After six consecutive years of declining student enrollment, the Austin school district this year reversed its dwindling population trend, adding nearly 700 students to its attendance rolls.

According to district data obtained by the American-Statesman, the district gained 682 students by the 24th day of school. The district had prepared for a loss of 1,600 students and factored that projected decline into the $1.6 billion budget its board adopted in June.

The new student data comes as the district weighs shuttering 12 campuses, in part to make the district more efficient and even out enrollment among its 130 schools. Austin school leaders have been criticized for decades for holding on to some half-empty schools. District officials have said postponing a decision no longer is an option as they consider rocky financial forecasts that had been exacerbated by what has been a plummeting student population. The district adopted its budget with a $3 million deficit that likely will be erased by the boost in new students.

In the past two weeks, district officials have held a series of contentious community meetings surrounding the proposed consolidations of schools. Pease, Brooke, Dawson, Joslin, Sims, Maplewood, Metz, Palm, Pecan Springs and Ridgetop elementaries, as well as Webb Middle School and Sadler Means Young Women's Leadership Academy are proposed for closure. Teary-eyed and angry parents have argued that while the enrollment of the 80,695-student district is less than what it should be, the district could need the buildings in future years as the city's population continues to boom.

However, documents show district projections still anticipate a potential loss of students for later this fall, when an official attendance snapshot is captured and turned in to the state. District leaders also have said while enrollment is among the factors in their decisions to add schools to a list of possible closures, they also want to move more students out of old, deteriorating campuses and into new, modernized buildings constructed for 21st century learning.

Emily Sawyer, an Austin district parent, said this enrollment boost is "huge" given how significantly higher it is compared with predictions. Sawyer said more adjustments must be made to the district's multiyear School Changes plan. While there has been improvement to this year's enrollment numbers, Sawyer said the district must do more to give continued support and tools to increase student populations at low-enrolled schools.

"We need to make sure that the schools that need investment, get invested in" Sawyer said. "We need to give families and communities what they need to succeed."

Valerie Sterne, a parent and former district employee, said she believes the increased enrollment is clear evidence the district officials need to slow down their plan to close schools. The board is expected to vote on the decision next month.



"I feel like the district has responded to the decreasing enrollment with a deficit mindset as if they couldn't do anything about it," Sterne said. "We have more students that go to some type of public school more than ever before who live within our district boundaries."

The most recent enrollment numbers show high schools and middle schools overall increased their populations, while elementary campuses lost 175 students. While the new data end the six-year streak in enrollment losses, the declines still exist in some East Austin schools. Three of the 12 schools on the closure lists made small gains to their student populations over last year's attendance rolls: Brooke boosted its enrollment by 16 to 287, Joslin increased by one student to 276, and Maplewood, which already is overenrolled, added an additional 11.

"We couldn't be more excited about more families coming to AISD," district spokesman Reyne Telles said. "That growth you see is primarily to the middle and high schools. We are excited about that fact, but it doesn't negate the fact that we lost over 6,000 students in the past five years. We need to take a hard look at what is happening in Austin as a city and to our school district."