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 […]
Education
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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 […]
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What is Alamo Drafthouse going to do with AISD property in Hyde Park?
The Austin Independent School District’s board of trustees voted this week to sell property in the Hyde Park neighborhood to the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema for $10.6 million. The Baker Center is in a former school building at 3908 Avenue B, which the district uses for administrative purposes. But what will it be going forward? The […]
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School district announces first-year bond project timelines
The Austin Independent School District is not wasting any time putting the 2017 bond money to use, according to a presentation by Superintendent Paul Cruz at the school board’s Nov. 27 meeting. Cruz emphasized that strict adherence to project timelines would be necessary to get the most bang for bond buck, but those schedules could […]
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Trustees alarmed at exclusion of minority-owned businesses from middle school renovation
In the bidding for 2013 bond improvements to the Dobie Middle School campus, two minority-owned firms were passed over in favor of a company that included a few minority-owned subconsultants as part of its proposal. The Austin Independent School District approved the selection at its Nov. 27 board meeting, but only after trustees took a […]
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School board wrestles with large STAAR achievement gaps
Like one wrong note disturbing the harmony of a symphony, one faulty academic indicator can throw off a school district’s sense of which of its schools need the most attention. Some trustees on the Austin Independent School District board voiced skepticism at a Nov. 13 work session that using the evaluation of gaps in STAAR […]
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AISD considers charter school option for Mendez Middle School
Facing severe under-enrollment and a below-average educational suitability assessment, Mendez Middle School may be turned over to a community partner in hopes of reversing the campus’ downward trajectory. Austin Independent School District staff shared the project initiative with the board of trustees at its Nov. 13 work session, explaining the opportunity presented by Senate Bill […]
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AISD seeks environmental flexibility in redevelopment of Barton Springs schools
The Austin Independent School District is one step closer to reaching an agreement with the city that would allow it to redevelop some of its overcrowded campuses in order to accommodate growth in student populations. At its meeting last Wednesday, the Environmental Commission voted unanimously to approve staff’s recommendation to permit the district to reorganize […]
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Mentors help drive attendance at Austin schools
Students in Central Texas miss more days of school than kids in any other part of the state. Around 10 percent of local students are chronically absent, meaning they miss more than 18 school days a year. A quarter of Austin 12th-graders miss that much school. Chronic absenteeism was the subject of a conference Monday […]
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AISD fails to acquire additional voting sites
Travis County has denied a request from the Austin Independent School District Board of Trustees for additional mobile early voting sites during this year’s bond election. In a Sept. 27 memo to County Judge Sarah Eckhardt, County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir explained that the deadline for additional site requests had passed. On Sept. 8, the county […]