Austin, TX
Austin ISD approves plan to close 10 schools after hours of public comment
The Austin ISD Board of Trustees voted yes to a highly contentious plan to close 10 schools and make several major programming changes before the 2026-27 school year.
The vote came early Friday morning after months of community meetings and school protests.
Superintendent Matias Segura estimates the plan will generate $21.5 million — eliminating the district’s $19.7 million budget deficit — and reduce the number of “empty seats” in the district by 6,319 from more than 20,000.
“This is difficult, and I wish we didn’t have to do it,” Segura said at the meeting. “But the pressures are gargantuan, and without significant change, we will not be the school district that ultimately can protect who we are moving forward.”
The board’s vote gives the district the green light to close eight elementary schools — Barrington, Becker, Dawson, Oak Springs, Ridgetop, Sunset Valley, Widén and Winn Montessori — as well as Bedichek and Martin middle schools.
Austin Independent School District
Additionally, International High School, which helps ninth and 10th grade students who recently immigrated to Texas transition into the state’s public education system, will close due to low enrollment. International students will be reassigned to a campus near their home and will be offered “newcomer support.”
While the financial savings will be a boon to the district, the plan also aims to improve accountability ratings at seven chronically failing schools. The letter grades are handed down annually by the Texas Education Agency to public schools and are largely based on standardized test scores.
The district’s original plan, released in early October, included 13 school closures and triggered parent and student protests. The district received more than 7,000 pieces of community feedback from concerned parents, teachers and staff. That feedback led to the district scaling back the number of closures to 10.
The board voted on the plan after nearly three hours of public comment from parents, teachers and community members. Nearly every speaker urged the board to reject the plan.
Téo Vigil, a third grader at Ridgetop Elementary, stood on a chair to reach the microphone and deliver his message to the board.
“At school, I learned to listen to my feelings. When I think about this plan, it makes me feel sad, worried and confused. I think you should listen to your feelings, too. Good choices do not feel like this,” he said. “I know you already made a plan, but grown-ups can change their minds when something does not feel right anymore.”
Band director Andria Hyden said she drives an hour from her home in Round Rock to South Austin’s Bedichek Middle School.
Hyden said for many kids, Bedichek is “the only place where they feel safe, accepted and successful.”
“Middle school is already one of the hardest stages of childhood,” she said. “Asking students to start over across three different campuses, to rebuild friendships, to search for trusted adults, to try and find where they fit is not what’s best for their emotional or academic well being.”
Major changes coming to dual language programs
The district’s most comprehensive dual language programming at Becker, Ridgetop, Sunset Valley and Reilly elementary schools will be moved to Sanchez, Pickle, Wooten and Odom elementary schools as part of this plan.
Current dual language students will be given priority transfers to the new campuses.
Sanchez, Pickle and Wooten elementary schools will remain “neighborhood” campuses that serve households in their boundary lines and offer dual language programming to a portion of the student population. The district said it plans on eventually transitioning these schools to campus-wide dual language schools that are non-zoned.
Odom Elementary will become the district’s only school that offers a campus-wide dual language program and is non-zoned. At campus-wide dual language schools, almost all curriculum is taught in both English and Spanish.
The district said it is relocating its dual language programs to serve the emergent bilingual population — students who primarily speak Spanish at home and are learning English — more equitably.
Reilly Elementary will offer a Montessori program, and students from Winn Montessori will be given priority transfers to follow the program as Winn closes.
The plan approved Thursday is far less sweeping than the district’s initial proposal, which also included redrawing the attendance boundaries for 98% of schools and changing feeder patterns so more students stay together through elementary, middle and high school.
The district claims those changes would have balanced out enrollment throughout Austin ISD. District data shows some schools are extremely under-enrolled while others are so full they require portable classrooms.
In a Nov. 4 email to parents, Segura said those aspects of the plan were delayed following “significant concerns” about district officials responsible for handling community feedback related to the plan. Those concerns resulted in two employees being placed on leave while an investigation takes place.
