Parents fear shortfall reach to schools

AUSTIN (KXAN) - After months of school visits, public input sessions, and a host of meetings, the volunteer 72-member Facility Master Plan task force is ready to make recommendations to the Austin Independent School District board .

On the list of recommendations is merging some campuses, closing some, building new facilities, redrawing boundaries and making "operational efficiency" recommendations.

The task force recommended closing 8 elementary schools and one middle school; redrawing boundaries for one high school and one elementary school; and constructing 3 elementary schools, one middle school and one high school in areas of town where there is overcrowding.

Parents with Zilker, Peese and Barton Hills elementary schools turned out to the work session meeting on Monday night at AISD headquarters.

"We don't want to hurt teaching and learning," said task force co-chair Janet Mitchell.

The task force has worked since March 2010 with a focus on making the district more efficient. Come next fall, AISD is facing an up to $60 million budget deficit. It has already cut 80 central office positions but it must cut more.

"Everyone is completely stunned," said former Zilker parent Clayton Stronberger. "This sort of came out of the blue. You know Zilker is a very thriving, healthy community, we just don't know why it would be targeted for closure."

Zilker Elementary is one of the eight elementary schools that parents suspect may be on that list. The complete list of recommended school closings is set to be released by AISD in the morning.

"It comes down to those tough tasks because of our budget reality," said Mitchell.

The reality at Mollie Barrington Elementary in North Austin is 1,000 students crossing each other in the halls every day. They are out of room in the main school building. It was built to hold just 684 students. The overflow is in 14 portable buildings on campus and two annexed buildings with eight classrooms each and that's still not enough.

"Our librarian cannot see all of the classes on a rotating basis throughout the week because there aren't enough hours in the day," said Susan Stamy, Barrington Elementary principal.

Lunch hour begins in the morning to accommodate all of the students.

"We begin lunch at 10:10 a.m.," said Stamy. "We end with 6th graders by 1:30 p.m. So we call it brunch and linner."

Across town in East Austin it's a completely different reality. The upstairs floor at Blackshear Elementary is silent. The sound of tapping shoes down the hallway is all you can hear. Repurposed classrooms are converted to science and computer labs. The extra space comes a significant drop in  enrollment. Blackshear has room for 638 students. Right now, only 243 are enrolled.

"Having a lot of extra space gives us the opportunity to have some classroom support for the students," said Thelma Longoria, Blackshear Elementary principal.

Extra space is one area of concern for the Facility Task Force. Elementary, middle and high schools across Austin are sharing the same reality. Some are over-capacity and others are under-enrolled. The task force is charged with helping to balance and equalize the district.

"We want to affect facilities before we affect teaching," said Mitchell.

But schools with low enrollment are a fearful reality for staff and parents.

"If it's been around for so long and there's not a problem with it, then it seems like it's a benefit to the community," said Detrice Buirst.

Although the list of recommendations is not public yet, parents at various Austin schools are organizing and rallying. Barton Hills and Zilker elementary parents are gathering by the hundreds in fear that their school may be closing.

"This is not just about Barton Hills," said parent Jason Fabo. "We are protecting the idea of neighborhood schools in Austin on all sides of the highway, on both sides of the river."

The task force is presenting its final recommendations to the AISD board at 6:30 Monday night.

The public will have a chance to comment at two public forums scheduled for Wednesday night at 6p.m. the Delco Center at 6 p.m.

The other is scheduled for Thursday at the Burger Center at 6 p.m.