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Band Director Casey Thompson demonstrates the flute on the first day of school at Marshall Middle School on Monday August 14, 2023. Marshall Middle may receive its first ever attendance boundaries under a plan being considered by trustees.<\/p>\n
Jay Janner \/ American-Statesman<\/p>\n
Students from six elementary schools in Northeast Austin\u00a0could be zoned to\u00a0Marshall Middle School<\/a> next year as part of an effort to create the school\u2019s first attendance boundary.<\/p>\n The Austin Independent School District also plans to reassign a small portion of Linder Elementary School\u2019s attendance area to a nearby campus to relieve overcrowding at the school.\u00a0The school board is slated to vote this month\u00a0on the plan.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The proposed changes could take effect as soon as fall 2027 and would mark the first step in\u00a0Austin ISD\u2019s broader effort to redraw attendance boundaries across the district<\/a>.\u00a0District leaders have twice postponed attendance boundary changes and now expect comprehensive changes won\u2019t come until 2028.<\/p>\n Officials say the changes around Marshall Middle and Linder Elementary are essential to ensure campuses aren\u2019t overcrowded and\u00a0to allow more students to stay together from elementary through high school, which can improve long-term academic planning and community building<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Under the proposal, students from Blanton, Overton, Andrews, Pecan Springs, Harris and Jordan elementary schools will attend Marshall. Students at these schools and Norman-Sims Elementary can already opt to attend the campus\u00a0\u2014 but only about 41% do, according to district data.<\/p>\n Norman-Sims students would be assigned to Kealing Middle School, under the proposal.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Marshall Middle School nears the end of construction Wednesday, May 31, 2023. The school board is slated to vote on an attendance boundary proposal for the middle school.<\/p>\n Mikala Compton\/American-Statesman<\/p>\n The plan assigns more students to Marshall than can fit the campus’ footprint. The campus can serve 915 students, but if every student zoned to Marshall attended the school, the campus would enroll 962 students.<\/p>\n But Raechel French, the district\u2019s executive director of planning and learning environments, isn\u2019t worried that the school will be overcrowded.\u00a0Students across the district\u00a0often transfer to campuses that they are not zoned to, she said.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is just no instance where every single zoned kid wants to go to their zoned school,\u201d French said.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Unifying an East Austin community<\/p>\n East Austin has long called for a unified attendance map that doesn\u2019t split up students from one\u00a0elementary school between multiple middle schools, said trustee Candace Hunter, who represents Northeast Austin. Many East Austin advocates have said splintering students as they move from elementary through high school can fracture a shared sense of community or academic continuity.<\/p>\n The district should be prepared to invest resources in Marshall, Hunter said. Of the six elementary schools assigned to Marshall under the proposal, three have an F rating, one has a D, one a C and one a B on the state\u2019s A-F system for rating schools. Marshall scored<\/a> a D on the 2026 accountability ratings.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThat is a lot of concentrated need in one middle school that is already struggling itself,\u201d Hunter said. The proposal \u201cunifies that community. For the first time ever, they\u2019re going to be going (to middle school) together. That\u2019s worth the risk, but that\u2019s also worth the investment.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n To deal with enrollment growth, French has also proposed assigning a small section of Linder\u2019s boundary to nearby Travis Heights Elementary, which would change where\u00a0111 students attend class. A newly renovated $56.4 million Linder campus\u00a0reopened in August using\u00a0funds from the $2.4 billion\u00a0 2022 bond<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Officials\u00a0decided to address boundaries for Linder and Marshall because of acute needs at both schools, French said this fall.\u00a0The proposal comes after several community meetings to gather feedback about the\u00a0suggested boundaries at both campuses.<\/p>\n If the board approves the boundary for Marshall, it will be the first time that the middle school has a zoned attendance area. The campus opened in 2023 and was constructed using $60 million from the 2017 $1.05 billion bond.<\/a><\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n If middle school students in Northeast Austin want to continue at the school they attend this year, their families can apply for a transfer, French said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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