Saldaña proposes sale of AISD headquarters

Austin Independent School District board member Paul Saldaña says he will propose that AISD sell its downtown administrative headquarters to cover all or part of the district’s looming budget shortfall. Saldaña made the comments to publisher Mike Kanin on the Austin Monitor Radio show (KOOP FM 91.7), which aired Wednesday. The show’s topic was the issue of the district’s planned equity self-assessment. He told the Monitor that the budget deficit is, in part, due to AISD’s shrinking student enrollment due to families finding it difficult to afford to live in Austin.  Saldaña said the district would assess itself on equity in education voluntarily after conversations with the Texas Civil Rights Project. He said the AISD board decided to take a “proactive” approach, deciphering the needs of its minority and economically disadvantaged students that, according to some, it has not adequately addressed in decades. He plans to make the proposal at an upcoming AISD board meeting.