What’s next for the district
The district will send letters to staff at closing schools with a survey asking where they would like to work next school year.
Segura said the district will discuss closing additional schools and redrawing attendance boundaries in the spring and could vote on another plan next fall.
That plan could include closing Maplewood, Palm and Bryker Woods elementary schools. These were originally slated for closure before next school year before the district narrowed its focus. AISD officials have not confirmed all of the schools being considered for future consolidation plans.
Another change that could be settled next fall is a plan that would allow construction to continue at Oak Springs Elementary. The school in East Austin is set to undergo a $47.6 million renovation with money from the voter-approved 2022 bond.
During the construction period, Oak Springs students would attend Blackshear Elementary. Upon the project’s completion, students from Blackshear would return to Oak Springs and Blackshear would likely close.
Austin, TX
Everything you need to know about Austin run clubs
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Data analyst Corey Yeung created the ATX Running Guide to help runners find community across Central Texas. What started as a personal project has become one of Austin’s most comprehensive running resources.
Looking for a Run Club? There’s a Map for That
When Corey Yeung moved to Austin three years ago, he had a simple question:
“How many run clubs are actually out there?” The answer wasn’t easy to find. While several websites listed local groups, Yeung felt none offered a complete picture. So, he decided to build one himself. What started as a spreadsheet evolved into ATX Running Guide, a website and social media platform that helps runners discover clubs throughout the Austin area.
“The list would be more useful if it were a map and search tool,” Yeung said. “The Instagram page was simply a way to communicate those free resources to the community.”
Today, the guide covers running groups from San Marcos to Hutto and serves as a one-stop resource for runners looking to connect. In this episode of KXAN’S Plus Simple Health, Corey Yeung walks us through everything you need to know about the 200-plus running clubs in Austin.
Austin, TX
Texas Volts begin first home slate Thursday at Dell Diamond
AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Texas Volts are off to a rough start in the Athletes Unlimited Softball League, but maybe a little home cooking can help them get right.
After playing their first five games on the road, the Volts open play at Dell Diamond in Round Rock at 6 p.m. Thursday against the Utah Talons, kicking off an 8-game homestand.
It’s the first season the Volts will call Dell Diamond home. In the league’s inaugural season last year, the original four teams competed with a touring schedule that included a stop at Dell Diamond. This is the first year that the AUSL, now a 6-team league, will play in home markets.
They have a roster peppered with local stars, including 2-time NCAA national champion middle infielder Leighann Goode from the Texas Longhorns. Aliyah Binford, a New Braunfels native, played collegiately for Ole Miss and former Texas State pitcher Jessica Mullins made an appearance in the Volts’ previous series against the Carolina Blaze.
Goode said there’s been a bit of a learning curve, but she credits her teammates for helping her adjust to the league.
“This group has brought me in and taught me stuff, taken me under their wings,” she said. “They’ve done an awesome job.”
Legendary Texas pitcher Cat Osterman is the team’s general manager, and the head coach is Texas State’s Ricci Woodard.
“We’re ready to rock and roll at home,” Woodard said. “I’m anxious to see what happens now that we get to play in our own place.”
Texas Tech pitcher NiJaree Canady, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2026 draft, joined the team last weekend after a brief contract holdout.
The Volts are 1-4 this season, picking up their lone win over the Oklahoma City Spark on June 10. They’ll face the Talons in a 3-game series, the Chicago Bandits for a pair June 23-24, and finish the homestand with a 3-game set against the expansion Portland Cascade on June 26-28.
Ryan Sanders Baseball, the organization that owns and operates the Round Rock Express, is an operating partner with the Volts and an investor with the AUSL.
Austin, TX
Investigators seek clues in small jet crash that killed 1 in Texas, where bystanders rushed to help
(AP) – Investigators combed through wreckage Wednesday for clues to why a business jet crashed on a Texas highway, killing one person on board after its pilots reported mechanical problems while requesting an emergency landing at a nearby airport.
