School Changes V 2.0 Community Engagement Feedback Summary[PDF]

Feedback From Previous Engagement Opportunities

Reinvest—Community Visioning Sessions & Regional Think Tanks

In June, Austin ISD recruited representatives from more than 110 school communities to participate in one of five Regional Think Tanks. The groups were charged with thinking big and brainstorming innovative ideas around a given planning region. Their big, bold ideas contributed to the overall universe of ideas to help the district develop preliminary scenario options.

Think Tanks were made up of parents, students, staff and community members with diverse backgrounds and experiences, reflecting the district as a whole. The district worked to recruit status quo-challenging, creative, divergent thinkers willing to explore opportunities and tackle challenges to improve student outcomes.

Also in June, Austin ISD hosted a series of Community Visioning Sessions designed to gather feedback on the strengths, challenges and opportunities of each planning region. Feedback from these meetings was used to shape the academic vision that would drive the development of scenario options. 

Five region-specific meetings were hosted along with two districtwide meetings and one Spanish-language meeting. View a summary of the feedback received during the Think Tanks, Community Visioning Sessions and all other engagement opportunities to date. 

Reimagine—Community Workshops

In April, Austin ISD held four community workshops regarding the district’s program planning and potential school closures, consolidations and repurposing. Each workshop featured a panel of Austin ISD staff, community members, planners and developers, and included small group conversations regarding concerns and opportunities the School Changes process presents.

Download a PDF of the complete feedback received during the workshops. 

Austin ISD opened a community-wide ThoughtExchange on April 15 to hear from the community in the reimagine phase of the School Changes 2019 engagement process. ThoughtExchange is an online tool that allows participants to share their ideas in 300 words or fewer and to rate the ideas shared by others in the exchange. View the complete exchange interactions online.