A sense of reckoning hangs over Burnet, Dobie and Webb middle schools as the spring semester begins.
For years, the campuses have struggled under the weight of failing state accountability ratings. Now, they are one school year away from crossing a line that could trigger state intervention, not just at those campuses, but across the entire Austin school district.
If any of the three schools earns a fifth consecutive failing grade, the Texas Education Agency would have the authority to take over the school district. State takeovers are among the most far-reaching interventions Texas can impose on a school district and allow the education commissioner to replace the elected school board with a state-appointed board of managers to run the district, removing local control with no set timeline for its return. In districts taken over in recent years, that shift has reshaped leadership, staffing and long-term decision making for years.
Against that backdrop, Austin ISD trustees are weighing a last-ditch strategy to keep local control: turning the three campuses over to charter school operators before the state can act.
The decision, which could happen as early as this month, comes amid deep financial strain and a broader reckoning over struggling schools. For the students, parents and educators at the three middle schools, the question no longer is whether change is coming, but who will decide what it looks like.
Dobie parent Sayra Castro said students feel the weight of school and the district’s future on their shoulders.
She said her daughter, an eighth grader, and her classmates feel so pressured to do well on tests that they become distracted and anxious during testing.
“I have heard kids say several times that if they don’t do a good job, it would be their fault what happens to the school,” Castro said in Spanish.
For Castro, the possibility of an in-district charter conversion raises concerns. She worries programs such as band, soccer, volleyball, after-school programs and cosmetology could be eliminated. Castro said she had not given the possibility of a districtwide state takeover much thought because her attention has been on the future of her community’s school, but she said she fears similar consequences for Austin on a broader scale.
Educators and families in districts that have experienced takeovers have warned of instability inside schools. State interventions have often coincided with leadership turnover, staffing disruptions and changes to school culture that can heighten uncertainty for students already facing academic challenges. Critics say that upheaval can complicate efforts to retain teachers and rebuild trust — concerns now emerging in Austin as the district nears the same threshold.
A narrow path to avoiding state control
Texas schools are rated A through F under an accountability system that relies primarily on student standardized test scores. Two consecutive failing grades require an improvement plan, which would aim at improving student achievement, and in turn, would turnaround the school and avert future failings.
Under state law, five consecutive failing ratings allow the Texas education commissioner to close a campus or take over the entire school district, replacing the elected board of trustees and potentially the district’s superintendent.
All three Austin campuses would need to earn a “D” or higher this school year to avoid that possibility. Otherwise, the district could avert a takeover by closing the schools or entering charter partnerships that provide a two-year reprieve from accountability ratings.
That timeline was accelerated after lawsuits delayed the release of ratings for the 2022-23 and 2023-24 school years, which were not made public until this past summer. When the ratings were released, some Austin schools received multiple failing grades at once.
In November, Austin ISD board members approved improvement plans for two dozen schools that received at least two failing ratings.
Superintendent Matias Segura said there is no doubt the three middle schools are making progress, but he worries about the risk of waiting.
“I want to protect [our progress] so that we can continue to grow and ultimately become the highest performing urban school district,” Segura said. “I want our community to know that these schools are moving, our system is moving, it’s a function of time. We cannot allow a misstep that introduces a fifth ‘F’ that would introduce additional risks.”
A decision with lasting consequences
At this point, Austin ISD has few options, but an in-district charter could avert, or at least delay, a takeover. Senate Bill 1882, passed in 2017, incentivizes districts to partner with charter schools, universities, nonprofits or government entities by offering increased funding and a two-year exemption from state interventions.
Duncan Klussmann, who is a clinical associate professor at the University of Houston who helped author the bill’s language, said the idea grew out of earlier partnerships meant to keep students in their home districts.
“Our real motivation was to keep students in their home school,” Klussman said. “It resulted in kids staying in their home school, enrollment came up, we utilized those campuses better, and we greatly enhanced our fine arts and athletic programs.”
Klussman said the financial incentive was originally the focus, with the accountability exemption added later.
Nearly 100 partnerships are active statewide. Austin ISD already has three, including one at Mendez Middle School, which converted to charter management in 2022 after years of failing ratings. While Mendez ratings have improved under the partnership, the school lost a large number of students, a factor Trustee Arati Singh said weighs heavily as trustees consider what comes next.
The board members are slated to discuss and vote on the future of Dobie, Webb and Burnet, and whether to enter into charter partnerships, during their January meetings.
Singh said partnering with charters carries risks, including enrollment loss, but not doing so could be worse.
“I am not willing to risk putting the autonomy of the entire district on the backs of the staff and students at any of these three middle schools this spring,” Singh said.
