CCNS Member Outreach Activities Summary Form

Austin Independent School District Community Committee on Neighborhoods and Schools Final Report to the Board of Trustees April 28, 2008 Committee Membership CO-CHAIRS Adolphus (Andy) Anderson, District Advisory Council Rachel Proctor May, City of Austin Paul Saldaña, Business MEMBERS Sally Brackett, Community Terry Clark, University of Texas Christiane Woodley Erwin, Community Lourdes (Lulu) Flores, Austin Council of PTAs Linda Gibeaut, Community Rev. Sterling Lands, Community José Marrero, Business Susan Moffat, Community Leroy Nellis, Travis County Alfredo Santos, Community Kathie Tovo, Community Jim Walker, Community AISD STAFF Dr. Janis Guerrero, Executive Director Office of Planning and Community Relations Joey Crumley, AICP, Planning Supervisor Office of Planning and Community Relations 1 Acknowledgements The Community Committee on Neighborhoods and Schools would like to acknowledge the following persons who provided information and technical support during the deliberations of the committee: Austin ISD Office of Accountability Dr. Maria Whitsett, Executive Director Austin ISD Office of Facilities Joe Silva, Assistant Director Austin ISD Facility Use and Boundary Task Force Sylvia Acevedo, Co-Chair David Belknap, Co-Chair Austin ISD Student Services and Records Dr. Zoe Griffith, Director Austin ISD Office of Planning and Community Relations Kathy Anthony, Communications Specialist Orlando Castillo, Webmaster Jennifer Bennett, Planning Intern Heather Dalrymple, Planning Intern Maria-Elena Ramon, Secretary City of Austin Neighborhood Planning and Zoning Greg Guernsey, Director Ryan Robinson, Demographer San Antonio ISD Sylvia Reyna 2 Table of Contents Section Page Committee Membership 1 Acknowledgements 2 Executive Summary 4 Introduction 7 Information and Data Reviewed 8 Communications and Community Input 9 Findings 11 Recommendations 15 Conclusion 34 Appendix A: Charter 35 Appendix B: Process Framework 36 Appendix C: Meeting Summaries 37 Appendix D: Terms Related to Neighborhoods and Schools 106 Appendix E: Literature Review 113 Appendix F: Review of Community Engagement Best Practices 124 Appendix G: FAQs 140 Appendix H: Guiding Questions 142 Appendix I: Summaries of Focus Group Discussions and Interviews 143 Appendix J: Summary of First Community Forum 243 Appendix K: Survey Instrument 257 Appendix L: Summary of Survey Results (English Responses) 261 Appendix M: Summary of Survey Results (Spanish Responses) 266 Appendix N: Summary of Second Community Forum 269 Appendix O: Online Comments on Draft Findings and Recommendations 273 Appendix P: Recommended Communication Plan for Campus Advisory Councils 276 Appendix Q: Suggested Community Partners 280 3 Executive Summary In late 2006, the AISD Board of Trustees created the Community Committee on Neighborhoods and Schools (CCNS) to recommend policies and processes for major decisions affecting public schools in Austin. The CCNS reviewed experiences from other districts, and developed a set of findings and recommendations based on extensive public outreach including 25 focus group discussions, an open house with 150 attendees, and about 1,500 survey responses. The Challenge AISD facility use is imbalanced, with growing enrollment in some areas and declining enrollment in others. Meanwhile, state and federal accountability systems impose sanctions that encourage student flight from struggling schools and can result in school closures. AISD needs to be able to inform and engage the community in positive discussions about these demographic and educational trends. While the trends themselves are not positive, they hold the potential to inspire positive change, which could include: increasing neighborhood and parent involvement; achieving fiscal efficiencies; helping shape city growth; improving equity; and exploring innovative education programs – all within the overarching goal of providing the best possible education for every AISD student. The challenge, in short, is this: Potential exists to get more out of our existing schools. How can AISD inform and engage the community in positive conversations about the opportunity that exists? Major Findings Findings from Stakeholders. During the Committee’s public outreach phase, several common themes emerged: 1. Stakeholders want to be regularly informed about the criteria against which AISD evaluates school vitality and to have a voice in shaping those criteria. 2. Opportunity exists to develop new partnerships outside the traditional AISD community. 3. District communication practices can do more to inspire trust that community voices are valued and that input matters. 4. Stakeholders recognize a strong connection between city growth patterns and school vitality, such as the impact of affordable housing on schools. 