Austin Independent School district buys more time for plan to address Dobie Middle School, but prepares for seismic shifts

After years of deferrals and litigation, new state mandates for public school performance are finally catching up to Austin Independent School District, leaving hundreds of its children, teachers, and administrators unsure if they will have a school to return to come August.

Dobie Middle School, a Title 1 campus on East Rundberg Lane, faces an uncertain future after the school’s rating for 2023 was made official last week. For earning a failing grade, state and federal penalties now force the district to decide whether Dobie will shutter permanently, close for at least two years for strategic restructuring or hand over operations to a charter.

If that didn’t already sound grim, a 2021 amendment to the state accountability law raises the stakes even higher–if the school receives five consecutive ‘F’ ratings, AISD is fair game for a Texas Education Agency takeover. ( Readers interested in what that looks like can look to Houston ISD). With 2024 STAAR scores making a third ‘F’ seem likely, the district’s choices at Dobie could bear existential consequences.

Dobie has long been identified as a priority for the district, with 86.6% of students economically disadvantaged, and 72.1% English language learners. Given the hurdles it has faced thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic and growing budget deficits wrought by chronic underfunding, administrators say the school needs more time to reverse course on student test performance.

State and federal education agencies have penalized underperforming schools for decades, but over the past five years, new rubrics for calculating ratings and changes to the STAAR have left formerly acceptable schools with failing marks. From 2022 to 2023, in step with the roll out of a reconfigured ‘STAAR 2.0’, AISD saw 16 of its schools drop from a B to an F rating, and saw its total number of schools receiving ‘F’s jump from just 6 to 30.

The ensuing havoc has met some resistance, with districts across the state taking TEA to court for what they argue is governmental overreach. But the logistics of litigation has escalated the situation at Dobie at breakneck speed, with parents of students both at Dobie and Lamar Middle Schools learning up to 500 students could be relocated to the latter’s campus as early as next school year.

Just four days after a mockup of portables to temporarily accommodate displaced students was met with uproar at a meeting at Lamar Middle School, which is already operating at 110% capacity, parents were shocked to find a $4.6 million contract for construction already on the school board’s agenda last Thursday.

“I think Lamar would feasibly welcome 150 students, but we can’t take 500,” said parent Rachel Ladov. “The campus is so overcrowded, and the portable plan we saw doesn’t work either. It places the portables way far from the school–if it’s hot, if there’s rain, if someone’s injured, it doesn’t work for students or their teachers.”

“The plan to redistribute Dobie students to Lamar is shortsighted, irresponsible, and incredibly harmful to the disadvantaged students that Dobie serves, in particular the large Spanish speaking population who certainly will not receive the services they require at Lamar,” said Erica Hansen, a youth advisor who works with high-needs students on the campus.

The board pulled the item from their agenda, largely thanks to a two month extension from the Texas Education Agency that will see a proposal and decision on Dobie pushed to June 30th. Still, the damage to some parents’ trust is already done.

“Recent decisions have left two campus communities in disarray, and both of them have been disrespected,” said District 1 resident Roxanne Evans. “Particularly disturbing are comments that Lamar will not have to absorb perhaps 500 students, because there’s an expectation that a couple hundred Dobie students will opt for charter schools. How much more disregarded or unwelcomed could District 1 feel?”

While AISD has already begun work on a Turnaround Plan, which would see Dobie “reimagined” and eventually reopened, some urged the district to fully explore a partnership with a charter like Third Future Schools, who currently operate Mendez Middle School.

“One of the major strengths of Dobie is its love for the Rundberg neighborhood and the perseverance to overcome many obstacles, most of which do not appear on a STAAR test,” said Webb Middle School ESL teacher Neill Dillon. “In my opinion, Dobie should stay open. However, I understand the district is in a difficult position. If you decide to partner with a charter school, you must get input from the Dobie community…if students are relocated, there must be a process for having vital community resources travel alongside these students and families.”

Dobie is not alone on the list of AISD campuses receiving their second consecutive ‘F’. Webb and Burnet Middle Schools are now also at risk of triggering a TEA takeover if they do not improve their ratings.

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