LEANDER, Texas — Parents and students in Leander ISD are frustrated after the district announced significant budget cuts, including the elimination of 200 staff positions, and the International Baccalaureate (IB) program.
The district, which has offered the IB program since 1999, said the decision was made to help address a $34.4 million budget deficit for the 2025-26 school year.
Superintendent Bruce Gearing said the IB program is a great opportunity for students taking it, but from an efficiency standpoint, the program doesn’t make sense for them.
“It’s an expensive program to run in terms of personnel because not as many kids choose to go into the IB program as they do choose to go into, for instance, the Advanced Placement program,” Gearing said.
KVUE spoke to students like Serena, a sophomore at Vandegrift High School, who said the announcement has upended long-term academic plans.
“It’s definitely upsetting. I think just the fact that we knew so late in the year,” she said.
Serena and her family moved from Canada specifically for the IB program, which she hoped would prepare her for a career in genetic engineering.
According to the district’s website, the IB program is designed to provide a rigorous, well-rounded curriculum that prepares students for college. It is currently offered at four Leander ISD schools, and students may receive college credit if they earn the diploma.
Serena said the IB program gives her more options to tailor her classes and educational path to help her meet her goals before she even gets to college.
“Now, if they do get rid of the IB program, I’m only going to be able to take one year of AP biology. So, that kind of limits the courses you can take,” she said.
According to Serena, IB sophomores were given only a week to reorganize their schedule for classes they’ve worked on for the last two years. Serena’s classmate, Kevin Wang, said without the IB program, he’ll have to transfer schools.
Wang told KVUE that moving to another school will waste the progress he’s made in the last two years and that it’s unfair leaving students with the stress and pressure to figure out another path.
They’re not the only ones affected.
Parents like Ana Benhalim also moved to the area for access to the IB program and are now reconsidering staying in the district.
“If you’re trying to cut costs, taking away some of the learning opportunities from the children should not be the first thing you do,” Benhalim said.
Benhalim loves how IB gives kids more freedom to choose what they can learn about, but also teaches them how to learn and be inquisitive, and makes them more well-rounded in skills and personal development.
“It’s not just about learning how to read, learning how to do math … It’s learning about what it means to be inquisitive, what it means to explore, what it means to think about an idea,” Benhalim said. “Those are things that aren’t necessarily taught within standard curriculum.”
Benhalim along with other parents and students plan to speak at the district’s school board meeting on Thursday in hopes administrators will change their minds. The meeting will be at 6:15 p.m. inside Cedar Park Middle School’s library.
According to a statement sent to parents, Leander ISD will remove their IB programming by the end of the 2024-25 school year.
Current seniors at two IB campuses, Leander and Vandegrift high schools, current seniors will be able to graduate this year, and current juniors will have the opportunity to continue with the program for their senior year. However, current freshmen and sophomores will work with counselors to update their four-year plans to select other opportunities.
Meanwhile, at two other IB campuses, Grandview Hills and Mason elementary schools, the program will end this school year.