The Austin Independent School District Board of Trustees is hammering out the details for its superintendent search. Trustees held a board retreat Monday with GR Recruiting, the search firm it hired last month to help find the district’s next leader. The meeting was open to the public, and the district plans to make it available online. The big […]
Education
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Austin leaders brace for state lawmakers to take up bills restricting library content and resources
After Texas lawmakers placed limitations on how Texas teachers approach lessons on history and racism and passed anti-trans legislation in recent sessions, Austin leaders are preparing for further action on these fronts when the Legislature convenes for its 88th session in January. During a Monday meeting at the Windsor Park Branch in East Austin, the […]
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Austin ISD school board approves protections for construction workers ahead of bond election
The Austin Independent School District Board of Trustees has signed off on a resolution to improve labor standards for any construction projects on district property. The board approved the measure at a meeting Thursday. The trustees passed the measure ahead of the 2022 school bond election in November. If voters approve AISD’s $2.44 billion bond package, the district […]
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Austin ISD is trying to fill more than 150 teacher vacancies days into the new school year
Lee esta historia en español The Austin Independent School District is continuing to recruit and hire teachers days into the new school year that began Monday. Austin ISD started the summer with more than 1,000 teacher vacancies, the highest number the district has ever had. AISD officials told the board of trustees on Thursday they have filled […]
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Austin ISD earns a ‘B’ rating from Texas Education Agency
Austin Independent School District earned an overall grade of “B” from the Texas Education Agency’s school accountability system, which is based in part on standardized testing scores. TEA issued the grades on Monday for the first time since before the Covid-19 pandemic. The last time AISD was rated in 2019, the district also received a B. […]
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‘I’m pretty speechless’: Austin ISD school board unanimously approves equity-focused bond
The Austin ISD Board of Trustees voted unanimously on Thursday to put a $2.44 billion bond on the November ballot. It is the largest bond package in AISD history, but district officials and school board members say what makes the bond significant is its investment in historically underserved schools and communities. “I’ve been in Austin […]
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Crossing guard shortage persists as school start date nears
“Let’s go crossing now, everybody’s learning how, looking left and right with me,” crossing guard Jimmy McCord sang to the tune of the Beach Boys hit “Surfin’ Safari.” “I’m a bit of an entertainer,” he noted. This is just one of the songs Boone Elementary students may hear while safely crossing the street to school […]
Posted inAISD
Poll suggests support for unions and sustainability in AISD
The Austin Independent School District Board of Trustees will vote today on the bond proposals they’d like to advance onto November’s ballot. While both of the bond proposal options the administration recently debuted include a number of improvements to local schools, a recent poll of AISD voters concluded that there is broad support for making […]
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Austin ISD school board selects Anthony Mays for interim superintendent
Lee esta historia in español. The Austin ISD Board of Trustees has chosen Anthony Mays, the district’s chief of schools since October 2020, to be interim superintendent. He makes history as the first Black man to serve as AISD superintendent. With more than two decades of experience working in education throughout Texas, Mays started his […]
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A new Austin ISD superintendent won’t be hired until next summer
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,” […]
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AISD Board of Trustees reckons with mounting constraints in preliminary budget outline
The Austin ISD Board of Trustees was up late last Thursday bracing for a challenging budget cycle in coming months. Chief Financial Officer Eduardo Ramos closed the marathon information session with a presentation outlining preliminary revenues and expenditures for the 2022-23 school year. With little room left to dip into reserves, staff said they were […]
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Public Health Committee hears update on $11 million child care investment
Staff members leading city and county efforts to expand child care services gave City Council’s Public Health Committee an update last Wednesday on the impacts of last year’s budget cycle. Last summer, Council approved the investment of $11 million in federal grant money into child care services as part of its 2021-22 budget. Child care […]