Concerns erupt in town hall meeting over potential Leander ISD school closures
LEANDER, TEXAS (KXAN) — Parents in Leander are raising concerns over Leander ISD’s plans to potentially close down three elementary schools.
The schools that could be impacted are Steiner Ranch Elementary, Laura Welch Bush Elementary, and River Ridge Elementary.
The school has three different proposals in regards to the future of these schools:
- Vacate Campus & Consolidate with nearby campus, which has a total estimated cost savings of $4,151,700
- Implement updated staffing guidelines for low-enrolled elementary campuses, which have a total estimated cost savings of $1,777,200
- Hybrid Utilization, depending on unique circumstances, has a total estimated cost savings of $3,549,700
Leander ISD Superintendent Bruce Gearing said that following one of these proposals is necessary due to the deficiencies the district is facing.
“The chronic underfunding of public education in the state of Texas that has left us with large deficit budgets for the last two years,” Gearing said. “As elementary schools are built for 800 students, and so when they’re below 60% capacity, we are really going to have to look at how we staff those schools appropriately.”
Each of the three schools is under 60% capacity, but parents don’t think that is enough of a reason to justify potentially closing down the schools. According to Texas Education Agency Accountability ratings, each of these schools earned a grade A.
“I have a third grader there right now, and my two older kids both went through, so we’ve been at Steiner for a very long time,” said Kaycee Parker, who is both a parent and the PTA president for Steiner Ranch Elementary. “It just seems rushed, it seems foolhardy, it seems like it’s going to be a bad decision, and it’s just reactionary.”
“We moved from California in 2021, our children were not even close to elementary school age yet, and we knew we wanted them to be here in Steiner and go to the elementary schools here because of how well they were rated,” said Dara Irsfeld, another parent who’s concerned. “I don’t think they should change anything.”
“I have a four-year-old and a one-year-old, and they will attend the public schools here when they’re old enough,” said Katie Green, another parent concerned. “It is going to affect teacher-student ratios, it’s going to affect traffic.”
Such concerns were also shared by Leander ISD Board member Paul Gauthier, who said he believes the district isn’t saving money properly.
“It only costs $1.5 million to operate the school, and $1.2 million to operate it at half capacity. We’re not spending the money correctly,” said Gauthier. “The populations will regentrify after a certain amount of time, and it will cost you more money.”
Gearing said he has considered all these points, but still deems it necessary for the district to function properly.
“I think the harder thing for us is the fact that the reason that people are so upset is because our staff has done just a phenomenal job of building community schools, such a good job that people don’t want to let go of that,” Gearing said. “Honestly, we don’t want to let go of that either, but we have to face the reality of our situation.”
The Leander ISD Board of Trustees will meet a few more times to discuss the future of these schools. The board will make a final decision on October 9th.
