The Office of the City Auditor’s investigative unit has issued a report concluding that a city employee who serves as an Austin Independent School District board trustee has misused city resources. According to the report, which was released Thursday, Trustee Yasmin Wagner works as a manager in the city’s Communications and Public Information Office. The […]
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
AISD fails to acquire additional voting sites
Travis County has denied a request from the Austin Independent School District Board of Trustees for additional mobile early voting sites during this year’s bond election. In a Sept. 27 memo to County Judge Sarah Eckhardt, County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir explained that the deadline for additional site requests had passed. On Sept. 8, the county […]
Posted inBonds & Propositions
AISD board and east side group dispute bond tax rate
The Austin Independent School District Board of Trustees has hedged its bet on passing the largest bond in the district’s history by asserting that it will not raise the tax rate. At its Sept. 25 meeting, however, the board was confronted by many non-believers who accused the district of intentionally misleading the public about the […]
Posted inEducation
Trustees cast doubt on success of UT partnership program
At its Aug. 28 meeting, the Austin Independent School District Board of Trustees approved an interlocal agreement with the University of Texas at Austin to renew the Literacy First program at 22 Austin schools for the coming school year, but not without a few trustees raising questions about whether the program is delivering a return […]
Posted inCity Hall
Adler says he won’t pursue tax swap this year
Mayor Steve Adler said Thursday that he does not intend to pursue the idea of a tax swap with the Austin Independent School District this year. He also confirmed that he would not be pushing City Council to set the tax rate above the current rollback rate. Adler had proposed to raise the city’s tax […]
Posted inAISD
School board calls for biggest bond in its history
Unprecedented in cost, the $1.05 billion bond package the Austin Independent School District Board of Trustees officially approved at its last meeting before summer break is its most ambitious yet. Unlike the 2013 bond election where the package was divided into four separate propositions, this November voters will only have one choice: take it or […]
Posted inAISD
School board wary of tax rate increase in bond election
Read their lips: no tax increase. With the exception of District 1 Trustee Edmund Gordon, the Austin Independent School District Board of Trustees was united in its stance against raising the tax rate with the 2017 Bond Package as it voted to adopt the proposed list of projects Monday night. Before staff made its presentation, Superintendent […]
Posted inAISD
AISD board calls for budget to be more voter-friendly
A budget can be financially sound and make economic sense, but if it doesn’t make sense to the public, it’s worthless. That’s the point that some Austin Independent School District board trustees tried to drive home to district administration and consultants Monday night. There is plenty of cause for concern. The last school district bond […]
Posted inAISD
AISD braces itself for end of legislative session
The Austin Independent School District’s budget has been strained since the city’s rapid growth began in the late 1990s, but this year’s state legislative session has district staff anticipating the worst. Chief Financial Officer Nicole Conley Johnson told the AISD Board of Trustees at its May 22 meeting that the best it could hope for […]
Posted inAISD
No special election: AISD Board votes to appoint District 6 rep
In an emotional ceremony Monday night, the Austin Independent School District Board of Trustees honored outgoing Vice President Paul Saldaña at his last official meeting as a board trustee. His colleagues made personal statements expressing their gratitude for Saldaña’s service and admiration for him as an individual, and AISD students performed musical numbers, giving his […]
Posted inAISD
AISD trustee reveals reasons behind resignation
In a sit-down interview with the Austin Monitor, Austin Independent School District Trustee Paul Saldaña opened up about the reasons behind his departure from the board, disclosing his fears of becoming bogged down in bureaucracy and describing a school district entangled in webs of distrust. Saldaña officially announced his resignation at a press conference last […]
Posted inAISD
Draft AISD facilities update miscalculates root of underenrollment crisis, board trustees say
Tough conversations about racial segregation and economic disparity need to be had before the Austin Independent School District’s Facility Master Plan update is approved, some trustees said at the March 27 meeting of the AISD board. Monday night, members of the Facilities and Bond Planning Advisory Committee, formed in September 2015, presented the draft plan […]