Reliably Austin
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

New AISD Facilities Master Plan Would Include Dissenting Views

Austin ISD Superintendent Meria Carstarphen is trying to resurrect a ten-year plan for managing school district facilities by including a wider range of input.
Photo by Nathan Bernier for KUT News
Austin ISD Superintendent Meria Carstarphen is trying to resurrect a ten-year plan for managing school district facilities by including a wider range of input.

The woman in charge of the Austin Independent School District is trying to resurrect a ten-year grand strategy for managing the 12 million square feet of AISD buildings and other facilities.

Superintendent Meria Carstarphen held a work session with the school board on Monday to try and hash out what changes should be made to theexisting Facilities Master Plan to make it more politically palatable. The current plan, adopted by the board in March, was set aside by school board members in large part because it included an option to close nine schools.On Monday, Dr. Carstarphen will proposea timeline for shaping the existing plan into something that can actually be implemented. Under the timeline, district staff would take four months to present a revised strategy that draws not only from the current Facilities Master Plan, but also from a minority reportpresented to the board by dissenting members of the task force assembled to draft the strategic document. District staff will also consider new US Census data, community proposals like this one, and input from board members.

The new facilities master plan would be submitted to the school board at the end of October under the proposed timeline, giving board members two months to change the document as they saw fit.  The document would be voted on for final approval in November, and district staff would begin implementing it in December.

You can provide your input on the plan at Monday’s meeting during citizen communication. Just sign up at the Superintendent’s office before the board meeting on Monday. Only thirty spots are available. People can speak for two minutes each.

Nathan Bernier is the transportation reporter at KUT. He covers the big projects that are reshaping how we get around Austin, like the I-35 overhaul, the airport's rapid growth and the multibillion dollar transit expansion Project Connect. He also focuses on the daily changes that affect how we walk, bike and drive around the city. Got a tip? Email him at nbernier@kut.org. Follow him on Twitter @KUTnathan.
Related Content