It’s been more than a year since the Texas Civil Rights Project sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Education to call attention to disparities in the ways the Austin Independent School District educates its students. And despite AISD trustee grumblings about the district’s sluggish progress, board members on Monday directed staff to begin […]
AISD
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AISD teacher appraisals impetus for possible new salary structure
In a unanimous vote Monday, the Austin Independent School District board of trustees gave the green light to its new teacher appraisal system, which ties teacher appraisals to student performance on standardized tests. Kimiko Krekel, AISD’s executive director of educator quality, said the new appraisal system was also built with a second step in mind: revamping […]
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Shrinking AISD enrollment could be new normal
Trustees for the Austin Independent School District are asking district staff to let them know what variables they have control over after hearing grim student enrollment projections. At Monday’s workshop meeting, board members heard the results of an annual demographics report conducted by Davis Demographics & Planning Inc. The yearly report estimated that AISD’s enrollment will drop […]
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AISD hires marketing firm to tackle enrollment woes
Land purchases and resignation announcements aside, the Austin Independent School District board of trustees took additional steps to address the district’s enrollment issues Monday. In a 7-0 vote with trustees Kendall Pace and Edmund Gordon abstaining, the board decided to spend $350,000 on marketing consultant Sanders\Wingo Advertising Inc, who will hopefully help stem an expected 4,000-student […]
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Study: AISD passive participant in discrimination
The Austin Independent School District board of trustees heard troubling news Monday: AISD’s contracting process does nothing to combat entrenched discriminatory practices among businesses and governmental entities in the Austin area, according to a recent disparity study. The study, which began in May 2013, examined AISD, Travis County and the city of Austin’s business contracting and […]
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AISD changes school naming policy, barely
On Monday, the Austin Independent School District board of trustees unanimously tweaked its facilities naming policy. Although the change clarified the district’s ability to abolish controversial school names, it provided little guidance on if and how such a process might unfold. Trustees agreed to strike out a clause in current policy that restricts the board […]
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AISD delays, but keeps “new” LASA on table
The Austin Independent School District board of trustees heard a barrage of new academic program proposals for South Austin on Monday. But at the end of the meeting, the long-discussed idea of creating South Austin’s version of the district’s prestigious Liberal Arts and Science Academy remained on the table. Although board members had previously anticipated […]
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AISD punts Confederate name changes to committee
With tension hanging thick in the air, Austin Independent School District trustees’ tempers rose as they discussed ways to tackle the politically and racially charged topic of potentially changing Confederate-related names associated with five AISD schools: Robert E. Lee Elementary School, Eastside Memorial High School at the Johnston Campus, Sidney Lanier High School, John H. […]
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AISD tightens military access to students
Military recruiters seeking to sign up future servicemen and -women will have less access to Austin Independent School District students than they did one year ago. On Monday, board members unanimously adopted new language in the district’s visitors policy that clarifies exactly where military recruiters can and cannot go. In accordance with federal laws, schools […]
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AISD reviews staffing; changes could cost millions
With enrollment dropping, a tight budget and no sign of relief from the Supreme Court of Texas, the Austin Independent School District board of trustees trudged forward with its budget discussion Monday, assuming another year of limited resources and growing challenges. Despite approving this year’s budget only two months ago, board members have already begun […]
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AISD considers new East Austin school
The Austin Independent School District has a chance to build a school on free land, but unfortunately that land is situated in a somewhat contentious area where current schools are struggling to fill seats and others have historically been insufficient in meeting student needs. Monday, board members continued to debate whether to build a new […]
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AISD talks prison pipeline; reviews current system
At Monday’s dialogue meeting, AISD trustees took their first look at the state of the district’s “school-to-prison pipeline” system, examining the district’s policies and practices that push students out of the classrooms and into the juvenile and criminal justice systems. Speaking on behalf of municipal courts at the meeting, Judge Sherry Statman said that even […]