A potential disagreement between the city and Austin Independent School District board of trustees and staff was put on hold at the AISD board’s regular Monday meeting last week, when a motion to send a letter of opposition to City Council and the city’s Planning Commission failed in a rare vote of 0-4-3. The letter […]
Education
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AISD postpones potential bond
On Monday, the Austin Independent School District board of trustees decided to pump the brakes on future bonding efforts for district schools for another year. At the board’s workshop meeting, trustees met with the Facilities and Bond Planning Advisory Committee to discuss potential bond efforts that would be used for the district’s current and future […]
Posted inAISD
AISD drafts district scorecard
The Austin Independent School District board of trustees spent Monday night hammering out what success will look like for the district at the conclusion of the 2016-2017 school year. Preliminary talks focused on the potential use of new approaches to “desegregating” AISD schools, improving the quality of teaching at failing schools and utilizing hard data […]
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AISD has high hopes for restructured Special Ed Department
The Austin Independent School District board of trustees received an update at last week’s meeting on the recent restructuring of the Special Education Department. Board members heard from the new executive director of special education, Jean Bahney, about initiatives that should improve the district’s provision of special education services. According to the latest detailed Texas […]
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AISD HUB policy gets final vetting
The Austin Independent School District board of trustees took a final look this week at the district’s proposed new historically underutilized business program, which is tentatively set to be implemented in mid-November. Contrary to past meetings, the Monday workshop meeting showed trustees to be largely in agreement about the program’s details. While AISD has long […]
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Historic Landmark Commission defies AISD, moves forward with historic zoning for Lee Elementary
Once again, the Historic Landmark Commission was the site of an ideological showdown over the fate of Russell Lee Elementary. And, on Monday night, it was also a face-off between the commission and the Austin Independent School District. Just prior to the commission’s meeting, AISD sent a letter officially opposing historic zoning for the school, […]
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AISD approves $1.3 billion budget
Trustees with the Austin Independent School District approved a $1.3 billion operating budget for the upcoming 2016-2017 school year in an 8-0-1 vote Monday night, with District 1 Trustee Edmund Gordon abstaining. It is the largest budget AISD has ever considered, yet board members continued to call out the state’s public education system for its […]
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Austin Monitor Radio: You don’t know Lanier High School
As part of the Austin Monitor in the Classroom program, a partnership with Google Fiber, we turn this week’s show over to five students from Lanier High School. Then Monitor publisher Mike Kanin is joined by Lanier students Joseph Correa, David Villalobos, and Diego Alvarez to discuss the program they produced. Austin Monitor Radio is […]
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AISD takes one look at equity gaps
Austin Independent School District staff presented trustees with a single-year data snapshot last Monday that showed obvious equity gaps within the district’s student population. However, the snapshot is only one piece of the district’s complete equity report, which is tentatively due in October. It’s been more than a year since the Texas Civil Rights Project sent […]
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AISD Trustees favor new Lee for Lee Elementary
After a near-yearlong process, Austin Independent School District trustees heard three final choices for the renaming of Robert E. Lee Elementary school at their Monday workshop meeting. Although not set to formally vote until May 23, board members reached a verbal consensus in a relatively short time, setting their sights on replacing “Robert E. Lee” […]
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Austin Monitor Radio: AISD tax swap
Austin Independent School District trustees Paul Saldana and Gina Hinajosa join Austin Monitor publisher Mike Kanin to talk about a proposed tax swap between the district and the City of Austin. Sponsored by Austin Water. Post is embedded below. [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/263085531″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”450″ iframe=”true” /]
Posted inAISD
AISD’s financial woes: Why a tax swap?
Although Austin Independent School District trustees have been lamenting the district’s troubled financial state for more than a year, it may not be readily apparent what the problem is, particularly given recent news that the district is bringing in $1.3 billion in revenue. But in March, Mayor Steve Adler spoke of a possible “tax swap” […]