Chapter 24 — Blackshear Elementary community meeting

**Date in the room:** Wednesday, November 12, 2025. Segura arrives late (`00:03:58`). Vote referenced as **Thursday next week** (November 20). **Source:** `meetings/clean/20251114-Blackshear-Elementary-School-Community-Meeting--November-12-2025.txt`

**Draft:** Oak Springs **reassigned 100% to Blackshear** to break Oak Springs’ TAP chain. Blackshear is a C; the state will **not** accept Blackshear moving *to* Oak Springs (C into an F). After the vote, a later move of the **combined** school into a modernized Oak Springs is still on the table — **one school, not two**. Oak Springs bond **paused**. Historic Blackshear building could become another educational use (Pease model). Nov. 20 vote is the **boundary / TAP**. Building after that is administration unless trustees insist (`00:12:57`).

Who is in the room

**Staff who speak:** Christina Wynn, director of communications (opens; Segura not yet there); Superintendent Segura; Jennifer Pace, assistant superintendent of elementary; Sandre McWills, executive director. Interpretation and dual recording.

**Campus / public:** Principal (not named at open). Emily Flowers; former parent of two Blackshear alumni (Macallum and Keeling); Laura Dela, current parent; Mo Buchell; Cheryl (thanked at close `01:49:22`).

**Board:** none present, none speaking. “Maybe some trustees… would like it to be part of that vote but it doesn’t have to be” (`00:12:57`). Trustees asked him for attrition assumptions (`01:06:39`). “Same trustee, same superintendent” as a system line (`00:32:57`) — not a person in the room.

Opening (`00:00:00`–`00:13:16`)

Christina: agenda, one-minute questions, transition plans still unfinished, Friday document, Thursday vote. Strong neighborhood schools.

Segura takes the plan (`00:04:04`): original Oct. 3 — Oak Springs fully into Blackshear. Six TAP strategies: reassign to A/B/C; district restart (highly qualified staff, principal with a turnaround record); 1882 charter partner (“similar to Mendez… a model that we don’t really like”); new campus (e.g. MS → EC–8); school-improvement model (year 2, progress already showing); closure. 23, 24, 25 ratings in five months because of lawsuits; typical two-year TAP build “out the window” (`00:06:25`). Oak Springs → reassign to Blackshear + coaches/interventionists; combined STAAR next year breaks Oak Springs’ chain. Also under-enrollment and demographics.

Feedback: combine at Blackshear then later **back to Oak Springs** so students end in a modernized building (`00:10:21`). Bond paused so community investments follow students. **Thursday vote is still reassignment to Blackshear.** Where the school sits after that is not a required board vote; boundaries, budget, hiring the superintendent are (`00:11:56`). More conversations after; no answer tonight.

Q&A

**Emily Flowers** (`00:13:37`): excited to welcome Oak Springs; takes time; don’t sit in limbo. Oak Springs smaller even when complete; combining then splitting again breaks friendships.

Segura: recommendation **will** include Oak Springs coming here — TAP won’t be accepted otherwise. Blackshear-to-Oak-Springs is a state “hard no” (`00:15:21`). One combined school, not two programs. Empty seats in this part of town; cannot keep two campuses. Elementary sizes: ~520 / ~620 / “jumbo” 700–800 (Doss, Menchaca). Combined population **fits** Oak Springs site if that’s the end state; would reissue designer/GC contracts, redesign for both communities (Norman-Sims kept both names; Metz/Sanchez kept Sanchez only). Blackshear historic — why they went this direction first. After: early childhood or other educational use, community need (`00:19:31`).

**Former parent** (`00:20:18`): AISD had 23/24 data a year ago. Root cause is teaching, HQIM, high expectations, culture — not the letter. Segura has said strategic placement of “highly effective” teachers “is not what AISD does”; cultural competence vs. effectiveness is a false choice. What will he do regardless of building?

Segura: never said it is “all about accountability”; ignoring the chain risks local control; Fort Worth. 22–23: three superintendents, 84% staffed now 97%, 26 principals that year now five, Title I attrition 22% → 2.5%. 15 curricula; high mobility. 23: procured HMH K–12, consumables. TEA agreed order. ERP. MTSS — two years ago they could not say who was on grade level. TRE for content interventionists (some campuses 40% tier 3). HQIM use 55% → 82%. F counts 30 → 29 → 23 → fraction. Rejects “drill and kill.” Dislikes TEA’s “highly effective” label; wants observation aligned to outcomes; no more first-year teacher three years in a row (`00:21:54`–`00:29:16`).

