In a 5-2 vote, the Leander ISD school board voted to consolidate Faubion Elementary School into Westside Elementary School during their meeting Wednesday night. Trish Bode and Paul Gauthier dissented. 

“We recognize how deeply personal these decisions are for families, staff, students, and for each trustee serving this community,” School Board President Anna Smith. “No one approaches this work expecting choices like these, and none of us take them lightly. We are grateful to our community for showing up, advocating with passion and sharing your stories.”

Leading up to the vote, the board discussed repurposing the facility for New Hope High School but decided to wait to determine the exact programs that would be housed within the building. 

The board also, separately, voted unanimously against consolidating Steiner Ranch Elementary School with River Ridge and Bush Elementary Schools, choosing to wait until the 2026-27 school year instead.

The decision comes after months of discussion, debate and community reaction. The district is facing a $15.8 million budget shortfall for the 2026-27 school year. Leander ISD leaders attribute the deficit to stagnant state funding after the Texas Legislature declined to increase the school finance allotment for the sixth consecutive year this summer.

“Districts are being forced into difficult choices because state funding has not kept pace with rising costs, enrollment shifts and student needs,” Smith said. “We wish the Texas legislature would fully fund public education so districts are not placed in positions like this.”

The board initially proposed the consolidation of Cypress, Faubion and Steiner Ranch Elementary Schools at its Sept. 18 meeting to reduce costs and narrow the deficit with a planned decision date of Oct. 9, but the idea has been discussed since last school year.

The plan has drawn strong opposition from the community and caused differences in opinion between board members. At Wednesday’s meeting, Gauthier, who opposed the consolidation of Faubion, acknowledged that Faubion was a low-enrollment school but cautioned the board against making a “rash” decision.

“I think Faubion deserves that opportunity and I think, well, if I was in that school, I would want someone to give me a second chance or at least a second look before just making decisions,” Gauthier said during the discussions.

At their meeting on Dec. 11, board members voted on two low-enrollment thresholds. Threshold 1 included campuses with between 400 and 499 enrolled students, and Threshold 2 included campuses with under 400 enrolled students.

“As we navigate this topic over the years, what’s going to happen is we’re going to have multiple check-ins throughout the year,” Chief Operations Officer Jeremy Trimble said at the board meeting on Dec. 4. “And so we’ll be able to identify what campuses are approaching certain thresholds. When you don’t have a threshold, you don’t know when they may reach the point that you have to discuss consolidation. And once you establish thresholds, you can trend to where that campus is going to be at that point.”

With the implementation of the thresholds, Cypress Elementary was removed from consideration for consolidation due to being a Threshold 1 school. Steiner Ranch and Faubion Elementary Schools are considered Threshold 2 schools, meaning they still faced the possibility of closure at the time.

Opponents of the district’s proposal suggested alternatives including offering paid pre-kindergarten, cutting staff at low-enrollment campuses and opening enrollment more broadly to boost student numbers and revenue.

Outgoing Superintendent Bruce Gearing said at the Dec. 4 board meeting that the board’s decision on school consolidation must come quickly to avoid problems for students and staff.

“At some point in time, the board is going to have to have a vote on whether you want to close schools or not.” Gearing said. “My recommendation to you is that if you’re going to close schools, that has to happen before we get out for the winter break because we will not have the runway if it happens in January to make sure that we can provide everything that needs to get done so that student experience can happen well.”

The next day, CPHS News broke the story that Gearing was retiring. At the board meeting last Thursday, Chris Clark was announced as acting superintendent for the remainder of the year, and he pledged stability for the district at a student media press conference Tuesday.

“As we move forward, we are thankful for the steady leadership of Dr. Clark and his administration, and we are confident in their ability to guide our campuses, staff and families through this transition with care and transparency,” Smith said. “There is still important work ahead. We remain committed to working alongside our community, supporting our students and staff and moving Leander ISD forward together.”