Parents and students attend a board of trustees meeting at AISD headquarters on Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025 in Austin. Parents and students gathered at AISD headquarters to protest the closure of 13 AISD schools.
Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman
Two days before the Austin school district is expected to release a new version of a campus closure plan, trustees highlighted some potential changes at a Wednesday night meeting.
Three key changes discussed include switching the destination of the district’s Montessori program, options to reopen Martin and Bedichek middle schools and more generous transfer and transportation policies to allow more students to stay at their current campus.
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CURRENT DRAFT: Austin ISD proposes closing 13 schools, rezoning thousands of students
Despite a push from Vice President Kathryn Whitley Chu for alternative plans to spare some campuses on the closure list, other trustees didn’t seem to have much appetite for wholesale changes.
Multiple trustees did ask officials to provide more detailed financial justification for the closure plan and a proposal for the academic programming that families should expect across the district.
District officials estimate the Oct. 3. proposal to shutter 13 campuses, move specialty programming at several campuses and update attendance lines for thousands of Austin children will save $20 million in operating costs as the district faces a chronic budget shortfall.
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The controversial proposal has sparked pushback from families ahead of the board’s Nov. 20 vote, which will also determine the final plan to turn around multiple academically struggling campuses.
During the workshop meeting, Whitley Chu demanded an alternative plan from staff that specifically doesn’t involve closing Bryker Woods Elementary School in Central Austin, as well as other schools on the list.
“There’s people on this list, they do not feel fairly treated at all,” she said. “They do not feel listened to at all.”
Whitley Chu, who represents Northwest Austin, is the only trustee who has voiced definite opposition to the Oct. 3 plan. None of the campuses in Whitley Chu’s district are on the closure list, though students across Austin are affected by boundary changes.
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Trustee Fernando de Urioste, however, opposed “horse-trading” over campuses.
“To sit here and negotiate between different schools and dramatic changes on the plan I think personally is not appropriate for the board,” de Urioste said.
Despite calls from community members to delay the board’s Nov. 20 vote, Superintendent Matias Segura on Wednesday told trustees he’s “adamant” the district avoid delay, pointing to fiscal risk and pressures from campuses not meeting state academic standards.
“The risks aren’t going to go? away,” he said. “They’re only going to get bigger.”
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Chelsea Fullerton-Jones, a parent of students at Maplewood and parent with Let’s Get It Right AISD, holds up a sign during a protest outside AISD headquarters on Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025 in Austin. Parents and students gathered at AISD headquarters to protest the closure of 13 AISD schools.
Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman
Montessori changes
Under the current draft plan, the Winn Montessori program would relocate to Govalle Elementary. Trustees proposed changing the destination to Ortega Elementary School instead.
They worried moving the Montessori program to Govalle would displace an East Austin community that received a brand new $32.5 building through a bond package passed in 2017.
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“I have a lot of concerns of ‘Are we fixing a problem? Are we creating a problem?’” said Trustee Candace Hunter, who represents Northeast Austin. “Will there be a domino?”
Moving Montessori into East Austin was intentional to avoid another campus closure in an area with excess school space, Segura said. Officials considered campuses other than Govalle, but some — such as Zavala — had historic significance they didn’t want to disrupt.
“If we do not move a program there, we’re going to have a lot of underenrolled schools in this area and we’re going to have a closure there,” Segura said.
The move is a chance to “rethink,” the Montessori program, staff said, which hasn’t met state academic standards for three years.
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Adam Sparks, organizer anf founder of Let’s Get It Right AISD, speaks at a protest outside AISD headquarters on Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025 in Austin. Parents and students gathered at AISD headquarters to protest the closure of 13 AISD schools.
Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman
Martin and Bedicheck middle schools
Trustees also talked about reopening options for Martin and Bedichek middle schools, which are slated for temporary closure.
Segura proposed moving Garza Independence High School, which provides students an alternative or self-paced route to graduation, to Martin and adding sixth through ninth grades to the 10th through 12th grade programming.
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Segura also suggested opening a sixth through 12th grade dual language campus at Bedichek. Trustees asked staff to investigate the potential of a Kindergarten through eighth grade campus at one of the middle schools.
Transfers, transportation changes
At Wednesday night’s meeting, district staff opened the door to changing Austin’s transportation and transfer policies, making it easier for students to remain at their current campus.
Rising sixth and ninth graders will be zoned to a new campus will be able to attend the campus they were originally slated to attend, or “grandfathered” in.
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Students who transfer into a school that’s going to close or undergo a comprehensive program change will be guaranteed a transfer spot in the new school their peers will be attending.
Prekindergarten students will be able to continue at their current campus. Staff and sibling transfers will be approved.
Students who live in the current attendance zone for a campus receiving a special program — like Sánchez Elementary School’s move to an across-campus dual language campus — will be eligible for bus transportation to their original school if they choose to transfer in.
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In addition, students who opt to attend the dual language program at Joslin and the Montessori program at Govalle will receive transportation in accordance with the district’s policy.
The district is expected to release a new draft plan on Friday.