AISD announcing school closures, Travis County exploring communications

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Quote of the Day

“There’s a troubling divide where some residents receive no information at all, while others are overwhelmed by alerts and multiple sources during emergencies.”

— FUSE’s Maria Yuen from Travis County emergency communications pilot yields promising results

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Austin ISD to release school closures list on Friday

From Katy McAfee, KUT News:

A long-awaited list of which Austin Independent School District campuses will close for the 2026-2027 school year will be released to parents at 5:30 p.m. on Friday.

In an Instagram video, Austin ISD Superintendent Matias Segura said the late-in-the-week announcement is “very very intentional.”

Travis County emergency communications pilot yields promising results

From Lina Fisher:

FUSE’s main finding echoes what flood survivors have been saying. In the absence of a trustworthy authority, even when warnings reach people, they may be ignored. Indeed, a Texas Tribune article from this week details how rural and unincorporated communities, including residents near Big Sandy Creek in Travis County, depended on their own communities in the absence of any clear official authority on the ground.

“The issue isn’t just message delivery, it’s messenger credibility,” said FUSE’s Maria Yuen. “People consistently place a higher trust in information from people they know personally, and trust does directly influence whether people take action.”

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We are a founding editorial partner of the Austin Signal

As part of an expanded partnership with KUT News, we are excited to share the launch of the Austin Signal, a daily weekday news magazine that blends trusted local reporting with Austin’s vibrant culture to keep Central Texans connected and informed.

“Our partnership with KUT News is part of a broader commitment to strengthening local journalism through collaboration,” said our new editor-in-chief Melissa Barragán Taboada. “By working together with trusted local news organizations and community groups, we’re able to pool resources, broaden our reach, and deliver more comprehensive coverage – giving Central Texans deeper insight into the issues that matter most.”

Following the announcement of the Austin Monitor joining forces with the Texas Tribune this past May, we’ve committed to keep our reporting going and doubled-down on listening to the needs of our community. One request that came up time and time again was the desire for more audio-based news that you could listen to on the go and on your own time. The Austin Signal is a big step forward on this front, and we can’t wait for you to tune in, download and listen starting next week.

Our founding editorial partnership of the Austin Signal underscores another key element of our new vision: thinking innovatively about how we can best serve you and your neighbors. Austin is changing fast, and we want to become a civic resource that closes information gaps, builds trust through collaboration and provides coverage that is relevant and timely. This means better leveraging the strengths of our fellow news providers and local organizations to deliver impactful initiatives, reporting and partnerships that get you more of the local news and information you need. We promise you will see more things like this in the future.

Speaking of the future – we will be sharing the name, vision, and timeline of our new newsroom very soon! The new newsroom will build on the Austin Monitor’s deep roots and create a more comprehensive news source that will answer residents’ questions about local issues, use technology to connect people to news and strengthen partnerships to report on major topics and decisions that affect our community. As you can see, we’re already making progress, and once the new newsroom is fully operational, the Monitor’s archives and work will be integrated into the new newsroom and everything will be housed on the new website.

We can’t wait to share more and are grateful you’re on this journey with us.

— Joel Gross & Liz Pagano

Memo says tree inventory will have to wait for funding

Austinites like to think of their city as being one of the top tree cities in the country. City Council said as much in their April 2024 resolution directing the city manager to “explore options for a comprehensive tree inventory, establish a tree planting and maintenance plan, and provide recommendations” for last year’s budget. This was just a few weeks after Council hired T.C. Broadnax as city manager.

According to a memo from Keith Mars, interim director of the Development Services Department, staff developed a request for information for a vendor to create a public tree inventory and tree planting and maintenance plan. The preliminary estimate for completing the solicitation was $10 million.

Six vendors replied, estimating the cost in a range between $2 million and $10 million, depending on the scope of work. The resolution from 2024 anticipated that the city would employ one of the vendors and find funds to pay for that in the 2025 budget. However, according to the memo, “staff have been unable to identify a funding source, but acknowledge this is a citywide need, and will continue to explore options moving forward.”

Council Member Ryan Alter, lead author on the resolution, told the Austin Monitor via email, “At a time of budget insecurity and financial constraints, it’s disappointing but not surprising that the City lacks the resources for a tree study. Until the vote on the TRE (tax rate election), we don’t have a clear enough picture of the City’s overall budget to evaluate opportunities for funding.”

Staff has done some of the other work outlined in the resolution, including a review of appropriate species for Austin and comparing that list to what had previously been designated as appropriate. Staff “did not identify any non-listed species that warrant inclusion based on the new designation,” the memo says. Austin’s Urban Forestry program is within the Parks and Recreation Department.

— Jo Clifton

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