Think your elementary school zones to Marshall Middle School? It doesn’t.
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Key Points:
- NO schools zone to Marshall yet (see brief timeline at the bottom of this email for more on that.)
- Austin ISD is deciding Marshall Middle School’s boundaries NOW (for real this time). They are calling this Phase 1, of a 2-part process to be completed this year.
- They are gathering info and narrowing down which proposal to bring to the board in October
- Northeast Austin (including Windsor Park) families have a short window to weigh in.
- Opportunity for giving meaningful feedback is THIS WEEK→ WPNA Schools Committee recommends giving feedback by Sept 13th. On Sept 14th AISD will present the final version (of the 4 scenarios) to the board.
WHAT’S HAPPENING?
Dig into it: AISD’s boundaries website: https://www.austinisd.org/
Slides from AISD’s presentation sumarizing what’s going on https://docs.google.com/
The district has shaped four scenarios. Go here to see the 4 scenarios with maps. Some scenarios also include changes/reassignments for the elementary schools themselves, though the intention is to do elementary and high school assignments comprehensively in a Phase 2, this Spring.
Scenario 1 — “October 31, 2025 (Adjusted)”
Six elementary school communities feed into Marshall: Harris, Andrews, Jordan, Blanton, Pecan Springs, Overton
Scenario 2 — “Oak Scenario (Adjusted)”
Five elementary school communities feed into Marshall: Andrews, Jordan, Blanton Pecan Springs, Overton. Harris zones to Webb, and a portion of Blanton’s zone is switched to Harris/Webb.
Scenario 3 — “Elm Scenario (Adjusted)”
Four elementary school communities feed into Marshall: Harris, Andrews, Blanton, Pecan Springs. Overton and Jordan zone to Dobie.
Scenario 4 — “Phased approach”
Four PARTIAL elementary school communities feed into Marshall, with most decisions of whether and how to expand Marshall’s boundary delayed. Areas not zoned to Marshall retain out-of-area assignments, so it makes 3 new elementary schools with splits to 2 middle school.
Note : In all 4 scenarios Norman-Sims is shown feeding into Kealing or likely to, and the portion of Andrews north of 290 is feeding to Webb or likely to.
TAKE ACTION THIS WEEK
1. Review the four scenarios
2. Share with your neighbors, school community, and PTA. Think: do you know families at your school who might have been historically marginalized and might not have this info?
3. Submit feedback via their current comment card by September 13th to help AISD come up with a single scenario to present to the board. The comment card is open until Oct 31, but to have an impact on the work, comment as soon as possible.
Ask yourself:
- Not only how it affects you, but also how it affects the Northeast Austin community as a whole.
- How can we use this as an opportunity to repair east austin feeder patterns after decades of neglect and bandaid fixes by AISD?
- Is the data AISD using complete? Who is missing from the conversation and how will they be affected?*
- Look at the bottom of the article to see the WPNA Schools Committee priorities.
ATTEND ONE OF THE REMAINING AISD COMMUNITY MEETINGS:
- Sept. 14, 6-7:30 p.m.; Austin ISD Central Office 4000 S. IH-35, Room 221
- Sept. 16, 6-7:30 p.m.; Virtual Meeting Zoom Link
*AISD has raised a potential “risk of overcrowding” under Scenario 1. The committee wants the district to closely examine whether enrollment and choice patterns actually support that concern. The data presented in their report shows only 1100 middle schoolers in the region; and 3 middle schools with seats totalling far more than that.
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From the Windsor Park Schools Committee:
If you’re new to this topic and want to get a sense of how we got here and what the considerations of the WPNA Schools Committee are, ready on. And everyone is welcome to join us.
Brief Timeline
2014 After years of struggling academically, Pearce Middle School in Windsor Park and Gus Garcia Middle School in Colony Park were converted into single gender schools. 8 local elementary schools were rezoned to 4 out-of-area middle schools with the option to attend the 2 single-genders, causing fractured feeder patterns for all schools.
2014 Fractured feeder patterns in Northeast Austin get worse. Bandaid fixes for racist systemic issues contribute to our neighborhoods being divided up (rather than following a clean, logical feeder pattern where families move together through elementary, middle, high school like they do in West Austin)
2017 General Marshall Middle School in Mueller was funded as part of the 2017 bond, intended as the ZONED all-gender middle school for the region.
2020: As construction was getting started, WPNA School Committee began asking AISD to host community conversations around establishing an equitable attendance zone that addressed the region’s fractured feeder patterns and lack of a co-ed middle school since 2012 (Pearce Middle School.)
2023: In the Summer of 2023 AISD determined that they would not zone the school. Instead, they would give priority transfer to the 8 elementary schools in NE Austin that used to feed to Pearce as a way of collecting data.
WPNA Schools Committee responded that this approach would likely result in low attendance from Title 1 schools where parents often do not have the time or ability to get informed about school options or apply for a transfer. Just because families don’t transfer into the new school, doesn’t mean they don’t want to go there (they might not even know they can.) The benefits of an aligned feeder pattern for all schools would be delayed.
2023: Marshall opened its doors in Fall 2023 as an all-transfer school, added one grade each year, and is now a full 6–8 middle school. It still does not have a geographic attendance zone.
2025: In the fall deep boundary work with open houses, meetings, proposed maps, etc was done. But was halted by AISD when the integrity of their processes was called to question, and an internal investigation was started.
2026: The investigation found no wrong-doing. AISD is now finally proposing Marshall’s first attendance boundary, with implementation planned for the 2027–28 school year if approved by the Board this October.
Considerations and priorities from the Schools Committee:
The WPNA Schools Committee asks AISD to consider the following priorities as it evaluates boundaries, feeder patterns, and school programming:
- Continue engaging Windsor Park and surrounding neighborhoods in developing aligned solutions, including:
- Keep Windsor Park within one secondary vertical team, including Harris and Blanton.
- Avoid routing Harris students across I-35 or SH 290 when possible.
- Include single-gender schools, including Bertha Sadler Means and Gus Garcia, in broader feeder-pattern, enrollment, and capacity discussions.
- Improve boundary map readability and usability.
- Consider the cumulative impact of frequent changes in East Austin and prioritize stability in assignments, programs, and feeder patterns.
- Establish a clear, consistent, transparent process for boundary and zoning reviews.
- Consider programming changes within broader boundaries and feeder-pattern planning.
- Align Northeast Austin regional and vertical teams and limit neighborhood splits where possible.
2024-2025 Scholarship recipients being recognized at our June WPNA meeting.
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