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Barrington Elementary School in Austin on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026.<\/p>\n
Jay Janner\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n
Austin city council leaders want more\u00a0say\u00a0in the future of parks and public spaces at the campuses Austin Independent School District plans to close this year.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n Two resolutions that Austin City Council approved in March\u00a0seek to shore up a consistent parkland condemnation process<\/a> and to start discussions on partnership or acquisition opportunities\u00a0to find new use for closed school campuses<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The city and Austin ISD have jointly owned several parcels of land on campuses for decades. The partnership formally allows the public to use the park space outside school hours and splits maintenance costs between the two entities.\u00a0<\/p>\n The imminent closure this summer\u00a0of 10 Austin ISD campuses\u00a0\u2014 and the district\u2019s ongoing efforts to find new uses for the properties<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 prompted city council\u2019s interest in creating more defined rules for city and school district joint property agreements.\u00a0<\/p>\n Superintendent Matias Segura said\u00a0Friday he welcomed a more defined process for working with the city but AISD needs to take the lead in determining how closed district properties will be used in the future.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhich property lends itself to community hub, which lends itself to a repurpose for early childhood center, which lends itself to workforce housing\u00a0\u2014 that\u2019s the process that we need to own,\u201d Segura said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n One\u00a0city council resolution directed the city manager to develop a standard process for when the city would give up its rights to property it jointly owns with other public entities, like AISD, and how the city would be compensated.\u00a0In the past, council members haven\u2019t always been made aware of when the city was being asked to give up its stake in a park that it jointly owned with Austin ISD, said Councilman Ryan Alter.<\/p>\n This is important to Alter who hopes to increase the number of Austinites with a park in walking distance. About 70% of city residents can walk to a park, but Alter hopes 100% of residents eventually will be able to. Austin ISD parks play a role in that number, but there\u2019s a not a defined process for what factors the city should consider during condemnation procedures, he said. \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIf this is an area where that\u2019s the only park in the neighborhood and that park is being taken away, then what steps should the city be taking?\u201d Alter said. \u201cWhat can we do to protect the public\u2019s interest when it comes to parkland, which is so precious and there\u2019s never enough around here?\u201d<\/p>\n The city and schools have partnered on facility space for decades.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n In 1955,\u00a0Austin ISD replaced Austin Public Schools, which had been run by the city since 1881.<\/a> After that transition,\u00a0the city and the newly formed district created agreements for joint facility and land use.\u00a0The agreements allow residents to use the green space on campuses\u00a0outside of school hours.\u00a0But even on campuses that don\u2019t carry these agreements, residents often view school parks as community assets and gathering places where neighbors walk their dogs or families bring their kids to play on the weekends.<\/p>\n Last month, Councilwoman Vanessa Fuentes\u00a0proposed an agreement that asked the city manager to explore partnering with public entities on how to use closed school campuses and other unused public properties.\u00a0She also asked for more information on when the city could move to acquire\u00a0those properties.<\/p>\n Fuentes felt moved to maintain public access to closed schools watching the closure of Wid\u00e9n Elementary<\/a>, which is in the city council district she represents.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cPeople are just heartbroken oven it,\u201d Fuentes said. \u201cHaving a process in which we leverage the city and what it brings to the table and work together where we can is really the goal here.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The city and AISD have joint agreements for park space on 21 campuses<\/a>: Andrews, Barrington, Barton Hills, Cook, Cunningham, Doss, Gullett, Hill, Houston, Kealing, Norman-Sims, Oak Springs, Odom, Ortega, Pecan Springs, Pillow, Reilly, S\u00e1nchez, St. Elmo, Williams and Wooldridge.<\/p>\n However, with voter approval of the 2022 $2.4 billion bond<\/a>, Austin ISD sought to take 100% ownership\u00a0in\u00a0joint-interest land areas on six elementary campuses: Andrews, Barrington, Houston, Oak Springs, Pecan Springs and Wooldridge.\u00a0<\/p>\n Obtaining full ownership was a necessary part of the city permitting process to build the 2022 bond projects, so the district sought to condemn the city\u2019s share of ownership, Segura said. AISD has the majority ownership share for the six\u00a0school parks, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Barrington is slated for closure this summer. Oak Springs won\u2019t house students next year, but students will move into a brand new facility at that site in 2028<\/a>.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Both Alter and Fuentes brought the resolutions forward because Austin ISD is exploring what to do with the 10 campuses that will close this summer.<\/p>\n At least five of the schools\u00a0\u2014 Becker, Dawson, Ridgetop, Sunset Valley and Wid\u00e9n\u00a0\u2014 are expected to be used\u00a0for non-academic purposes<\/a>.<\/p>\n Alter wants to make sure the public\u2019s interest is maintained\u00a0as AISD\u00a0closes schools because of the district\u2019s financial situation, he said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n