New Charter School Considered Near Burnet Middle School

Classroom

On Thursday, the State Board of Education will vote on whether or not to approve a charter for series of new privately owned public schools, at least one of which would open its doors in Austin.

Known as Royal Public Schools, the campuses would be founded by Soner Tarim, the same man behind Harmony Public Schools, which has become one of the largest charter school networks in the state.

Approval of the charter would pave the way for a new campus to be opened in north-central Austin, near Burnet Middle School, within the Austin Independent School District.  

According to the application submitted by Royal Public Schools, that location was strategically chosen.

“This proposed area has six historically failing schools operated by Austin ISD. These schools are: Burnet Middle School, Pickle Elementary, Webb Primary, Dobie Middle School, Pillow Elementary, and Lanier High School,” the filing states.

Charter schools have long been accused of being a major contributor to the year-over-year decline in AISD’s enrollment numbers.  Currently, the Austin school district has around 81,100 students.  However, a report from earlier this year by Templeton Demographics projected AISD to drop below the 80,000 mark by next year.

“78,800 is what we’re seeing right now,” said Rocky Gardiner with Templeton.

As of 2019, there are 46 charter campuses operating within AISD’s boundaries.

“These campuses enrolled 14,460 students in 2017-18,” said Gardiner.

As enrollment falls, so does the amount of per-student funding AISD receives.  Because of that, the school district has expressed a growing concern over the increased number of charter schools within its boundaries.  If Royal Public Schools gets the go-ahead from the State Board of Education, it could lure away up to 2400 AISD students.

Share this Posts

Related Posts

Loading...