Speakers for tonight’s school board meeting (where trustees sill decide whether to close 4 schools) are lining up. AISD police have set up barricades to try and keep people contained. The crowds aren’t that big yet

89 people have signed up for public comment (which is way less than I expected). I'm guessing that will take ~3 hours, then we'll get to hear from the trustees.

Public comment on school closures is about to begin. Again, 89 people are signed up, the AISD courtyard is not as full and crazy as we all thought it would be. We'll be getting to the trustee's discussion and vote in a few hours after all the speakers have gone.

I'm not going to live tweet all of public comment, just some broad highlights. Many of the speakers are from Pease, citing concerns with how much $ will be saved, and asking them to consider the deep history of the school (the oldest elementary in Texas)

Many have also said closing schools will only continue the institutional racism that has existed in the district from its beginning.

Travis County Commissioner Brigid Shea asks the board to slow down its process and see how the city of Austin's Land Development Code shakes out. She says there will be thousands of new housing units in East Austin where they want to close schools.

State Rep Gina Hinojosa and Council Member Leslie Pool were signed up for public comment but didn't show. They were at an even earlier this afternoon speaking out against these closures.

One parent says if the district really wants to save money, the superintendent and other leaders should decline pay raises in solidarity.

parent on real equity among parents: yes it's easy to scream about saving schools now but where have you been as East side schools have needed support for years? You'll bus your kids across town to LASA but are upset you might have to go a few blocks away?

public comment over. we're now on to the board. Supt. Paul Cruz is flatly reading a statement about why this is happening- the audience is responding and booing some of his points

Trustee Elenz reads what they are voting on: savings on consolidations go toward academic endeavors, expanded hours, strategic staffing, expanded SPED training, closing Metz, Sims, Pease and Brooke elem schools

cont: approve boundary changes in SW Austin (they are looking at the superintendent's recommendation for these).

Trustee Arati Singh asks for the Chief Equity Officer Stephanie Hawley to come up and talk about her take on the consolidations.

the crowd cheers as Hawley comes forward.

Singh: I'm sorry that we didn't get to see your equity report on this process before this vote.

(apparently it wasn't posted with all of this but it's done?)

Hawley: i'm excited to be here at this time, and i'm excited to be in this district and board that wants to commit to anti-racism work. i'm proud of my team and Dr. Cruz's team. We all learned what it means to disrupt history in this district.

Hawley: the map you have of the closures is what 21st century racism looks like. We did not deliberately do that. But we didn't disrupt history. Our process for picking schools was flawed and inequitable. I can't find documentation for how those selections were made

cont: nobody could show me the work of how we got here. I don't know how those schools were selected, I've heard different things at different times. i'm asking we bring in national consultants to do an equity audit. we desperately need it on our finances, academics and buildings

cont: right now we have a map of what unintentional racism looks like. more intensive training and more contact with communities we are disrupting is needed.

cont: we had a flawed process that wasn't transparent. I don't think anyone got out of bed to do this maliciously. we have seen research and and data and I don't see this working out. we have smart leaders, and we could really co create with the community

Hawley: my hope is that we will demonstrate the humility to take a step back. this is forever work that we are voting on tonight. east austin will never be the same.

Trustee Singh just asked to get more info about Metz/Sanchez and Norman/Sims already co locating and moving toward a consolidation.

AISD: we've talked to these parents about how this is not an easy process but they have been very graceful in adapting to these changes.

AISD: we work hand in hand with these communities. we tried to make it a fun experience for the kids at Metz and Sanchez to combine.

**People in community start heckling saying this is untrue

AISD: I saw how excited kids at Norman were to go to Sims, and it made me realize the adults were more worried than the kids.

**audience yells back. Pres Geronimo Rodriguez calls a point of order and asks the audience to be respectful and let them talk, bc they listened to them

Arati Singh asks for Stephanie Hawley to come back and weigh in on these two schools...but Hawley is gone.

so the ISSUE now is the trustees have put forward the motion to vote on school changes...Arati Singh wants to do something...so she would have to make an amendment.

Trustee Singh is making a motion: based on the info I have, i'd like to remove Brooke and Pease from the closure list. and i'd like to revisit in a year after we look at the land development code and do an equity audit.

Trustee Mathias seconds.

