New Facility Plan Could Relieve Overcrowding

An Austin Independent School District Facility Master Plan, priced at $4.6 billion, could help relieve overcrowding among schools, especially those in northwest Austin. The update recommends building five new schools, replacing three existing schools, modernizing 62 schools and renovating 38 schools. Also in the plan is upgrading the systems of six schools, placing five more on a target utilization plan list, and re-purposing two facilities.

The plan is not a short fix. It outlined current uses and proposed modernization of AISD schools for the next 25 years.

The voters still have yet to weigh-in on the issue, and the first opportunity for an AISD bond election would be November 7, 2017, assuming trustees call for one. According to board secretary and trustee Julie Cowan, the plan is the first step, adding “we haven’t even determined yet what size the bond will be, because we really haven’t surveyed voters.”

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