The city and the Austin Independent School District have reached an agreement on how the district can expand Bowie High School even though it is over the environmentally sensitive Barton Springs Zone of the Edwards Aquifer. City Council voted unanimously at last week’s meeting to adopt the agreement, which includes swapping impervious cover from three […]
AISD
Austin’s largest school district, AISD is the Austin Independent School District.
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Bond doubles down on segregation, trustee says
At last week’s Austin Independent School District Board of Trustees meeting, only one trustee voted against the adoption of the list of projects to be included in this year’s bond election: District 1 representative Edmund Gordon. In a sit-down interview with the Austin Monitor, Gordon elaborated on his opposition to the bond package. What it […]
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Eastside Memorial could be on the move
At a hastily called meeting this weekend organized by local education advocates, members of the Eastside Memorial High School community gathered in the cafeteria to discuss an Austin Independent School District bond proposal that would move the school to a new facility on the old Anderson High campus. Two members of the district’s Board of […]
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City Council considers tax swap with school district
City Council is exploring a number of ways the city of Austin can lend a hand to the Austin Independent School District, which will forfeit $406 million this year to the state under Texas’ “recapture” policy. At a work session on Wednesday, Council members discussed whether the city should take over certain programs that are […]
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Teacher health care surfaces as key issue in AISD budget conversations
As the Austin Independent School District braces for a tough financial year, even by district standards, staff presented preliminary budget plans to the Board of Trustees at its regular meeting April 24. The rough waters are courtesy of Austin’s growth. Significant increases in the appraisal values of the city’s properties means that the district owes […]
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Despite state decriminalizing truancy, Austin students can still get charged for skipping
Lunch time is wrapping up at Austin High School, just west of downtown. As students walk back in the school, Austin Independent School District Police Officer Christopher Roddy walks out. He heads toward the MoPac highway underpass where there are some trails. He patrols this area daily for kids who may be skipping school. “So […]
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AISD magnet school policy in turmoil
Emotions ran high as Austin Independent School District trustees, school alums and parents weighed in on the district’s magnet school policy at the board’s special called meeting April 3. The board deliberated for several hours before it voted to adopt the Facility Master Plan update Monday night, and one of the most contentious issues of […]
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AISD board adopts Facility Master Plan update
Against the wishes of some trustees to postpone the item, the Austin Independent School District Board of Trustees worked into the early hours of Tuesday morning to adopt the Facility Master Plan update in a special called meeting. The master plan implemented in 2014 set in motion a 25-year trajectory for the city’s public education […]
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Austin’s top magnet school may be dislocated from East Austin home
One of the top 10 high schools in the country, the Liberal Arts and Science Academy, may be relocated from its stomping grounds on the campus of Lyndon B. Johnson High School in East Austin to a more central location if the Facility Master Plan Update is adopted by the Austin Independent School District Board […]
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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 […]
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North Austin students want to unify in a school divided
Students at the Liberal Arts and Science Academy and Lyndon B. Johnson High School have developed a set of short-term solutions to increase collaboration and improve relationships between the two schools, which are located on the same campus in Northeast Austin. The students’ suggestions follow a district committee’s recommendation that LASA be moved to its […]
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Austin ISD will no longer suspend pre-K through second grade
The Austin Independent School District’s board of trustees voted unanimously to approve a ban on suspending students from pre-K through second grade at a board meeting last night. Trustee Jayme Mathias moved to approve the ban, which also prohibits placing students younger than third grade in a disciplinary alternative setting, except as required by law. […]