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Old 01-07-2011, 06:34 AM
yam yam started this thread
 
228 posts, read 884,786 times
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Ack! News8 Austin reports that Barton Hills Elementary is at risk of being closed due to AISD funding problems. I checked the article's date, it is not April 1.

Austin schools targeted for closure amid budget cuts - News 8

Apparently they've sent a letter to residents in their service area. Anyone got a copy they could post? I'd never believe it but then again I didn't think they'd cancel Trail of Lights either.

As someone aspiring to move to Barton Hills, in part for their excellent school, this is quite alarming. What is their contingency plan for the kids?
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Old 01-07-2011, 06:50 AM
 
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They have to cut money somewhere, and none of the options are good. They've talked for months now about closing down the under-enrolled schools because of the costs of maintaining the building, AC, electricity, etc... it all adds up and a school only has 50% enrollment, it makes better sense to combine it with another school that is only 50% enrolled. Many of the kids at the other schools listed already choose to go to other schools than the one they are assigned to because of the diversity choice program.

It does stink, but at this point they're being forced to choose from the bad options. Those kids would be bussed to a nearby campus in order to get that campus up to 100% capacity.
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Old 01-07-2011, 09:09 AM
 
Location: Great State of Texas
86,052 posts, read 84,141,708 times
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Part of looming budget woes.

RRISD just announced a hiring freeze.
I heard on the radio that Hutto ISD is considering closing a school and consolidating the kids at another school.
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Old 01-07-2011, 09:41 AM
yam yam started this thread
 
228 posts, read 884,786 times
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This is pretty frickin' incredible. I understand BHE is the best rated school in the entire south central area. It's certainly a major draw for the neighborhood.

I can't speak for others, but as for myself I can say that I'm not interested in paying a half million dollars for a house served by a walking dead school.

I've got some concerns about Zilker Elementary too, since it's likely to end up picking up the stranded kids. I had figured that Zilker was already likely to become overcrowded due to all the new construction in its service area. Can't imagine what it will be like with an entire school of Barton Hills refugees showing up at their doorstep.

This in a mature neighborhood with a property tax base about 300% of the average for the district. Truly mind boggling. It's enough to make ya wanna stay in the burbs where they take their education seriously.
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Old 01-07-2011, 10:36 AM
 
361 posts, read 1,158,952 times
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For half a mill, you can buy something decent in the brykerwoods school zone and something small but livable in casis.
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Old 01-07-2011, 11:48 AM
yam yam started this thread
 
228 posts, read 884,786 times
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Thanks Green. Brykerwoods is great but it's in the wrong location for me. I'm looking for something walkable/bikeable to Town Lake, Zilker Park, the greenbelt, and the south Lamar corridor, in addition to great schools. Runner-up neighborhood is Rollingwood. Might also be worth considering Tarrytown, but I'm looking for a more relaxed vibe than I'm likely to find in either of those neighborhoods.
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Old 01-07-2011, 12:20 PM
 
Location: central Austin
7,228 posts, read 16,021,625 times
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Becker was on the walking dead list for years as was Ridgetop but they both have the dual language program now and are probably safe. School closings are immensely hard, Forgione tried and never did it. I'd be surprised if it actually happens. But who knows!

Zilker is a good school. I know people in south Austin who prefer it over Barton Hills because BH is so uniformly anglo and upscale. People pushed hard to keep Becker open, I'd have to believe that BH would get even stronger support. It will make for some "must see" public access television that is for sure!
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Old 01-07-2011, 12:42 PM
yam yam started this thread
 
228 posts, read 884,786 times
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Well. If I wanted a bunch of posturing, drama and political gamesmanship, I'd just hang out here at the office more. Not what I'm looking for in my neighborhood nor my kid's education.

The concern about Zilker isn't about whether it's a good school, it's about the speculation that they're likely to pick up most of the BHE population and end up with more kids than they can handle. Geographically I don't see any other places to put the BHE kids since they're surrounded by major boundaries on all other sides.
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Old 01-07-2011, 01:21 PM
 
Location: central Austin
7,228 posts, read 16,021,625 times
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Matthews? downtown to Pease? Zilker probably has the capacity especially if it was closed to transfers. I *think* (no time to look it up) that Zilker is around 30% transfers.

I don't think you can find a school or district anywhere that is free of posturing, drama and political gamesmanship! Eanes has certainly had some battle royales! Unbelievable stuff, then there was the battle between St. Stephen's and their neighbors. It goes on and on.

anything involving school boundaries or school closings creates high drama. Look at Hutto, growth didn't match expectations, now there may be schools closing there for a few years.
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Old 01-07-2011, 01:25 PM
 
Location: Fairfax, VA
1,449 posts, read 3,160,209 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by centralaustinite View Post
Becker was on the walking dead list for years as was Ridgetop but they both have the dual language program now and are probably safe.
what is the dual language program? Is that a language immersion program? We're considering one of those here in VA, but didn't think Austin had any.

Please tell me more...
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