The Austin Independent School District’s preliminary budget for the 2018-19 school year was released on April 23. On April 30, the members of the AISD Board of Trustees weighed in with their thoughts on how to continue to fund administrators and teachers while grappling with the staggering $30 million deficit that the school district is […]
AISD
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AISD board debates how to prevent a financially insolvent school district
When Austinites passed the $1 billion Austin Independent School District bond that was intended for major improvements in school facilities as well as transportation and district-wide improvements to technology for teachers and students, they knew they were voting to provide the school district with a much-needed financial boost. However, even with a significant amount of […]
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Two community groups compete for job to help turn Mendez Middle School around
Mendez Middle School will be run by a group outside the Austin Independent School District next year. At a meeting last night, two groups explained to parents, teachers and community members how they would improve academics at the school. Mendez has failed state accountability tests the last four years, and now the district is looking […]
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School board approves Confederate school renaming process
The Austin Independent School District Board of Trustees voted 7-2 last night to approve an action initiated by district staff last fall to rename five school facilities named after Confederate military personnel. Deliberation on whether to change the names for the John T. Allan facility, Zachary Taylor Fulmore Middle School, Sidney Lanier High School, John […]
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Middle school turnaround plan impresses board
Having to reinvest in a failing school is typically a somber affair, but the Austin Independent School District’s board of trustees was pleasantly surprised by the thought and energy that had been put into the Burnet Middle School Turnaround Plan shared at the Feb. 12 work session. The Texas Education Agency accountability ratings released at […]
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School board still split on school renamings
At its Feb. 12 work session, the Austin Independent School District Board of Trustees formally discussed the possibility of renaming several Confederate-affiliated facilities. It was the first time it has done so since tensions between some trustees had culminated in an attempt at African-American Trustee Edmund Gordon’s censure. Having postponed the item once before, the board […]
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Austin ISD delays decision to rename schools named for Confederate figures
The Austin Independent School District’s board of trustees is slowing down its timeline for a vote on whether to change the names of five schools named after Confederate figures. When the school board started this discussion in November, it proposed changing the names of the following buildings: Eastside Memorial High School at the Johnston Campus […]
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School district fiscal forecast bleak
Although it did not come as a shock, the precarious position of the Austin Independent School District’s financial future dampened the mood at the end of the board of trustees’ Jan. 22 meeting. The ever-increasing amount of recapture the district pays back to the state in compliance with Chapter 41 is expected to exceed the […]
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AISD submits top picks for Transformation Zone partner
After meeting with representatives from eight Northeast Austin campus advisory councils last week, the Austin Independent School District administration has selected its top picks for the role of design partner in a Transformation Zone grant. Empower Schools Inc. from Boston earned the district’s first choice, followed by Mass Insight Education and the University of Virginia’s […]
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AISD pumps brakes on Confederacy renamings
The initiative to change the names of Austin school facilities bearing the titles of Confederate military personnel lost steam at the Austin Independent School District Board of Trustees’ Jan. 8 work session. The item was scheduled to come to a vote at the board’s Feb. 26 meeting, but the consensus Monday was to drop that […]
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School communities to have more say in new facility designs
Following an intensive community engagement process in the drafting of the 2017 bond package, Austin Independent School District staff informed the board of trustees at its Dec. 11 work session that the designs of the new facilities will continue in that spirit by prioritizing the inclusion of school communities in the implementation of the Facility […]
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No Austin schools are being consolidated … yet
No Austin schools will permanently consolidate, but it could happen if under-enrolled schools in East Austin do not boost enrollment over the next few years. In documents published last week, timelines for school construction projects showed six schools in East Austin that would be “unified.” Unification is not the same as consolidation, but could lead […]