Elena Torres-Ponce speaks to AISD officials during an information and listening session held at Parades Middle School in Austin as a vote on whether to close the school approaches, July 29, 2026.
Sara Diggins/Austin American-Statesman
The decision to close the school, which came just a week after announcing the proposal, passed 7-2, with trustees LaRessa Quintana and Fernando de Urioste opposed.
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Paredes Middle School, July 22, 2026. AISD announced there will be a vote on the immediate closure of the school next week.
Sara Diggins/Austin American-Statesman
AISD Superintendent Matias Segura speaks to a room full of teachers, staff, parents and community members during an information and listening session held at Parades Middle School in Austin as a vote on whether to close the school approaches, July 29, 2026.
Sara Diggins/Austin American-Statesman
Elena Torres-Ponce speaks to AISD officials during an information and listening session held at Parades Middle School in Austin as a vote on whether to close the school approaches, July 29, 2026.
Sara Diggins/Austin American-Statesman
AISD School Board Vice President and District 6 representative Andrew Gonzales listens to concerned parents, staff, teachers and community members during an information and listening session held at Parades Middle School in Austin as a vote on whether to close the school approaches, July 29, 2026.
Sara Diggins/Austin American-Statesman
A flag, hung in a hallway near the library, celebrates Parades Middle School as a vote on whether to close the school approaches, July 29, 2026.
Sara Diggins/Austin American-Statesman
Several trustees told administrators they felt their hand was forced by receiving the proposal so late in the summer. Surprises like the Paredes closure “are just not acceptable,” trustee Arati Singh said.
“I’m supporting this decision because if I don’t, I feel like I’m putting the district at risk of a takeover,” Singh said. “It’s getting harder and harder to support last-minute decisions.”
Academic challenges and staffing issues led to the abrupt closure of Paredes Middle School, which shocked and angered many families. The closure comes as Austin ISD faces the possibility of a state takeover because of chronic academic failings at three North Austin middle schools.
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Although the blame for the last-minute closure is on AISD, the heavy burden falls on families and staff, said trustee Andrew Gonzales, who represents Paredes.
“Our students and families did not cause these circumstances, and yet they are the ones whose lives are being disrupted most profoundly,” he said.
Superintendent Matias Segura said this week he expects Paredes will receive a fourth consecutive failing rating this year from the state, which could move the district closer to a state takeover. If any campus receives five failing ratings in a row, the state must either shut down the school or take over the entire school system.
Austin ISD testing showed student performance at Paredes improved in the fall semester of the 2025-26 school year, but dropped in the second semester. District officials previously said some of the diminished academic performance came about because of “disruptions” at the school. The disruptions were related to the principal of Paredes being placed on leave for several months, according to the district.
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Austin ISD Superintendent Matias Segura speaks to a room full of teachers, staff, parents and community members during an information and listening session held at Parades Middle School in Austin as a vote on whether to close the school approaches, July 29, 2026.
Sara Diggins/Austin American-Statesman
Segura also said staff vacancies played into the closure decision. As of this week, Paredes had 18 staff vacancies, including 14 teaching positions. The school had 39 teachers in the 2024-25 school year.
The fact that staff vacancies contributed to the decision to close a campus is concerning, especially considering the district has multiple campuses that require academic turnaround plans, de Urioste said. The plans, mandated by the state at struggling schools, typically require that a campus staff with experienced teachers.
“To say that we have a hard job, and we can’t get people to apply for it, is really concerning to me,” de Urioste said.
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The majority of the 848 students who were projected to attend Paredes will be assigned to Bailey Middle School. About 45% of students will move to Mendez. A state-mandated academic turnaround plan designed for Paredes also will move to Bailey, bringing enhanced staffing and more focus on math and reading instruction. The Texas Education Agency still needs to sign off on moving the plan to Bailey, Segura has said.
Trustee Candace Hunter said she feared what would happen if the agency doesn’t accept the change, especially because the district is “already at risk” of a state takeover.
“We’re still waiting for Aug. 14,” Hunter said, referring to the date that TEA will release 2026 campus scores. “Should we survive that, we will be back in the mix if we don’t make this move now.”
Parades Middle School band teacher Nancy Inglish speaks to AISD officials during an information and listening session held at Parades Middle School in Austin as a vote on whether to close the school approaches, July 29, 2026.
Sara Diggins/Austin American-Statesman
Of the 63 staff members at Paredes, 28 will move to Bailey, 24 will move to Mendez and 11 will move to other schools, according to Austin ISD. Nineteen of Paredes’ 34 teachers will go to Mendez, and 15 will go to Bailey.
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Bailey is about six miles southwest of Paredes, and Mendez is six miles northeast. Segura showed trustees the finalized attendance boundary split Thursday night. Students who live east of Bluff Springs Road and north of Slaughter Lane will be reassigned to Mendez. All other Paredes students will move to Bailey.
Family concern
During the Thursday meeting, Paredes seventh grader Amerae Guerrero begged the district not to close her school. It wasn’t fair to students, she said.
“You have closed our school because we failed,” Amerae said. “We can always try again. We tried our hardest with the changes that were made. The district failed us.”
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Ahead of the school board decision, families and staff packed into Paredes’ library on Wednesday to demand more information about why the decision had come so late in the summer.
Jacob Cervantes, a rising seventh grader, had been looking forward to playing football at Paredes next year. Now that he will be moving to Bailey, those plans feel up in the air.
Heather Trevino and her son Jacob Cervantes speak to AISD Superintendent Matias Segura during an information and listening session held at Parades Middle School in Austin as a vote on whether to close the school approaches, July 29, 2026.
Sara Diggins/Austin American-Statesman
He and his mother, Heather Trevino, watched a Tuesday night school board meeting where trustees were briefed on the decision and still didn’t understand why the decision had come so late, she said.
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Trevino had been paying attention to the school’s mid-year performance, which had been improving, so the news of a school closure came as a shock.
“I felt like the rug was pulled out from underneath us,” Trevino said. “We had the impression that we were on the right track.”
Now, she worries about arranging transportation for her son, especially since the single mother has other school-aged children and older family members to care for.
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Austin ISD administrators plan to call families to help them with enrollment and let them know about transportation options, Segura said on Thursday. The district also plans to direct resources toward Bailey and Mendez to accommodate the influx of students from Paredes.
Angel Wilson, assistant superintendent of secondary schools, said she can’t yet guarantee that students will be enrolled in all the same courses they previously signed up for at Paredes. Administrators are trying to match courses the best they can, she said.