Let’s Get It Right, AISD.
Use one year, not one month, to rethink school closures with community input.
A petition to the trustees of the Austin Independent School District.
As parent and community advocates, we recognize that AISD currently faces significant challenges, but the administration’s school closures plan risks making things worse. Austinites are not afraid of hard choices or shared sacrifice, but we expect evidence-based decisions that will improve student outcomes and fix AISD’s financial problem long term.
AISD is rushing an unfinished school closures proposal that will reshape Austin for generations—all within an artificially short, one-month window. We request a more thoughtful process built on community engagement, centered on academics, and financially transparent. Austin families have confidence in this board of trustees, and we ask to be collaborators in a plan that solves the tough issues facing AISD.
We urge our trustees to ensure AISD commits to these 5 Reasonable Steps:
Step 1. Slow Down
— Use one year, not one month, to refine the plan with genuine community engagement.
— Immediately sell campuses closed in 2019 (Brook ES & Metz ES, est. revenue +$15 million) to fund a stopgap, one-year budget.
Step 2. Fix Academics First
— The district must prioritize its turnaround campuses for 2026–27.
— Center academic improvement district-wide with established academic baselines and improvement timelines.
Step 3. Present All Available Financial Options Transparently
— Present additional scenarios for further reducing costs across the district and minimizing school closures.
— Publish a report regarding all considered avenues for monetizing district-owned assets, including a list of underutilized district-owned land.
— Provide a financial analysis of the 2019 AISD school closures.
Step 4. Collaborate with the Community
— Establish a citizen advisory committee to guide the process over the next year.
— Meet with impacted school communities to address unresolved details in the current plan.
Step 5. Implement a Growth Plan
— Stabilize enrollment by creating a plan to win back students from charters and potential voucher programs.
Sign the Petition & Share with Friends and Family
Current number of signatures updated daily
(as of Oct. 11th, 2025, 4PM):
1,229 Signatures
Your name will be on a list sent to the AISD Trustees before the Nov. 20th meeting. Your email is optional—enter it if you’d like to get email updates from us.
3 Critical Rallies:
Oct. 9, Nov. 6 & Nov. 20. AISD HQ, 5pm
There are three important rallies coming up at AISD Headquarters—on October 9th, November 6th, and November 20th, all Thursdays at 5pm.
These rallies take place before meetings between the AISD Trustees and district leadership, so it’s vital that our voices are heard outside before those meetings begin.
We invite families, students, educators, staff, and community members to show up and stand together. Join us for as many rallies as you can—your presence matters.
AISD Trustee Kathryn Whitley Chu
Austin School Board—District 4
Ms. Chu’s Public Statement made on Oct. 3rd, 25:
“Today, the boot of the State is on AISD’s throat, and we are forced to make decisions that will change our community for generations.
The AISD administration has put forward a proposal for school consolidations and closures in response to years of underfunding from the state. I understand the intentions and pressures that led to this proposal, but based on this current draft, I will be voting NO because if the state fails to prioritize student success, then we must.
We should not be closing schools that are in demand and have strong academic results. We should not be closing historic schools that tie to our community together. And we need to have the patience to allow the community to study the proposal and effectively weigh in.
I realize Austin ISD is not alone in facing these pressures. Districts throughout Texas are in the red and face state takeover. When so many school districts are in this situation, it is a failure of leadership at the state level.
That’s why those of us at the local level — parents, students, community leaders, and school staff members — must model a different course. My opposition is not out of fear of making hard choices, but rather one that embraces the work ahead to community members from all sides to find real solutions.
If you have not already done so, I invite all community members to join us in this fight, embrace the work, explore alternative solutions, and prove, as Austin always has, that we understand the importance of education to every child’s success in life.”