Principal Katie Peña stands in the entrance to the gym at Highland Park Elementary School in Northwest Austin. It’s a bright and colorful room, with a mural covering one wall. Students sit on the floor socializing. Because it’s a small space, the noise carries. “It’s from 1970,” Peña says. “The size of the gym is […]
Education
Posted inAISD
Public education advocates sound alarm on ‘broken’ school financing system
Fighting the compounding pressures of the Covid pandemic and decreasing enrollment numbers, public education advocates have been working hard to address the impact of Texas’ financing system on the chronically underfunded Austin Independent School District. Texas School Coalition Executive Director Christy Rome met with a joint subcommittee of City Council, Travis County and the AISD […]
Posted inEducation
Texas schools won’t lose funding for attendance drops during the pandemic
Gov. Greg Abbott and the Texas Education Agency announced Tuesday that public school districts may not lose funding because of low attendance rates caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. In Texas, schools are funded based on the number of students enrolled and the daily attendance on campus. Currently, schools receive a base allotment of $6,160 per […]
Posted inAISD
Austin ISD paid hundreds of millions more than other districts in Texas’ ‘recapture’ program
Lee esta historia en español. The Austin Independent School District is sending more taxpayer dollars than any other school system to the state’s so-called recapture program, a new study finds. The decades-old system, known commonly as Robin Hood, is meant to balance resources among less property-wealthy school districts, with the goal of leveling out the per-student spending […]
Posted inAISD
Austin ISD adds two Fridays off this semester to provide ‘stress relief’ to staff amid omicron wave
Lee esta historia en español. The Austin Independent School District is adding two three-day weekends to the spring semester to give teachers a break as the omicron Covid-19 wave has stretched campuses thin. Students will now have two extra Fridays off: Feb. 11 and March 4. Teachers and campus-based staff will still be paid. The […]
Posted inAISD
Austin ISD will make cuts at Central Office instead of reducing class periods at middle and high schools
The Austin Independent School District said it will not reduce the number of class periods at the middle and high school levels next year – a proposal floated as a way to save money. “I wanted to lower everyone’s anxiety and let everyone know before the winter break that we would be maintaining an eight-period, A/B […]
Posted inAISD
Low enrollment might force Austin ISD to make budget cuts
After seeing a continued dip in enrollment, Austin ISD is asking for feedback on its budget for next school year, which will likely include cuts. School districts get money from the state based on how many students are enrolled; when fewer students enroll in a district, the district gets less money. AISD lost around $60 […]
Posted inAISD
Austin ISD didn’t increase enrollment this year, meaning staff won’t get annual raises
The Austin Independent School District didn’t meet its enrollment goals for this school year, according to data collected for the state in October. The school district lost thousands of students last school year during the Covid-19 pandemic and was hoping to see 77,331 students enrolled in AISD schools this year. Instead, there are 74,727 students. […]
Posted inAISD
Superintendent’s evaluation sparks heated testimony on district’s working conditions
The AISD Board of Trustees faced a grueling round of public testimony at their meeting this past Thursday, with more than a dozen teachers calling in to express intolerable levels of stress. Citing administrative micromanagement, understaffing, excessive hours and poor compensation, speakers illustrated a district reaching a fever pitch of low morale. With Superintendent Stephanie […]
Posted inEducation
Afterschool programs struggle with staffing, funding challenges
Post-pandemic life is not looking good for afterschool programs in Austin. Attendance numbers are down, and several afterschool programs are experiencing a persistent staffing shortage, with providers having to let go and even repurpose staff. According to a survey from the Afterschool Alliance, providers across the country have concerns about staffing, funding and being able […]
Posted inAISD
Mask mandate was the right decision to keep students safe, Austin ISD superintendent says
State leaders made it hard to keep students safe this school year, Austin ISD Superintendent Stephanie Elizalde said Tuesday during her state of the district address. Elizalde said she wasn’t expecting Gov. Greg Abbott or Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath to mandate masks, but she was “simply having faith” that they would recognize local control. […]
Posted inAISD
AISD requires masks for all, despite Abbott’s order
Facing spiking Covid cases and a fast-approaching fall semester, the Austin Independent School District has made the decision to require face masks in defiance of an executive order issued by Gov. Greg Abbott. “I am responsible for the safety, the heath and welfare, of each and every one of our students and our staff,” Superintendent […]