The Austin Independent School Board’s unanimous decision to spend $25 million modernizing Sanchez Elementary School was welcomed by a substantial contingent of those who packed the board’s chambers Monday night, but it hardly assuaged long-term concerns from east side activists who say that the school district is allowing East Austin schools to flounder. The first […]
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 Board President Kendall Pace resigns after text message controversy
Kendall Pace, president of the Austin Independent School District Board of Trustees, said this morning that she would resign from her position as president and as Place 9 trustee after controversial text messages she sent to another board trustee surfaced last week. The Austin teachers’ union had called on Pace to resign over the texts, […]
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AISD Board of Trustees contemplates deep cuts to the budget
The Austin Independent School District’s preliminary budget for the 2018-19 school year was released on April 23. On April 30, the members of the AISD Board of Trustees weighed in with their thoughts on how to continue to fund administrators and teachers while grappling with the staggering $30 million deficit that the school district is […]
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AISD board debates how to prevent a financially insolvent school district
When Austinites passed the $1 billion Austin Independent School District bond that was intended for major improvements in school facilities as well as transportation and district-wide improvements to technology for teachers and students, they knew they were voting to provide the school district with a much-needed financial boost. However, even with a significant amount of […]
Posted inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: Humanist mockery and moonlight towers
Thoughts and prayers…Â Following the most recent mass shooting, a familiar debate has emerged that pits those who argue in favor of gun control against those who emphasize mental health treatment and (in some cases) more guns. In a Facebook message posted shortly after the Parkland massacre, former Council Member Don Zimmerman seemed to suggest that […]
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School board approves Confederate school renaming process
The Austin Independent School District Board of Trustees voted 7-2 last night to approve an action initiated by district staff last fall to rename five school facilities named after Confederate military personnel. Deliberation on whether to change the names for the John T. Allan facility, Zachary Taylor Fulmore Middle School, Sidney Lanier High School, John […]
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School board still split on school renamings
At its Feb. 12 work session, the Austin Independent School District Board of Trustees formally discussed the possibility of renaming several Confederate-affiliated facilities. It was the first time it has done so since tensions between some trustees had culminated in an attempt at African-American Trustee Edmund Gordon’s censure. Having postponed the item once before, the board […]
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School district fiscal forecast bleak
Although it did not come as a shock, the precarious position of the Austin Independent School District’s financial future dampened the mood at the end of the board of trustees’ Jan. 22 meeting. The ever-increasing amount of recapture the district pays back to the state in compliance with Chapter 41 is expected to exceed the […]
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AISD pumps brakes on Confederacy renamings
The initiative to change the names of Austin school facilities bearing the titles of Confederate military personnel lost steam at the Austin Independent School District Board of Trustees’ Jan. 8 work session. The item was scheduled to come to a vote at the board’s Feb. 26 meeting, but the consensus Monday was to drop that […]
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Trustees alarmed at exclusion of minority-owned businesses from middle school renovation
In the bidding for 2013 bond improvements to the Dobie Middle School campus, two minority-owned firms were passed over in favor of a company that included a few minority-owned subconsultants as part of its proposal. The Austin Independent School District approved the selection at its Nov. 27 board meeting, but only after trustees took a […]
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School board wrestles with large STAAR achievement gaps
Like one wrong note disturbing the harmony of a symphony, one faulty academic indicator can throw off a school district’s sense of which of its schools need the most attention. Some trustees on the Austin Independent School District board voiced skepticism at a Nov. 13 work session that using the evaluation of gaps in STAAR […]
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AISD considers charter school option for Mendez Middle School
Facing severe under-enrollment and a below-average educational suitability assessment, Mendez Middle School may be turned over to a community partner in hopes of reversing the campus’ downward trajectory. Austin Independent School District staff shared the project initiative with the board of trustees at its Nov. 13 work session, explaining the opportunity presented by Senate Bill […]