School closures and what they saved

Key facts

• Schools closed: 1, Faubion Elementary, for 2026-27¹
• Savings in the budget: $1,085,700 a year²
• First estimate: $1,401,800 a year (May 2025)³
• Outside check of the savings: promised in May 2025; no sign of it in any board record⁴
• Savings actually achieved: not known until after June 30, 2027

In short

The district closed one school, Faubion Elementary, for 2026-27.¹ The first savings estimate was $1,401,800 a year.³ The budget counts $1,085,700.² An outside check of the savings was promised but we found no sign of it.⁴

Why it matters to your tax bill: savings from closing schools help close the operating budget gap.

Related: closure savings · school capacity · enrollment forecasts · reserves and deficit

What the savings turned out to be

The district’s budget for 2026-27 counts $1,085,700 a year in savings from closing Faubion Elementary.² Its students moved to Westside and Reed elementary schools.

That is less than first promised. The figure shrank twice:

When	Savings per year	Source
May 2025	$1,401,800	Staff slide3
Dec. 2025	$1,263,600	Staff slide5
Mar. and June 2026	$1,085,700	Budget2

From first estimate to budget, the figure fell by $316,100, or about 23%. That is our math: $1,401,800 − $1,085,700 = $316,100; $316,100 ÷ $1,401,800 ≈ 23%.³⁵

No packet we read explains why. Two changes may have played a part: fewer classroom teacher cuts, and a second school (Reed) taking students. This is our inference.

Think of a moving estimate. The first quote was $1.40 million. The bill in the budget is $1.09 million. We will not see the final receipt until the year is over.

Deep dive: How much of that is really from closing?

Part of the savings would have come anyway, without closing the school.

In Dec. 2025, the board approved a cheaper staffing plan for small schools.⁶ A staff slide that month showed:⁵

• the small-school staffing plan alone: about $2.0 million a year;
• closing Faubion as well: about $0.8 million more.

So the part of the savings that came only from closing the school was about $0.8 million a year, by the district’s own numbers. This is our reading of the slide.

Is the money really saved?

We don’t know yet.

A budget is a plan. The school year runs to June 30, 2027. The first real numbers will come in the final budget update in June 2027. The audited report comes later in 2027.

The check we could not find

In May 2025, the board was told the district would hire an outside firm to check the savings estimates. The agenda said a request for firms “will be released.”⁴

We searched every board packet and set of minutes through Oct. 15, 2026. We found no request, no firm hired and no report.

In Oct. 2025, staff showed the same estimate again, labeled “Admin-developed.”⁷ That was a review by the district itself, not by an outside firm.

Deep dive: What about the building?

The building stays open. It will become the new home of New Hope High School. The district is also looking at moving Early College High School there.⁸

That work is paid from the 2023 bond, which is borrowed money for buildings and is kept apart from the money that pays staff. The board hired an architect in Jan. 2026 (vote 6–1) and picked a way to hire the builders in Oct. 2026.⁹⁸

No cost estimate for this work has been shown in a board packet so far.

Because the building is reused, the district counted no savings on electricity or upkeep. The savings come from fewer staff. The May 2025 figure also added one more bus route, about $50,000 a year.³

Deep dive: Don't mix up the two "Faubions"

The district has a new pre-K school called the Ada Mae Faubion School for Early Childhood.¹⁰ It is a different building and was a separate decision.

Its startup staff will cost $1,042,024.¹¹ That is not a cost of closing Faubion Elementary.

”Closing a school saves $2 million”

You may have heard this. It is not what the district’s numbers show for one school.

• The highest figure for one school was $1.40 million (Faubion, May 2025).³
• Steiner Ranch was estimated at $1.30 million.⁵ It was not closed.
• The “about $2 million” figure was for the small-school staffing plan across several schools, not for one closure.⁵

Closing three schools

In May 2025, staff estimated $4,151,700 a year for closing three schools.¹² That plan was not adopted.

In Sept. 2025, staff recommended no closures. They estimated about $1.8 million a year from staffing changes instead.¹³ The board went another way and voted to close one school.

What the election changes

In the unofficial combined Nov. 3, 2026 returns, 55.25% of votes were against Prop A and 44.75% were for it. The result is unofficial until the board canvasses the final county totals on Nov. 17.¹⁴ The district says Prop A would have supplied about $6.7 million more a year for running schools after state recapture. The closure savings on this page do not replace that extra money. The election covered the operating tax rate, not the 2023 construction bonds.¹⁴

What it means for your family

• Faubion families: moved to Westside or Reed. The district rated the effect on students and staff as negative in its own budget table.²
• Everyone else: $1,085,700 is about $26 per student per year. That is our math.¹⁵

The district’s side

• Small schools cost more per student. In 2023-24, Faubion spent $8,433 per student, against a district average of $6,842.¹⁶
• Closing one school was one of many cuts.²
• The building is still used for students.
• Estimates often fall as plans get more exact.