LaTisha Anderson: think about the message you just sent with that motion to Norman/Sims and Metz/Sanches. if Pease is coming off they all need to come off. The message you just sent is not one I can support.

Jayme Mathias: I am happy to second the motion for the sake of conversation.

Mathias: with all due respect to LaTisha Anderson, we have deep equity issues in this district. I would like to point to the history of Metz Elem as the history as the white school in East Austin. you can see zavala from metz, and zavala was the historic Mexican school

Mathias: if we as a district decide to not have the boutique diversity at Pease, how interesting could it be to dream in different directions. People have been asking for affordable housing in East Austin for years.

Supt Cruz asks Nicole Conley (CFO) to come up and talk about the financial impacts of taking schools off the list.

Conley: we anticipate ~$950k savings if we close Pease. It's $1.1 million with Brooke.

That could be reinvested into other endeavors.

Lisa Goodnow (academics): with really small schools we have to share the specials teachers (gym, art, etc) so we lose staff bc that's frustrating. we have so much turnover each year that if we consolidated schools we expect staff to go down.

cont: we can't staff SPED correctly at Metz/Sanchez bc they are still operating as two separate schools. So consolidating means we can alleviate some challenges and get better SPED services.

Nicole Conley: the estimates of savings are just based on savings, not on the money we put into maintenance what it takes to operate a school.

Trustee Ann Teich: there's a lot of info going around the community that we are in good shape financially after the last session and we can pause. what is the reality?

Conley: the lege did not take us out of financial disparity. we are struggling with our bottom line. we used part of new state money to give teachers raising.

cont: we have to be as strategic as possible with every dollar. we have increases in fuel, our buildings, employee raises and insurance costs.

cont: the state paid us twice this year for medicaid support for SPED students. so you see a surplus, but it's not fair to say that we are ok financially.

next year we are facing a deficit.

conley: even if we break even this year. the state funding does not consider inflation so next year as inflation goes up we will be in a deficit. the only way to get more money is increase enrollment.

conley: legislators are having the conversation about how do we put enough money into the bill they passed....so we need to be prudent with our reserves.

cont: so our question is how do we realign our spending. we're spending, but do we want to spend it on maintenance and operations? there's also research that shows old buildings are harmful at the secondary level.

Conley: I agree we should be aware of the equity questions, but at the end of the day this is still a financial burden on the district.

singh: we need to have better and more detailed scenarios. we also need the numbers of how much we are losing with kids who go to charters.

Mathias: I am going to vote against this motion (that says take pease and brooke off for now) bc I am thinking about equity and the financial impact

Trustee Elenz: the motion I read is that Pease would remain open, it will operate as an elementary school, at the Zavala building. that gives them a year to plan what comes next.

(this is what is happening currently at Norman/Sims and Metz/Sanchez)

Matias Segura, AISD Operations Officer: we don't want to shutter Pease. we want to still use the building and honor the history. just not have students in there.

Trustee Singh is making a statement before they vote on her amendment (to take two close schools): if it was my choice, I wouldn't look at school closures to save money at all. I know it's a last choice for all of us up here. but that's not the situation we're in.

Singh: I think Metz and Norman are already on their way. the modernized school is being built already. but I think we could pull pease and brooke because it's not too late.

Singh: I hope we can honor that the history at Metz and co create with that community.

Singh: when we say we are closing schools we signal to our community that we are struggling, and that sends families to charter schools and other options. She is saying Brooke and Pease closures don't come with respect and enough thought.

Singh: Pease should not be tokenized. It's a majority-minority school, and even if you're not on free reduced lunch being brown means you get shafted.

Singh: I don't think closing 4 majority black/brown schools while construction on majority white schools is happening is not courageous.

LaTisha Anderson: I want to echo again, think about the message you are sending to Sims by taking Pease off the list. i'm going to fight as long as I can for Sims. you're saying it's ok to move those kids around but pull Pease off the list.

cont: let's talk about how many East Austin kids go to Pease because they aren't happy with their schools. you're sending the message that this school is better than this school and one school is worth fighting for.

crowd starts yelling.

"How can you still do this if your Chief Equity Officer called it racist!"

they are voting on Trustee Singh's motion (not the main vote). here's what that is: remove Brooke and Pease and revisit in one year after looking at land code, equity and other factors.

Motion fails, Singh is the only one who votes for it.

