Claire McInerny, KUT

The Austin Independent School District will hire an interim superintendent for the next school year after Stephanie Elizalde leaves June 30. Elizalde has been named the lone finalist for the superintendent job in Dallas ISD. “After the interim superintendent is hired, the board and community will prepare for the deep work of identifying the next superintendent,” […]

Principal Katie Peña stands in the entrance to the gym at Highland Park Elementary School in Northwest Austin. It’s a bright and colorful room, with a mural covering one wall. Students sit on the floor socializing. Because it’s a small space, the noise carries. “It’s from 1970,” Peña says. “The size of the gym is […]

The Austin Independent School District said it will not reduce the number of class periods at the middle and high school levels next year – a proposal floated as a way to save money. “I wanted to lower everyone’s anxiety and let everyone know before the winter break that we would be maintaining an eight-period, A/B […]

After seeing a continued dip in enrollment, Austin ISD is asking for feedback on its budget for next school year, which will likely include cuts. School districts get money from the state based on how many students are enrolled; when fewer students enroll in a district, the district gets less money. AISD lost around $60 […]

The Austin Independent School District didn’t meet its enrollment goals for this school year, according to data collected for the state in October. The school district lost thousands of students last school year during the Covid-19 pandemic and was hoping to see 77,331 students enrolled in AISD schools this year. Instead, there are 74,727 students. […]

State leaders made it hard to keep students safe this school year, Austin ISD Superintendent Stephanie Elizalde said Tuesday during her state of the district address. Elizalde said she wasn’t expecting Gov. Greg Abbott or Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath to mandate masks, but she was “simply having faith” that they would recognize local control. […]

Fifty Austin ISD staff members gather outside Mendez Middle School in Southeast Austin on Saturday, fueling up for the day with breakfast tacos and coffee. The group is made up of central office staff, teachers and volunteers. The plan is to walk around Dove Springs and talk to residents with school-aged children about enrolling in […]

An advocacy group for people with disabilities filed a lawsuit Monday claiming the Austin Independent School District is “failing thousands of students” by not evaluating them for special education within a specific amount of time. KUT reported earlier this month that 800 students were waiting to get evaluated for special education. These evaluations are the first […]

More than 800 students in the Austin Independent School District are being denied their legal right to a special education evaluation. An evaluation is the first step in the process to get special education services. Without one, there is no official help in class. So if a child who struggles to read out loud never […]