Austin leaders gathered at Pease Elementary School on Wednesday to mark the campus's 150th anniversary and discuss its planned future as a childcare center. The downtown school closed in 2020. The United Way for Greater Austin plans to reopen the site in 2028 as an early childhood education center, which leaders said is part of a wider effort to expand affordable childcare for Travis County parents.
Austin ISD Superintendent Matias Segura said the plan reflects an understanding of what families need today and what the community will need in the future. United Way will break ground on the $18.8 million renovation next year, according to Anne Koncki, the nonprofit's marketing and communications director. The group also plans to spend $2.3 million on fundraising, staffing and opening the campus. The center will serve 120 students from infancy to age 6, prioritizing families who qualify for income-based scholarships and district employees, Koncki said.
The 2.2-acre campus will also include a family resource center to connect parents with housing assistance, health care and food support. United Way for Greater Austin CEO Ingrid Taylor said helping children requires more than classroom instruction. Under a 50-year lease approved by the school board in 2025, Austin ISD will keep ownership of the land while United Way operates and manages the facility, said James Valadez, the district's director of real estate.
Austin ISD is contributing $3 million to the renovation from a Congressional appropriation organized by U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin. The Moody Foundation donated $1.8 million. Opened in 1876, Pease was the longest continuously operating school in Texas when it closed.