Mayor Kirk Watson speaks at a back-to-school safety news conference at Lamar Middle School on Monday, Aug. 17, 2026. Watson is calling on the parents of Burnet and Webb middle schools to petition to close their campuses to avoid a districtwide takeover of Austin Independent School District.
Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman
The Austin Independent School District shouldn’t be taken over by the state, Mayor Kirk Watson wrote in a Wednesday morning newsletter sent to community members.
Instead, parents should petition Education Commissioner Mike Morath to close two campuses with chronic academic challenges — Burnet and Webb middle schools — and ask AISD to open a new school in North Austin, he proposed in his “Watson Wire” newsletter.
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The mayor’s comments come as Austin ISD faces a potential state takeover because Burnet and Webb each recieved a fifth consecutive failing rating on the 2026 state accountability ratings, triggering a 2015 law that requires Morath to either close the schools or take over the entire district. The latter consequence would result in the state replacing Austin ISD’s elected trustees with appointed managers.
A takeover is “an extraordinary intervention,” and isn’t warranted in a district that improved to a B rating of an 81 this year and has shown academic progress, Watson said. Last year Austin ISD scored a 79, or C, on the state’s letter grades.
“We ought to ask whether a more targeted intervention can address the campuses that triggered the law while preserving — and accelerating — the strong and steady progress occurring throughout Austin ISD,” Watson said.
The mayor pointed parents to a portion of state law that allows families to appeal to Morath directly.
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When a school triggers a potential takeover, a majority of parents at the campus can sign a petition asking Morath to either close their school or replace their elected trustees. Morath may follow the parents’ wishes, according to state law.
TEA didn’t immediately respond to a request seeking clarification about whether a petition compels Morath to follow parent recommendaitons.
Watson implied students from Burnet and Webb could be educated at a new school on the Burnet campus, which is undergoing $158 million in renovations as part of the 2022 $2.4 billion bond.
Superintendent Matias Segura’s “past work gives me confidence that he would develop an ambitious plan that refuses to disperse students from struggling campuses among existing middle schools,” Watson said. “I trust him, with the support of the elected board, to create a new school in a brand-new facility that keeps each school community together.”
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Austin ISD didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
It’s unclear whether a majority of families at Burnet or Webb would sign such a petition.
Vanessa Gamez, who has an eighth grader at Webb and serves as the campus’ PTA president, doesn’t want to see her child’s school shutter. For years, families asked for resources and staff for the North Austin schools to help improve academic outcomes, she said.
“Now they want to close our school?” Gamez said. “It’s not fair.”
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At this point, she wonders if TEA should take a look at improving the school, but parents have asked the state for help before, she said.
“This is so sad for our community,” Gamez said.
Parent petitions elsewhere
Parents have used the petition tool before.
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When Snyder ISD was under threat of a takeover in 2019 for chronic academic issues, parents from Snyder Junior High, which had received five consecutive F ratings, filed a petition asking Morath to close the campus instead.
This petition, which came from a majority of Snyder Junior High parents, compelled him to shutter the school and appoint a conservator to direct district decisions, instead of replace the elected school board, he wrote in a January 2020 letter to the district.
Burnet and Webb haven’t met state standards since 2018. Webb scored a 58 out of 100 and Burnet a 59. A 60 would have given both schools a “pause” year to improve their scores.
In August, Watson told the Statesman he was discussing potential state action with Austin ISD and believed the district was on the right track to improve student outcomes.
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In Wednesday’s newsletter, Watson said Segura’s policies have made significant progress at improving academic standards across Austin ISD. The district reduced the number of F-rated campuses from 23 to 20 and increased A-rated campuses from 22 to 28.
Segura and the board have “ implemented significant, systemic reforms” including “by providing financial incentives for top teachers at high-needs schools, focusing the most intense resources on students needing them, modernizing campuses, and prioritizing schools with historically underserved populations,” Watson wrote.
Other school closures
Closing Burnet and Webb to reopen a new campus at the Burnet site wouldn’t be the first time an Austin ISD school reopened under a new name or program.
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In 2007, Porter Middle School closed and reopened as the Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders. Johnston High School shuttered in 2008 because of academic challenges and reopened that same year as Eastside Memorial High School at the Johnston campus.
In 2014, Austin ISD closed Pearce and Garcia middle schools, which both faced academic challenges, and reopened the East Austin campuses as single-gender schools: Bertha Sadler Means Young Women’s Leadership Academy and Gus Garcia Young Men’s Leadership Academy. Both schools scored a B this year.
Other Central Texas elected officials have voiced opposition to the potential takeover of Austin ISD.
In August, state Rep. Donna Howard, D-Austin, described the persistence of failing grades at some campuses as concerning but added that the district had showed progress.
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“Despite the odds, I am confident that with community support, AISD can improve outcomes for students at failing campuses and, in time, secure zero F-rated campuses without state intervention,” Howard said.
If parents want to submit a petition, they must give it to the district to certify by Oct. 15. Austin ISD must then present it to TEA by Dec. 1, according to state law.
The TEA may not make an announcement about an intervention in Austin ISD until December, after state accountability scores are finalized.
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