Austin American-Statesman

For decades, these campuses anchored neighborhoods, shaped families and kept traditions alive as new students grew and learned. This fall, the Austin Independent School District will close them as it tries to cut a $65 million deficit after 15 years of declining enrollment. For more than a decade, Claudia Lopez joined other Barrington Elementary School mothers to cook a Thanksgiving meal. Students, parents and family members arrived at the school’s Thanksgiving celebration by the hundreds, filling cafeteria tables and extra seats, with many left to stand. For the past decade, parents and loved ones have filled the wooden seats of Ridgetop Elementary’s auditorium for a local iteration of an American tradition: the annual spring play. “If you don’t understand the storyline you might be lost,” Principal Kara Schultz said, laughing. But, at Ridgetop, “people are just used to it.” “They’re losing the character of the neighborhood,” said David Gallardo, who attended Becker Elementary Sch

Twelve days after viral videos prompted a wave of concern about the structural integrity of a North Austin flyover, the Texas Department of Transportation will shut down parts of the interchange overnight to fix what it says are bridge joints that have “expanded beyond the intended design.” #atx