The Austin Independent School District is hosting a picnic Saturday to introduce the Norman and Sims elementary school communities to one another before they combine as one school in August. Students from Norman will go to school in the Sims building next year, while Norman gets a major renovation. The merger came out of the […]
AISD
Austin’s largest school district, AISD is the Austin Independent School District.
Posted inAISD
Austin’s infill builders raise $10K to pay for 3,400 student lunches
With an eye toward public education, infill developers in Austin are tackling a new problem. Builders Care Austin, a 501(c)(3) that allows infill builders around town to make philanthropic contributions, has raised $10,000 to help pay off the lunch debts of Austin Independent School District students. Originally, Ed Ishmael, a local lawyer and developer who […]
Posted inAustin
How can city government help Austin parents with child care?
The high cost of day care, which can easily run $1,000 per month, is one of a number of expenses that are making the city increasingly inhospitable to working- and middle-class families. City Council is exploring ways to make child care more accessible and affordable. The city’s own employees are struggling to pay the high child […]
Posted inAISD
Two community groups compete for job to help turn Mendez Middle School around
Mendez Middle School will be run by a group outside the Austin Independent School District next year. At a meeting last night, two groups explained to parents, teachers and community members how they would improve academics at the school. Mendez has failed state accountability tests the last four years, and now the district is looking […]
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Middle school turnaround plan impresses board
Having to reinvest in a failing school is typically a somber affair, but the Austin Independent School District’s board of trustees was pleasantly surprised by the thought and energy that had been put into the Burnet Middle School Turnaround Plan shared at the Feb. 12 work session. The Texas Education Agency accountability ratings released at […]
Posted inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: What blind spots?
Colossus of roads… “There’s no question that I am probably the largest road proponent in the Milky Way.” Thus Travis County Commissioner Gerald Daugherty began a stemwinder about his transportation prescription for Central Texas at a luncheon hosted by the Real Estate Council of Austin last Thursday. The Republican road warrior was one of four […]
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Austin ISD delays decision to rename schools named for Confederate figures
The Austin Independent School District’s board of trustees is slowing down its timeline for a vote on whether to change the names of five schools named after Confederate figures. When the school board started this discussion in November, it proposed changing the names of the following buildings: Eastside Memorial High School at the Johnston Campus […]
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AISD submits top picks for Transformation Zone partner
After meeting with representatives from eight Northeast Austin campus advisory councils last week, the Austin Independent School District administration has selected its top picks for the role of design partner in a Transformation Zone grant. Empower Schools Inc. from Boston earned the district’s first choice, followed by Mass Insight Education and the University of Virginia’s […]
Posted inAustin
2017: A Monitor year in review
City Manager search Oh boy. City Council closed out the year by (finally) appointing new City Manager Spencer Cronk more than a year after former manager Marc Ott announced his departure. That is great news for a city that has been in a bit of a holding pattern as the position remained filled on an […]
Posted inAISD
No Austin schools are being consolidated … yet
No Austin schools will permanently consolidate, but it could happen if under-enrolled schools in East Austin do not boost enrollment over the next few years. In documents published last week, timelines for school construction projects showed six schools in East Austin that would be “unified.” Unification is not the same as consolidation, but could lead […]
Posted inAISD
What is Alamo Drafthouse going to do with AISD property in Hyde Park?
The Austin Independent School District’s board of trustees voted this week to sell property in the Hyde Park neighborhood to the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema for $10.6 million. The Baker Center is in a former school building at 3908 Avenue B, which the district uses for administrative purposes. But what will it be going forward? The […]
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School district announces first-year bond project timelines
The Austin Independent School District is not wasting any time putting the 2017 bond money to use, according to a presentation by Superintendent Paul Cruz at the school board’s Nov. 27 meeting. Cruz emphasized that strict adherence to project timelines would be necessary to get the most bang for bond buck, but those schedules could […]