Parents worry about Pearce students

AUSTIN (KXAN) - One day after the Austin Independent School district announced a troubled middle school will close, more facts are released about what could happen to the children.

The state ordered the closure of Pearce Middle School , Wednesday after low TAKS test scores for a fifth-straight year.

Maricela Hernandez is a single mother who lives near Pearce Middle School but sends her kids elsewhere.

"If they are going to shut it down it is for a reason, so I said I don’t want my kids going there,” said Hernandez.

Instead, Ashley, 12, and Catalino, 13, take a bus and then walk a mile to go to school each day. Hernandez said it is worth the extra effort however some Pearce Middle School parents said busing students to other schools will not solve the problem.

"What is a community without a school, and why should we have to pass by a school that’s closed and take our kids all over town," said Deanna Mercer.

The students will not be allowed to transfer to Garcia, Fulmore or Paredes middle schools because all of them are academically unacceptable. They also cannot transfer to Murchison or Kealing middle schools because they are at capacity.

While Pearce's TAKS test score this year show improvement, they still did not pass.

Now, the Austin NAACP is calling on the school district to appeal the state's decision to close Pearce.

“Here we are, we have improvements in every area, even in science, and the final result is it’s not good enough,” said Nelson Linder, President of Austin NAACP.

Linder believes AISD has long ignored the needs of students in East Austin.

"I think it’s time we deal with these issues of closing schools in primarily black and brown areas,” said Linder. “We are going to fight this with all of our resources."

Pearce Middle School supporters said the students should be given another year to improve.

“The monitoring team did not recommend in their report to the commission that the school be closed,” said Mercer. “They recommended that the interventions continue."

AISD does not anticipate overcrowding at other middle schools due to the closure. The school district will not konw whether or not closing Pearce will cost taxpayers additional money. AISD is holding a community meeting to discuss options for students at Pearce Middle School on July 15 at 6:30 p.m.