six-story, 435-unit apartment complex. The $26 million sale has been stalled by community pushback against the project’s scale and pending litigation related to the legally allowed use of the property.

Earlier this year, the district approved the sale of the former Brooke Elementary campus in Southeast Austin, which closed in 2020, to Trammell Crow Company and High Street Residential. The development is slated to serve as a multifamily apartment complex with market-rate and affordable units above ground-floor retail, an AISD spokesperson told Community Impact.

“What I don’t want to happen is that Widén Elementary gets privatized and sold to the highest bidder, and it becomes something that the community doesn’t want or doesn’t need,” Fuentes said. “That’s why it’s important that we have a framework for these conversations and to be proactive on how that partnership might look like.”

Next steps

The Austin city manager will ask stakeholders about their land development processes and establish a framework for potential partnerships and land acquisitions before June, Fuentes said. The city could then create a list of priority projects and partnerships to consider, she said.

City staff will develop an ordinance outlining a process and policies for parkland condemnation. This ordinance will be presented to council by May or July, Alter said.

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