They Promised

Laura Merritt
887 days ago

Below is the text of a letter I sent to the Mayor and City Councilmembers on this issue:

Dear Mayor Leffingwell and Councilmembers:

I am a Barton Hills homeowner and the mother of two children under the age of 5, children who will be directly affected by a closure of Barton Hills Elementary. I would like to extend my deepest thanks to the Mayor for having the fortitude to speak out regarding the AISD Facilities Master Plan Task Force report that includes recommendations to close neighborhood schools. Your leadership is appreciated, and South Austin voters have long memories. We’ll not forget that you stood up for us, regardless of the ultimate outcome.

In keeping with Mayor Leffingwell’s statement of support, I wanted to bring to your attention a resolution signed by his predecessor. In Resolution No. 20090312-021, signed in March of 2009, county, city, and AISD officials specifically vowed to protect neighborhood schools.

The resolution was signed by (then) Mayor Will Wynn, (current) AISD Board of Trustees President Mark Williams, and County Judge Sam Briscoe.

I encourage you to review a copy of the cited resolution in its totality, but the most relevant part states as follows:

On pages 4–5, the city promises to:

“Continue support for neighborhood-based schools collaborating on city planning initiatives to ensure quality education, equity and the viability of neighborhoods, using a variety of approaches, including, but not limited to, augmenting and geographically dispersing affordable housing,”

The task force recommendation flies in the face of this promise, made by the city, county and AISD itself. Lest “the economy” be cited as a generic justification for departure from this promise, note that it was signed in March of 2009, well after the economy began its decline.

We’d like to see more leadership from city offices, including from city councilmembers themselves, to ensure that the city keeps its promise to neighborhood schools and does not close these Austin treasures. Thank you for your attention to this crucial city issue.