ATX-NNW: Impact 9/25/2025

Austin ISD parent Delicia Mclean said her children have thrived at Becker Elementary—a wall-to-wall dual language campus where all students are taught in both English and Spanish. A couple months into the 2025-26 school year, however, Mclean said she is concerned about the campus’s future amid AISD’s school consolidation process.

What’s happening: AISD officials have discussed relocating wall-to-wall dual language programs at Becker, Ridgetop, Reilly and Sunset Valley elementaries to campuses where a greater number of emergent bilingual students reside. This unofficial proposal comes amid the district’s plan to consolidate schools in the 2026-27 school year.

Over time, the four campuses have shifted to serving less emergent bilingual students and more non-emergent bilingual, or English proficient students.

What’s next: Director of Planning Services Raechel French said the district is “being vague” about the changes to the wall-to-wall dual language campuses as officials are working with principals to develop transition plans. 

On Oct. 9, district officials will present a draft school consolidation plan that will go to the board of trustees for approval Nov. 20.

A new information partnership between Opportunity Austin and both Workforce Solutions Capital and Rural Capital Area will provide data insights into a variety of growing industries in the Austin metro area. 

What you need to know: Called the Workforce Industry Insights partnership, the initiative will provide employers with timely workforce data, per a news release shared Sept. 17. 

About the program: Using white papers, which are formal data-driven reports, case studies and other opportunities to analyze local data, the partnership will help employers in several industries with insights on hiring trends, workforce needs and strategies, as well as showcasing the connections between community organizations, educational institutions and economic development in fostering regional growth.

Austin Community College’s RiverHacks hackathon will coincide with NASA’s third annual International Space App Challenge, where teams can participate in open data challenges and network with space leaders and experts.

The gist: The ACC Center for Government and Civic Services is collaborating with The Space Workforce Incubator for Texas to host the RiverHacks hackathon and the Austin portion of the NASA International Space Apps Challenge, Oct. 4-5 at the Rio Grande campus.

The global event encourages participants to leverage free, open data from NASA and their international space agency partners to create innovative solutions for Earth- and space-related challenges.

Open data may include:

• Satellite imagery
• Climate and weather records
• Planetary data
• Astronomical data
• Earth observation data

Sixth Street, long known as Austin’s nightlife hub, is in the middle of big changes.

What's happened? For years, the stretch was closed to cars on busy weekends, letting crowds spill into the roadway. But since late 2024, the city has been testing a safety pilot that reopened the street to vehicles while moving pedestrians to wider sidewalks. Temporary fencing gave way to sturdier concrete barriers this summer, marking the start of a more permanent initiative.

The update: Now, city leaders are asking residents to help shape Sixth Street’s future. As part of the city’s Great Streets program, officials are considering three design alternatives for the nine-block stretch west of I-35. Each option would keep traffic one-way westbound while expanding pedestrian space, adding trees and upgrading sidewalks. The main differences involve whether bike and scooter lanes are included and how curb access is managed for drop-offs, deliveries and parking.

A public survey is open, with final design work expected to begin in 2026 and construction as early as 2027.