News & Insights

The Austin Independent School District (“AISD”) in Texas has a mission to reinvent the urban school experience for its 84,000 Pre-K to 12th grade students in 130 schools. An important first step in achieving this mission was of course to modernize the district’s portfolio of aging schools, address deferred maintenance issues and a changing demographic landscape, and find a way forward from a history of 50% of bond propositions being voted down by Austin residents. Not only was change therefore needed, but the undertaking had to be carefully planned and executed.

AISD engaged B&D and its team of subconsultants¹ to develop a long-range plan for all of its school facilities via a year-long planning process in collaboration with AISD leadership and staff, and an 18-person citizen committee. At the outset, B&D helped the team develop visioning and a planning strategy. From there, the B&D Team:

• Helped redefine the Educational Specifications being used with DLR Group;
• Reviewed and synthesized objective data such as student enrollment, demographic projections, and building utilization;
• Developed and applied planning strategies; and
• Helped lead a comprehensive community collaboration effort using 21st century means and methods such as stakeholder engagement “roadshows” and digital engagement (e.g., Twitter town halls, Facebook livestreams, video postings).

The community collaboration effort was particularly intensive, including a series of 25 regional meetings, social media and website campaigns, over 400 individual community engagement opportunities, and over 300 community organizations contacted. The effort also reached diverse segments of the population, including historically hard-to-reach demographics.

In March 2017, B&D delivered the 2016-17 Facility Master Plan Update, providing a road map of transformational school modernization projects for the next 25 to 30 years. The update was approved by the Board of Trustees in April 2017, and was used to inform the planning of a November 2017 bond referendum. That referendum passed, with Austin voters approving the most ambitious bond in Central Texas history—$1.1B. Further, the bond passed with overwhelming support from the community—72% voter approval—a testament to the objective, community-driven process.

AISD is now set to modernize its schools and fulfill its mission to reinvent the urban school experience—the biggest win of them all.

¹ DLR Group, LINK Strategic Partners, BLGY Architecture, Cropper GIS