The fiery crash late Tuesday in Laredo near the Mexican border sent bystanders racing from their cars to help police rescue passengers and crew from the burning aircraft. The crash killed Joshua Baer, a leader in Texas’ technology and startup sectors, the president of Baer’s company told the Austin American-Statesman.
Video from the frantic scene showed someone trying to smash the cockpit glass with a sledgehammer, while others used makeshift levers as they worked to open the plane’s door. Local officials said a firefighter entered the smoke-filled jet to extract one person still inside after the rest had escaped.
“While the loss of life is deeply regrettable, it is nothing short of a miracle that this tragedy did not become a mass fatality event,” Laredo Mayor Victor Treviño told a news conference Wednesday.
The cause of the crash was not immediately known. The Federal Aviation Administration was investigating along with the National Transportation Board.
Laredo Police Chief Miguel Rodriguez Jr. said investigators working to reconstruct the crash were at the crash site Wednesday.
Crash victim worked to help entrepreneurs launch startups
Baer was the founder and chief executive of Austin-based Capital Factory, which helps entrepreneurs connect with investors and others to launch their businesses.
“Joshua was a fearless leader, a brilliant partner, and a dear friend to so many of us,” Capital Factory President Bryan Chambers told the Austin newspaper.
Capital Factory executives did not immediately return phone messages Wednesday from The Associated Press.
Baer lived in Austin with his wife and three children, according to his LinkedIn page. He recently taught a student entrepreneur class at the University of Texas at Austin.
“I help people quit their jobs and become entrepreneurs,” Baer said on his LinkedIn page.
In a social media post, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas called Baer “one of the most significant figures driving innovation and entrepreneurship across America.”
Police did not release the name of the person killed, citing a request from family members. Rodriguez said those on the plane included two pilots and three teenagers.
Pilots reported low fuel, electrical issues, airport director says
The Cessna Citation Latitude twin jet departed Tuesday evening from the Mexican resort city of San José del Cabo and was bound for Austin, Texas, the FAA said in a statement.
The plane was operated by NetJets, a company owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway that lets people buy part ownership in private jets. NetJets said in a statement it was cooperating with authorities.
The jet went down at about 10 p.m. Tuesday on the Loop 20 highway, just a few minutes after its pilots radioed the local airport seeking to make an emergency landing. Their call to air traffic controllers “mentioned low fuel and a power outage,” Laredo International Airport Director Gilberto Sanchez said.
“They had mechanical issues and they lost communication with the tower,” Sanchez said Wednesday, “and that’s when the accident happened.”
Dashcam video posted on social media showed the aircraft careening down the highway and knocking down a light post before coming to a stop near the airport. The jet also barreled into a car, sending one motorist to a hospital in stable condition, said Laredo police investigator Jose Baeza.
Video posted to social media showed the plane on its side, smashed into a highway barrier with the tail ripped from the fuselage.
“It looked like part of a movie. I was in shock,” said Zayra Garza, an esthetician who was driving her co-workers home when she came upon the crash.
Garza, who shot video of the scene as her husband ran to help, saw motorists leave their cars to try to help smash the cockpit glass. She said the plane’s door opened and three people who looked like teenagers rushed out, followed by someone who appeared to be a pilot. Another crew member tried to pull out a person who seemed to be unconscious.
Smoke billowed from the plane as a firefighter climbed into the aircraft to rescue the remaining passenger. Police officers helping prop open the door had to back away as they doubled over coughing because of the intense smoke. Police said five officers were treated at a hospital for smoke inhalation.
“What was worrying me was the fire,” Garza said. “I was concerned that it could have just exploded at any time.”
This was the third significant aviation accident in as many days. A B-52 crashed Monday during a test flight at Edwards Air Force Base in California and killed all eight people aboard, while on Sunday, 12 people were killed when a plane on a skydiving outing in Missouri crashed.
___
Golden reported from Seattle; Collins reported from Hartford, Connecticut; and Bynum reported from Savannah, Georgia. AP journalists Josh Funk in Omaha, Nebraska, and Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina, contributed to this report.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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