Back to the main vote, which is the entire package of closings, SW boundary changes, etc.

Now Trustees will discuss THAT motion

Trustee Teich: I ask that you all step back and listen to us, bc we have been vilified. I ask if we can break it into parts, what do people think about that?

Teich: I don't feel comfortable voting on this in one big vote.

She asks for a motion to break it apart. The motion does not get a second.

Teich: well then I go back to Hawley's statement about equity and can't vote on this as a whole.

But you all need to stop spreading things without facts, like we are controlled by the Chamber of Commerce. We're doing our best.

Teich: i've heard you as the community say a lot and I'm going to hold you to it- to help increase enrollment, to advocate at the legislature. walk the walk

cont: I want Hawley to do her work and that's why I can't vote on this as a monolith. because I want to approve the district wide changes but have questions about closures.

Cindy Anderson on SW boundary changes: one of my concerns about Baranoff/Kocurek piece, is that there are a small amount of students going to Kocurek.

They are now going back and forth about the numbers these various boundary change plans would create.

Yasmin Wagner (SW Austin rep): I feel we haven't gone back to certain communities to give them time to speak up. she asks for specific numbers of enrollment

Wagner: I know people in Baranoff want Plan K..but it doesn't give enough relief to Baranoff. These plans are relief plans for Baranoff and Kiker. I know boundary changes are so hard for families. I don't make these comments lightly

cont: but we've known for years these schools are over crowded and it's getting to be a safety issues for students. I know families want to stay...but we have to make the right decision for the health of that school.

Trustee Kristen Ashy: I know tonight is not easy for any of us. I do think it's important to remember we gave pay raises to staff, and i'm grateful for the lege giving us money. but I know only a few years before that the lege slashed public funding, leaving us scrambling

cont: we have the opportunity to reallocate money to help more students. so we need to steadfastly commit to the goals we put in that plan.

Trustee Yasmin Wagner: I'm not here tonight to placate, to get applause or pat myself on the back. I'm here because I know we have hard decisions to make as a district. I've spent thousands of hours researching this stuff, every time I come to the same conclusion:

our footprint is too big to serve the students we have. to me right now, people are more important than buildings. I can't say I support closures, but I can't support keeping as many facilities open.

Wagner: I have confidence that communities will be resilient and the same energy and passion you have will carry those communities forward.

Wagner: i'm not here for a political career, i'm trying to do the best while i'm here. but I think this is a long term solution to what we need to be doing.

Trustee Amber Elenz: I hear two main concerns, the time around the decisions and equity. it might feel rushed but anyone who has been paying attention for 2 years knows this is not coming from nowhere. the writing has been on the wall for a long time.

cont: what is different this time, is new investments for students who need it. we are trying to make transformational changes for all students. these recommendations aren't all easy, but they are necessary. this will disrupt the status quo.

Elenz: I went to 7 schools before I was in 4th grade. It made me a resilient, adaptable and open minded kid. parents you have a role to play in whether this change is hard or if it can be easier.

Elenz says she'll be supporting this motion.

Trustee Geronimo Rodriguez: we are in this together as a community. we care deeply about doing what's best for our students.

Trustee Singh: I know our motion says to not take action on buildings for two years, but I say let's not sell any of our properties to for profit developers. that changes our city.

Teich putting forward an amendment: let's retain newly vacated properties to prioritize affordable housing where feasible. if not suitable for housing, then find the next best community use of the property. I want the board to commit to not selling these properties.

ok we are talking about potentially using buildings for housing and the district serving as a landlord...to avoid selling the buildings. this seems to have a lot of legal questions

Teich: I suggest we move the students from the alternative learning center to the Pease building. then the Anita Coy building could be used for affordable housing.

they are voting on Teich's amendment for affordable housing: L Anderson, Mathias, Singh, Teich vote in favor. It fails.

They are back to the original motion to vote for the entire school changes plan as a whole.

Mathias: none of us want to close schools. i've been happy to see the excitement and passion around public schools in this process.

in the last few weeks we've seen the best of human nature and the worst of human nature. I know people are at different stages of anger, bargaining, acceptance...there's a lot we can learn from this process.

Trustees APPROVE closing four schools next year.

Those voting in opposition: LaTisha Anderson, Arati Singh, Ann Teich.