Parents, staff and community members took the mic one after another for the first time last week to express how they felt about the Austin Independent School District’s school consolidation plan. Some worried about the social and academic continuity of their children, others about layoffs. Many mentioned the possible impact on low-income communities and emerging bilingual […]
AISD Board of Trustees
This is the governing board of the Austin Independent School District. The board is comprised of two at-large members and seven district representatives.
Posted inAISD
Austin Independent School district buys more time for plan to address Dobie Middle School, but prepares for seismic shifts
After years of deferrals and litigation, new state mandates for public school performance are finally catching up to Austin Independent School District, leaving hundreds of its children, teachers, and administrators unsure if they will have a school to return to come August. Dobie Middle School, a Title 1 campus on East Rundberg Lane, faces an […]
Posted inElections
Voters will choose Austin ISD school board trustee to represent entire district in runoff election
Voters living within Austin ISD’s boundaries will elect a new school board member after none of the six candidates running for at-large position 8 got enough votes to win the Nov. 5 election outright. Fernando Lucas de Urioste and Lindsey Stringer, the two candidates with the most votes, face each other in the Dec. 14 runoff election. De […]
Posted inBonds & Propositions
As voters weigh higher tax rate for Austin public schools, group of former trustees raises concerns
Voters are deciding whether to approve a tax rate increase that would generate new revenue for Central Texas’ largest public school district as it grapples with a $119 million budget deficit. Austin Independent School District officials have said that shortfall is largely due to the fact that state funding for public schools is not keeping up […]
Posted inAISD
Austin ISD school board approves deficit budget as recapture payment nears $1 billion
The Austin ISD Board of Trustees has adopted a deficit budget for the next fiscal year, which starts July 1. The vote happened a little before 1 a.m. Friday. The deficit was not a surprise. Back in May, the board approved significant salary increases for district employees. The compensation package requires the district to spend up to […]
Posted inEducation
Austin ISD is looking for a new superintendent. The school board says community input is key.
The Austin Independent School District Board of Trustees is hammering out the details for its superintendent search. Trustees held a board retreat Monday with GR Recruiting, the search firm it hired last month to help find the district’s next leader. The meeting was open to the public, and the district plans to make it available online. The big […]
Posted inAISD
Austin ISD school board approves protections for construction workers ahead of bond election
The Austin Independent School District Board of Trustees has signed off on a resolution to improve labor standards for any construction projects on district property. The board approved the measure at a meeting Thursday. The trustees passed the measure ahead of the 2022 school bond election in November. If voters approve AISD’s $2.44 billion bond package, the district […]
Posted inAISD
‘I’m pretty speechless’: Austin ISD school board unanimously approves equity-focused bond
The Austin ISD Board of Trustees voted unanimously on Thursday to put a $2.44 billion bond on the November ballot. It is the largest bond package in AISD history, but district officials and school board members say what makes the bond significant is its investment in historically underserved schools and communities. “I’ve been in Austin […]
Posted inAISD
Poll suggests support for unions and sustainability in AISD
The Austin Independent School District Board of Trustees will vote today on the bond proposals they’d like to advance onto November’s ballot. While both of the bond proposal options the administration recently debuted include a number of improvements to local schools, a recent poll of AISD voters concluded that there is broad support for making […]
Posted inAISD
AISD Board of Trustees reckons with mounting constraints in preliminary budget outline
The Austin ISD Board of Trustees was up late last Thursday bracing for a challenging budget cycle in coming months. Chief Financial Officer Eduardo Ramos closed the marathon information session with a presentation outlining preliminary revenues and expenditures for the 2022-23 school year. With little room left to dip into reserves, staff said they were […]
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 inAISD
Austin ISD votes to switch mental health provider
The Austin ISD Board of Trustees has voted unanimously to switch the school district’s campus mental health provider to Gramercy Specialty Clinic. The current partner, Vida Clinic, has begun to transition out. In order to ensure that services continue without disruption, Gramercy may hire some Vida staff. President Geronimo Rodriguez and the board of trustees voted on the […]