New HS in South Austin (Crockett, Bowie: insurance, tax, to move)

[Aquitaine]

They could have 2,500 empty hammocks with free massages at Crockett and I wouldn't send a kid I didn't like there.

[10scoachrick]

Originally Posted by Aquitaine

They could have 2,500 empty hammocks with free massages at Crockett and I wouldn't send a kid I didn't like there.

Aw...Don't sugar-coat it...tell us what you REALLY think

[centralaustinite]

Honest to god, I think Travis High is going to empty out! At least 85% of the students if not closer to 95% live in apartments and the apartments on Oltorf (both east and west of I35) are being renovated (if not demolished and rebuilt) and rents are going up. In some cases substantially. Most Travis high families are very sensitive to rent increases and a huge chunk of students could move out quickly. Travis Heights ES lost 70 students from last year to this year, nearly all apartment dwellers.

Oltorf east of I35 has looked exactly the same with very few alterations for 25 years but that might be changing! Super Burrito just closed and a P. Terry's will be built. If this relatively close in area gentrifies and the apartments switch to young professionals instead of working class families . . . Del Valle ISD is going to grow and Travis High is going to decline in enrollment, fast!

[scm53]

Originally Posted by sojourner77

"Trustee Jayme Mathias said projections show Bowie High School will be over capacity by about 1,100 seats in a few years, while Travis and Crockett High Schools combined will have 1,700 empty seats."

“We have the seats,” he said.


Every single press release from AISD about the new South HS keeps reiterating how this school is not needed.

That's some rather creative writing. You have one trustee -- with the HS with the lowest enrollment -- banging a self serving drum:

“I would be hard-pressed to justify purchasing land for a south high school except for the fact that the voters of Austin approved $32 million in 2008,” said Trustee Jayme Mathias, adding that a new school could cause other underenrolled high schools to lose even more students. “We don’t have money to build or operate a new high school in South Austin.”

In any regard, not exactly "every single press release". Just one trustee.

[sojourner77]

Originally Posted by Aquitaine

They could have 2,500 empty hammocks with free massages at Crockett and I wouldn't send a kid I didn't like there.

It's not about filling seats at Crockett or Travis, but rather emptying seats at Bowie and Akins. Redrawing the boundaries does that. What parents choose to do when they find themselves on the "wrong" side of the line is up to them.

[sojourner77]

Originally Posted by scm53

That's some rather creative writing. You have one trustee -- with the HS with the lowest enrollment -- banging a self serving drum:



In any regard, not exactly "every single press release". Just one trustee.

It's not "one" trustee - it's Amber Alenz, Jayme Mathias, Paul Saldana, and Kendall Pace.

The "one" drumbeat you hear is Robert Schneider (SW Austin) who is sandbagging the process in an unsuccessful attempt to get a SW Austin HS, and is derailing the process.


100% of AISD taxpayers will now be on the hook for a new school because far SW Austin property owners don't want boundaries redrawn. This protectionist agenda is now becoming a fiscal anchor to all AISD taxpayers.

[scm53]

Originally Posted by sojourner77

It's not "one" trustee banging the drum - it's Amber Alenz, Jayme Mathisaas, Paul Saldana, and Kendall Pace.

You mean THIS Paul Saldaña:

But those calculations don’t take into account projected enrollment from future housing developments, said Saldaña, who agrees that southern Austin will eventually need another high school.

[sojourner77]

Originally Posted by scm53

You mean THIS Paul Saldaña:

Where does he say that SouthWEST Austin needs a HS??!!!! Talk about presenting something out of context. You're reaching, Scm.

[scm53]

Originally Posted by sojourner77

Where does he say that SouthWEST Austin needs a HS??!!!! Talk about presenting something out of context. You're reaching, Scm.

And you are fantasizing that anybody - other than you - said a word about where in South Austin the school should be. Mathias was talking about South Austin, as was Saldaña.

It isn't "out of context" -- you made it up.

[sojourner77]

Originally Posted by scm53

And you are fantasizing that anybody - other than you - said a word about where in South Austin the school should be. Mathias was talking about South Austin, as was Saldaña.

It isn't "out of context" -- you made it up.

You are correct, Saldana said that one will eventually be needed. He didn't say that a new HS was needed NOW. Saldana didn't say that SW Austin needed it, either.

There are 9 trustees, and only 1 trustee is pushing for a SW high school, and that trustee is Schneider.