**Laura Dela** (`00:29:22`): Blackshear already **broke** its chain (C). 134+ years, not closed by the state. Why move Oak Springs *here* then move **everyone** during the three-year maintain window? Welcome Oak Springs; grieving the closing school; a second move two years in is more turmoil.

Segura: no decision on the second move tonight; listening. Prefer whole-school merge to a split. State: if a C is working, don’t disrupt staffing the way a restart would. More students = more support, more flexibility than a restart’s “highly effective” percentages (`00:32:45`). “I cannot take away **planning time** from our families and from our staff” (`00:34:17`). By law must execute TAP until the chain is broken — cannot move back mid-plan. Construction paused; a return would be **~two years**, not one-and-one (`00:35:30`). Redesign so both communities see themselves.

**Necessary vs. extra disruption (`00:35:55`):** 26–27 here, 27–28 back? Does a modern building outweigh professional/community infrastructure already here?

Segura: 2017 and 2022 bonds — stop spending operating dollars on deferred maintenance (rental chillers, electrical; some years **$12 million** campus-level, same bucket as teacher pay). Light, air, vestibules, lines of sight. “You can have an incredible school in a sea of portables.” HVAC and water. Safety is 95% community, building contributes. 116 buildings, incidents every day. 1910 vs. 2050 (`00:37:25`–`00:40:53`).

**Cost of two moves (`00:41:17`):** consolidation started for the deficit, then TAP. How is finish-a-building / move / finish / move again cost-effective?

Segura: many pressures at once — accountability, TEA agreed order, budget, Title II/III/IV. Think **50 years**. Accountability here, surplus seats here, feeder alignment. Will not present a second move without this community’s voice (`00:41:59`).

**Capacity (`01:03:21`):** calculations use permanent buildings, not portables. **440 portables**, over a million sq ft; newest ~32 years, some 60–70. Short-term portables OK to make a move work.

**Oak Springs walkers (`01:03:54`):** many within walking distance, unreliable cars, **inside the 2-mile** no-bus zone. Community will push for buses. Segura: that need is why he kept exploring Oak Springs as the long-term home. **Already committed** transportation for the swing to Blackshear anyway, and it will be in the plan (`01:04:56`).

**Mo Buchell** (`01:05:20`): closing a school with Blackshear’s East Austin reputation — counterproductive to enrollment?

Segura: 7½ years in AISD, almost three as superintendent (first year interim). Trustees ask: if this happens, budget impact? He will not pretend 60% “we’ll leave” surveys (same as four years ago; not what happened). Families leave and return; **high schools anchor**. Sensitivity analysis. Counter: thriving schools in parts of town that don’t have them. Martin students gaining Keeling. **Lost over 2,000 students this year** — not performance, not gentrification, **immigration** (including “Rberg” / Pflugerville area). Larger than these moves (`01:09:46`). Model it; hope more families choose AISD.

Time check ~14 minutes left; add 10 because they started late (`01:10:54`).

**After-school / Zavala (`01:24:26`):** Pre-K here; older kids at Zavala; Brook closed; Zavala had no after-school — four-year-old could not stay. Segura: wraparound and after-school are in the framework and budgeted (`01:44:15`).

**Academic plan (`01:43`–`01:49`):** 16 B→F swings when the test changed. Add interventionists, coaches, likely an **assistant principal** (sped/ARD/IEP) when populations combine. Rigor differs campus to campus; autonomy that lowers the bar is a “bad habit.” Lighthouse / lab schools: one lighthouse + six around it; **principal** instructional rounds (not teacher-to-central-office PD). Early literacy/numeracy moving faster for historically underserved. High-performing campuses can be “in spite of” instruction if kids arrive on grade level. “We’ll break it for sure.” Derisk: budget, accountability, resources, sped. Boundaries still to do; “not going to take forever.” “Thank you Cheryl.”

Christina: overtime, dinners. Close `01:49:41`.

Board vs. staff

Staff only, eight days before the vote. Trustees are cited as wanting numbers and maybe wanting the building on the motion. They do not take a question in this cafeteria.

Campus meetings, chapters 17–24 — who from the board actually speaks?

Campus microphones: superintendent and cabinet. Board speech is the Oct. 30 dais, not the school gyms.

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