4 5. Stakeholders expressed strong opposition to closing neighborhood schools. Many expressed interest in helping develop new programs, initiatives, and partnerships to strengthen existing schools. Other Districts’ Experiences. The Committee’s review of other districts’ experiences revealed the following: 1. In the absence of a “crisis,” AISD has a responsibility to demonstrate how any facility use decision will deliver clear improvement for affected students. 2. Models exist for formalizing opportunities for the community to propose and shape innovative educational programs and partnerships. 3. Models exist for city-district partnerships to explore and address the relationship between growth, housing, and schools. 4. Formal procedures to improve district-wide communication can be implemented without a massive commitment of new resources. CCNS Recommendations The CCNS report includes dozens of specific recommendations for board consideration. The Committee recommends specific criteria and processes for making facility use decisions, improvements to district communication practices and ideas for better interlocal collaboration. Underlying and cutting across the specifics of these recommendations are a set of key principles we urge AISD to bring to any policy or process discussion regarding facility use. 1. Establish a context. The community needs to know what trends may inspire facility use conversations, and where their neighborhood school stands in relation to them, early enough to have a meaningful role in addressing those trends. AISD must get the word out to a wider variety of stakeholders through a wider variety of means. 2. Improve two-way communication. Nothing creates community support for a decision like feeling like they had a hand in creating it. Improved communication must include two-way dialogue, including meaningful ways for the community to propose and develop new initiatives with AISD support. Not every campus will take advantage of these opportunities, but where the community will is there to do so, this is a strength to take advantage of. 3. Build on existing strengths. AISD already has Campus Advisory Councils, mandatory school report cards and other communication tools. With a few exceptions, our recommendations focus on getting more out of existing tools rather than creating new ones from scratch. Nevertheless, sustainability will require a certain level of institutionalization, and we recommend delegating 5 formal responsibility within AISD to support improved communication and engagement. Specific Recommendations Improve Ongoing Communication. At the campus level these include: providing an annual “State of the Campus” update; educating Campus Advisory Councils in leadership and communication; providing official communication to a wider variety of stakeholders; and improving outreach to immigrant parents. District-level recommendations include: adopting a formal policy that establishes major principles to guide facility use decisions; making district communications easier to understand; ensuring consistency in translation services; improving citizen access to the Board of Trustees; and providing an annual “State of the District” address and defining a process to support campuses in exploring innovative ideas for academic programs. Adopt Criteria and a Process for Major Decisions. For major decisions affecting public schools, the CCNS recommends specific criteria that, at identified thresholds, will set in motion a defined public process. This process will include: immediate notification and outreach; initial community meeting to assess situation; additional outreach and data- gathering; additional community meetings to develop recommendations and action plans; implementation of action plans; regular briefings to the Board of Trustees; and finally, reassessment. Strengthen Interlocal Collaboration. CCNS recommendations to improve collaboration with the City of Austin and Travis County include: adopting a formal policy regarding AISD participation in community and regional planning; clarifying the focus of the Joint Subcommittee; creating formal procedures for regular staff-level coordination and communication; encouraging the City of Austin to require an Educational Impact Assessment for development applications; developing clear policies and procedures to explore and implement shared-use facilities; coordinating capital planning efforts; supporting city planning goals for affordable housing, environmental sustainability, and other community goals; and annually reviewing interlocal partnerships and development agreements. 6 Introduction On December 4, 2006, the AISD Board of Trustees formally created the Community Committee on Neighborhoods and Schools (CCNS). As described in the committee’s

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