Eanes ISD school board votes to combine two elementary schools to save money

The Eanes ISD school board voted unanimously on Tuesday to close Valley View Elementary as part of an effort to reduce an estimated $6.5 million budget deficit. District officials said closing the campus, which is currently at 50 percent of its operational capacity, will save $2 million. Starting next school year, Valley View students will attend Barton Creek Elementary, which is about 6 miles away.

Ahead of the vote, Valley View parents passionately urged the board not to close their beloved campus. Among them was Lauren Amador. She told trustees the time and money families had invested in the campus was not being valued.

“Instead we are met with the news that everything we have built is being erased,” Amador said during public testimony.

Other parents said they had lost trust in the board and that the district should have planned better to prevent the closure, since enrollment at the elementary level had been declining for a while.

School board members, though, said they were forced to make hard decisions, like closing Valley View, sooner than expected because state funding for public education has not kept up with inflation. That was an explanation some parents in the packed board room audibly bristled at.

Trustee Heather Sheffield said she was angry at the Texas Legislature. The last time lawmakers increased the basic allotment, which is the minimum amount the state must spend per student, was 2019.

“I hear all of you, and no one wants this, and I am personally sorry that we’re having to have this conversation,” Sheffield said. “This is horrible.”

Other trustees also acknowledged the hurt Valley View families were feeling, including Board Vice President Kim McMath.

“What I hear from you is there’s a lot of pain,” McMath said.

Still, trustees said they had to act now to prevent the deficit from getting too large and eroding the district’s fund balance, which is cash the district must keep on hand to cover expenses like payroll.

Board President James Spradley said trustees will get monthly updates on plans to consolidate Valley View and Barton Creek.

Superintendent Jeff Arnett also said the district is committed to ensuring enrollment at Barton Creek is under 700 students, and keeping class sizes on par with other Eanes ISD elementary schools, although parents still raised concerns about overcrowding.

Closing Valley View was not the only decision the board made to cut costs at its Jan. 14 meeting. Trustees voted 5 to 2 to eliminate the K-5 Spanish immersion program.

Eanes ISD administrators said discontinuing the program after the current school year would save $600,000, but parents disputed that figure. In an effort to save the program, families launched a fundraising campaign to help cover the operating costs.

More than 270 families pledged roughly $915,000 in donations to the Eanes Education Foundation, which helps pay for positions not covered by state funding. Eanes ISD, like many districts in the Austin area, is subject to recapture and expects to send nearly $95 million to the state this year.

Those pledges moved McMath and Trustee Ellen Balthazar to say discontinuing Spanish immersion next year should be tabled. But other trustees questioned how reliable the pledges were and said families need clarity about the future of the program now.

Christine Curry has two first graders in Spanish immersion, who she said love the program. She said she was devastated the board voted to eliminate it even with the promise of financial support. She said it’s also disappointing some trustees questioned the validity of the pledges.

“To see that they now don’t believe that we’re going to donate when that’s all we’ve been doing is really sad,” Curry said.

Curry said it’s shortsighted to discontinue the Spanish immersion program because it sets Eanes ISD apart and has attracted transfer students to the district. That boosts enrollment, and with it, funding.

“We know people who drive over an hour, one way, to come for our program,” she said, “and when you’re going to cut this program, you’re going to lose all those transfer students.”

Carolina Molano, who has a fourth grader in the Spanish immersion program, said the board’s decision was sad and concerning.

“I think the board underestimates the consequences of losing the program,” Molano said.

In addition to discontinuing Spanish immersion and closing Valley View, another step Eanes ISD is taking to save money is eliminating certain planning periods for middle and high school teachers during which they get to collaborate with colleagues. District officials estimate eliminating these periods will save $2 million.

The board could consider other ways to reduce its projected budget deficit in the months ahead, some of which hinge on whether the Texas Legislature increases funding for public schools.

If needed, district officials said, Eanes ISD will decide in late May whether to freeze salaries and/or reduce stipends. The district is also looking at ways to increase revenue, including potentially calling a tax rate election to raise $4 million. The board has until June 24 to make that decision.

This story was produced as part of the Austin Monitor’s reporting partnership with KUT.

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