Four Austin ISD school closures in one year has left parents worried about the district’s renewed interest in seeking real estate consulting services for its properties. Fearing more closures, concerned parents called in to ask for postponement of the vote on agenda item 10.1, which if approved by the board of trustees, would authorize AISD […]
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 inElections
Four seats on the Austin ISD school board are up for election. Here’s who’s running.
Four seats on the nine-member board of the Austin Independent School District are up for election in November. The school board is a group of volunteers who oversee policies and finances in the district. They approve the yearly budget, hire and fire the superintendent and approve various policies throughout the district. In 2019, the school […]
Posted inAISD
Austin ISD’s school year delayed until Sept. 8, first eight weeks could be online-only
The Austin Independent School District’s Board of Trustees voted to delay the start of classes for the school year until Sept. 8. Virtual classes were supposed to begin Aug. 18, but the board wanted to give teachers more time to prepare for online learning. School board members also took into account recommendations from local health […]
Posted inAISD
AISD officials discuss Covid-19 response
Austin Independent School District officials spoke at an Austin Justice Coalition panel Wednesday night, discussing how the district and its students are coping during the Covid-19 pandemic and the stay-at-home order that has shuttered schools. Speakers included AISD Board of Trustees President Geronimo Rodriguez, AISD Chief Equity Officer Stephanie Hawley, Education Austin President Ken Zarifis, […]
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Chief equity officer calls Austin ISD’s school closure process inequitable and ‘short-sighted’
School closures and consolidations are not “equity strategies,” the Austin Independent School District’s chief equity officer says in a report released Monday. “They are short-term and often short-sighted approaches to cost savings that are seldom reinvested in programming in the very school communities that are displaced and dispossessed,” Stephanie Hawley continues. The report was dated […]
Posted inAISD
Austin ISD wants to close 12 schools, expand academic programs throughout the district
The Austin Independent School District has released a plan to close 12 schools and move those students to other campuses. The district is also proposing boundary changes and wants to add academic programs at more than 30 schools. “Change is hard,” Superintendent Paul Cruz said in a letter Thursday to the AISD community, “but it can also […]
Posted inAISD
Austin ISD board approves process to close some schools by August 2020
The Austin Independent School District’s board of trustees voted unanimously Monday to move forward with a plan for closing and consolidating schools. The decision to close schools comes as the district continues to face declining enrollment. Demographic reports show enrollment will continue to drop, so the district says it is financially irresponsible to keep all […]
Posted inAISD
Austin school board, communities clash over names for Confederate-named schools
The Austin Independent School District’s Board of Trustees will vote next Monday on what to rename four schools currently named after members of the Confederacy. The board will decide between honoring the schools’ wishes, which in some cases means no name change, or choosing entirely new names. The board voted in February to change the names of […]
Posted inAISD
Cruz gets another year at helm of AISD
The Austin Independent School District Board of Trustees only took a few minutes Monday night to approve a one-year extension of Superintendent Paul Cruz’s contract. The extension means that Cruz will continue getting paid $310,000 a year through 2021. After getting a 1.5 percent pay hike last year, Cruz did not request a salary increase […]
Posted inAISD
Here are the candidates for Austin ISD board of trustees
Five seats on the Austin Independent School District’s board of trustees will be on the ballot Nov. 6. The role of the school board is to oversee the AISD superintendent and district administration. The board votes on district policy and budgets, and sets tax rates. Members serve four-year terms. You can see which district you […]
Posted inAISD
Some argue proposed new names for Austin schools don’t leave Confederacy behind
Despite momentum earlier this year to rid Austin Independent School District properties of links to the Confederacy, the district’s board of trustees is facing pushback over proposed new names. At a meeting last night to publicly discuss recommendations for Sidney Lanier and John H. Reagan high schools, the Allan Center and Zachary Taylor Fulmore Middle […]
Posted inAISD
Here are the new names proposed for Austin ISD buildings tied to Confederate figures
The Austin Independent School District’s board of trustees is scheduled to vote Oct. 22 on the proposed new names for four AISD buildings named for Confederate figures. After a long dispute about whether the buildings commemorated the state’s struggle with racism and inequity, the board voted 7-2 in February to change the names. The buildings […]