Deep dive: How the board decided

• Sept. 30, 2025: long-range planning resolution, 7–0.¹⁷
• Dec. 17, 2025: close Faubion and merge it with Westside for 2026-27. Passed 5–2.¹
• Feb. 5, 2026: new school zones, sending part of Faubion’s zone to Reed. The board picked Scenario B, which staff had recommended. Passed 5–0, with 2 absent.¹⁸
• June 18, 2026: 2026-27 budget, with the $1,085,700 line. Passed 6–0, with 1 absent.²

Questions to ask

• Where will the final cost savings from the closure be reported?
• What work remains at the former Faubion Elementary building, and at what price?
• Will an outside firm check the savings estimate?

Changes to this page

• Nov. 5, 2026: We added the unofficial outcome of the separate operating-tax election. Savings remain a budget estimate, not an audited result.

What we still don’t know

• How much was really saved in 2026-27.
• Whether any jobs cut at Faubion were added back at Westside or Reed.
• What the building work for New Hope High School will cost.
• Whether an outside check of the savings was done.

Numbers marked “our math” are our estimates, not official figures. The notes show the inputs and the steps.

Footnotes

1. Board minutes, Dec. 17, 2025: “approve the consolidation of Faubion Elementary with Westside Elementary, and direct Administration to implement a transition plan for the 2026-27 school year.” Approved 5–2. Minutes, BoardBook 3095446. ↩ ↩² ↩³

2. Board packet, June 18, 2026, “Strategic Levers & Impact Analysis”: “Consolidate Faubion ES to Westside ES/Reed ES … (1,085,700).” The same figure is in the Mar. 26, 2026 budget workshop list. Budget adopted 6–0, one absent. Packet p.138; Mar. 26 packet p.26; Minutes, BoardBook 3080575. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

3. Board packet, May 29, 2025, “Consolidated Campus: Total General Fund Cost Impact” for Faubion to Westside: 21.5 fewer positions, plus one bus route ($50,000); net $1,401,800. Packet p.105. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

4. Board packet, May 29, 2025, agenda item “Discussion of Administration Seeking Request for Qualifications for the Review and Verification of Cost Savings Estimates”: “A notification of the solicitation for Request for Qualifications (RFQ) will be released.” Packet p.138. Our search of later packets and minutes through Oct. 15, 2026 found no RFQ, award or report. ↩ ↩² ↩³

5. Board packet, Dec. 11, 2025: Faubion $1,263,600 (18.5 fewer positions), p.217; Steiner Ranch $1,298,200, p.224; scenario slide (thresholds about $2.0M; Faubion “additional” about $0.8M), p.225. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

6. Board minutes, Dec. 11, 2025: low-enrollment campus thresholds approved 6–1. Minutes, BoardBook 3095426; packet p.252. ↩

7. Board packet, Oct. 30, 2025, “Cost Savings Opportunities”: “School closure/consolidation (3 campuses) $4,151,700.” Packet p.12. ↩

8. Board packet, Oct. 1, 2026: job order contracting for the Faubion repurposing (p.7); “exploring the potential of relocating ECHS to the former Faubion Elementary School” (p.84); design update with no cost estimate (pp.61–68). ↩ ↩²

9. Board minutes, Jan. 22, 2026: “approve Pfluger Architects for the repurposing of Faubion Elementary as part of the 2023 Bond program.” Approved 6–1. Minutes, BoardBook 3095537. ↩

10. Board minutes, Mar. 12, 2026: “I move the Early Childhood Center be called the Ada Mae Faubion School for Early Childhood.” Approved 7–0. ↩

11. Board packet, June 18, 2026: positions to open the Faubion School for Early Childhood, 9.50 positions, $1,042,024. Packet p.129. ↩

12. Board packet, May 29, 2025, “Path Cost Estimates”: Path 1 (close and merge 3 schools) $4,151,700; Path 2 (staffing changes) $1,777,200; Path 3 (mixed) $3,549,700. Packet p.131. ↩

13. Board packet, Sept. 18, 2025, “Administration’s Recommendation – Path No. 2”: “Provides estimated $1.8M in sustainable annual savings.” Packet p.65. ↩

14. Leander ISD, “Proposition A Decided; Voters Elect New Trustees”, Nov. 4, 2026: against 47,863 (55.25%), for 38,772 (44.75%). The district says the result is unofficial until the Nov. 17 canvass and that Prop A would have produced about $6.7 million more in yearly revenue after recapture. ↩ ↩²

15. Our math: $1,085,700 (see ²) ÷ 41,143 students enrolled in 2026-27 (Sept. 15, 2026 snapshot in the Oct. 15, 2026 packet) ≈ $26.39. ↩

16. Board packet, May 29, 2025, “Under-Enrolled ES Campus Expenditures”: Faubion ES, 353 students, 42% full, $8,433 per student vs. $6,842 district average (2023-24). Packet p.92. ↩

17. Board minutes, Sept. 30, 2025: Resolution Regarding Financial Sustainability and Long-Range Planning, approved 7–0. ↩

18. Board minutes, Feb. 5, 2026: elementary attendance zoning for students zoned to Faubion, approved 5–0. Minutes, BoardBook 3095588; agenda item packet p.251; “administration recommends: Scenario B,” p.266. ↩