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Spring Branch ISD Weighs Closing Northbrook Middle School to Address $24 Million Shortfall

The plan would relocate about 500 students to higher-rated schools.

Overview

  • Trustees are set to consider the Northbrook Middle closure at a public workshop with a vote expected the same evening.
  • District leaders cite a $24 million gap driven by inflation, flat state per-student funding, and the state’s recapture program that sends local tax dollars back to Austin.
  • Northbrook operates at about half capacity, enrolls roughly 500 students, received an F rating from the state, and lost about 300 students compared with the prior year.
  • The proposal would assign students to Landrum, Spring Oaks, or Spring Woods, and the district says staff would keep their jobs with transfers plus buses and campus tours for families.
  • Parents and activists plan a rally and say closures hit the northside’s largely Hispanic neighborhoods hardest, pointing to the end of the YES Prep partnership as a driver of enrollment loss; two campuses were previously closed in 2023 during an earlier deficit.