IDEA continues to recruit students

AUSTIN (KXAN) - The Austin Independent School District appears to have given the IDEA charter school system an indefinite timeline to fill seats at what will soon be the former Allan Elementary School.

The contract between AISD and IDEA stated the charter provider must fill 448 seats at the elementary campus, which would be at least 336 students in kindergarten through second grade and 112 students in sixth grade.

The public open-enrollment charter is expected to open this fall on the Allan campus, which is located at 4900 Gonzales Street in East Austin.

Last week, during an IDEA board meeting in McAllen, founder Tom Torkelson told his board that the Austin campus was still only 50 percent enrolled, according to reporter Neal Morton of The Monitor.

IDEA intends to borrow $20 million to complete the construction of campuses in its expansion plan, which will include opening locations in both San Antonio and Austin. The charter operator expects to generate $100 million in revenue a year in both Austin and San Antonio when all campuses are opened.

Education Austin , which has opposed IDEA moving into Austin ISD, said the charter now has begun recruiting as far away as Pickle Elementary School to fill its seats. About 60 percent of Allan's current parents chose to opt out of the new charter campus, choosing to take their children to Govalle or Ortega.

Vincent Tovar, who leads the parent group Pride of the Eastside , said those who wanted Allan to remain an AISD elementary school were outmaneuvered by the district. AISD provided parent phone numbers to IDEA to recruit from families across the school district; supporters of Allan were given nothing.

Vanessa Barry, a spokeswoman for IDEA, said current recruitment efforts for Allan span from North Central/Northeast Austin to Southeast Austin.

"Recruitment is an ongoing process and will continue once the school is filled for the following year," Barry said, adding that IDEA will transport all students.  "We are committed to providing transportation to Austin students. Our routes will ultimately depend on where students are coming from."

IDEA has committed to having advisory boards in both Austin and San Antonio. Those boards should be constituted by July. Barry said at least one person from Austin will sit on IDEA's governing board.