Third Email to Board of Trustees

This email was sent to each individual AISD Trustee.

Dear Trustee xxx; 

I am writing to you today regarding the recent AISD Proposal for School Changes. This is the third of several messages which I will be sending to you on this topic. Each message will focus on one specific area which I hope will enable you to read and consider this information carefully. 

However the action which I will be requesting will be consistent in each of my messages. That is for the AISD Board of Trustees to unequivocally state that they will defer any decision on the proposed school changes until: necessary detailed information has been made available; the community has ample opportunity for authentic engagement; other school scenarios are considered; and the diversity and economic disadvantage of student populations at schools recommended for closure are considered in the school change decision making. 

This message focuses on the difference between “equitable access” versus justice. While “equitable access to 21st century learning environments” seems like a desirable goal, is this goal a reason to subject large numbers of students to uprooting from their neighborhood schools? Is the pursuit of this goal worth continuing the pattern of disregarding the needs and desires of the historically segregated and disenfranchised area of Austin located East of I-35? I think not.

When the task force process resulted in the recommendation to close 12 schools, the majority of which are located East of I-35,  9 of which are Economically Disadvantaged schools, and 11 are Majority Minority why didn’t these facts raise a RED FLAG to the task force and the AISD Administration? 

The potential for harm to the students and communities who attend and support these majority minority and economically disadvantaged schools should have STOPPED these recommendations before they were made public. This evident lack sensitivity tends to invalidate the entire process and damages the credibility of AISD as a whole.

Furthermore of the 80,000 students in the district almost 11% will be either relocated or have large numbers of new students added to their current school.  Over 50% of the elementary students in East Austin schools will be either relocated or have large numbers of new students added to their current school! (See bellow)

There is very little evidence that relocating underperforming students to high performing schools improves the relocated students performance. To the contrary the experiences of Chicago, Philadelphia and Washington DC have shown that significant problems result including; lost student records; less access to special needs programs; increased emotional issues among the relocated students; and further decreased attendance in the school district.

AISD’s proposes to relocate many elementary students to other schools some of which are 2 or more miles from the current school.  AISD offers busing as a solution to those affected students and parents.  Should AISD even consider adding the burden of taking a bus to and from elementary school for children in K to 3 grades? Instead of being walked to school by their parents and met at the end of the day by a familiar face, we expect these kids to be at a specified location at a specified time and spend significant amounts of their day in non-air-conditioned vehicles without safety belts!

AISD must also consider the effect of school closure on the local communities. Most of these schools have a long history and are keystone community instituitions.  Closing neighborhood schools disrupts and further destabilizes communities that are already burdened with other forms of instability.

Now let’s address the issue of old buildings which need substantial maintenance and therefore cost more to operate.  Most of the schools recommended for closing have a substantial list of deferred maintenance issues. Many of these maintenance issues were to be addressed by the 2017 AISD bond issue.  However, almost none of these project have been initiated with AISD’s focus instead on building new schools.  The Task Force now cites the poor condition of many of the selected campuses as one of the main reasons for their closure!  Is this not the classic example of a self-fulfilling prophecy!

In fact in recent meeting with parents of the schools to be closed, AISD has justified not fixing air-conditioning and other in school maintenance needs by citing the imminent closing of the schools.  This type of neglect is another example of the level of AISD’s insensitivity. These schools will be operating for another 2-4 years and JUSTICE demands that the committed repairs be made for the sake of the students who will continue to attend.

Several of the schools selected for closure show strong academic programs at or above the average of the district as a whole. Some of these schools also have the kind of racial and economic diversity that the district is supposedly striving for. Presumably they made the closure list because of facilities problems.  We know how to fix maintenance and building issues—  it just takes money and time. We do not know how to create or transfer a diverse environment with a successful learning culture

Now to address the “structural deficit” that AISD faces which is also used to justify the School Changes.  There is no doubt that the district population is decreasing; and that some schools are under utilized and inefficient.  However, does a 2% deficit on a $1.6 billion budget justify massive disruption of the entire school district? This is it a problem that should not require radical reorganization to solve.

In summary, it is not fair or just to expect the already disadvantaged areas of Austin to bear the brunt of “School Changes” no matter how well intentioned. 

Justice demands more than equal treatment. In the case of AISD it demands sacrifice and NOT by the historically underfunded and neglected areas of the City.

Finally I am compelled to note that AISD’S current course of action is likely to lead to several unintended but predictable consequences:

• dramatic loss of support for public schools throughout Austin
• skepticism which will hinder the success of AISD future bond issues
• increase in enrollment in Charter Schools
• increase in out migration to suburban neighborhood schools
• exacerbation of the divide between minority and lower income East Austin and and the  better off areas of Austin
• possible court challenges which the Texas Legislature will use to promote their anti-public school agenda

While I can fully appreciate the desire of the board of trustees to support the administration and it's task forces and not second-guess the results of their well-intentioned work, this is a critical time for AISD and the residents of Austin. In this critical time the board of trustees must not be afraid to exercise leadership to ensure this difficult situation does not become a disastrous one.

I look forward to your positive response to my request for postponing any action on the School Changes proposal until the actions listed above are completed. 

Peace and love, 

Stephen Dock 

1803 E 40th St Austin, TX 78722