AUSTIN, Texas — Parents at Burnet and Webb middle schools have until Thursday to decide whether to ask the state to close their children’s schools. Organizers say the petition is the only way to head off a state takeover of the Austin Independent School District.
The Parent Petition for Action must be delivered to Austin ISD Superintendent Matias Segura by Oct. 15.
It needs signatures from parents or guardians of more than half of the students enrolled at each campus. Parents with more than one child at either school can sign once for each child.
Both schools received their fifth consecutive F rating from the Texas Education Agency in August. Under Chapter 39A of the Texas Education Code, five straight failing ratings require Education Commissioner Mike Morath to intervene. He can close the campuses or replace the district’s elected school board with a state-appointed board of managers and a new superintendent.
“We’re asking them to sacrifice their school,” Crystal Brothwell Hernandez, president of the Austin Council of PTAs, told parents last week outside Burnet.
The district has appealed both ratings. Final ratings are expected in December, after the petition deadline has passed.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE | Petition asks state to close AISD schools to prevent district takeover
What happens next
If a petition is submitted Thursday, the next steps would run into early 2027, according to state rules and the timeline published by petition organizers:
Oct. 30: The state counts students enrolled at each school. A signature counts only if the student is enrolled that day.Oct. 16 to Nov. 30: Austin ISD checks signatures against student registration records.Dec. 1: Segura must send a validated petition to the TEA.December: The TEA releases final accountability ratings.Jan. 30, 2027: Austin ISD submits a closure plan for Burnet and Webb students and campuses, developed with parent input.Feb. 15, 2027: Morath issues his order.
The petition asks that the schools close at the end of the 2026-27 school year. Students would finish the year at their current campus, and any changes would take effect in fall 2027.
State law gives students at a closed campus the right to transfer to another Austin ISD school that serves their grade, including a nearby school rated A, B or C, according to organizers. A closed building can reopen as a new school under state rules.
Segura said in a Sept. 14 message to families that the district would not collect signatures or advocate for the petition. If a petition gets a majority of signatures, he said, Morath will allow the district to submit a comprehensive closure plan. District leaders are already working through options, he said.
To sign, parents must fill out the official Texas Education Agency petition form for each student enrolled at Webb or Burnet. Every field must be completed and the form must be submitted by the same parent or guardian listed on the child’s Austin ISD registration form.
Online signing is available. Completed forms will be checked for accuracy before forwarding to the state.
