The week of Aug. 19—AISD’s first week back from summer vacation—consisted of two board meetings, a delayed start for a middle school, a power outage at the central office and even a new haircut for AISD Superintendent Matias Segura from a high school student.
What you need to know
The day before classes began, the board of trustees met for a special meeting Aug. 19 to approve placing a potential tax rate increase on the November ballot.
Voters are being asked to consider a tax rate of $0.9505 per $100 valuation, a $34-per-month increase to the average homeowner.
District officials predict the higher tax rate would generate $171 million in revenue. Due to recapture, AISD would only keep $41 million of this revenue. This is an increase in $130 million of recapture payments under the VATRE.
The hope from officials is that the additional revenue generated would help with the lessening a budget deficit of $119 million to $78 million.
In case you missed it
Segura visited Andrews Elementary School, Covington Middle School, Menchaca Elementary School and Navarro Early College High School on Aug. 20 to mark the beginning of the academic year. At Navarro ECHS, Segura was given a haircut by a senior cosmetology student, as previously reported by Community Impact.
“I don't think there's anything [Segura] likes to do more than go to campuses and interact with kids and teachers,” Navarro ECHS Principal Steven Covin told Community Impact. “That's always great to have in a superintendent, because, well, not all superintendents are like that.”
Students and staff at Kealing Middle School were unable to celebrate the first day of school Aug. 20 due to a fire on the second floor of the school that the Austin Fire Department responded to late on the night of Aug. 19, according to an AISD news release.
Classes will instead resume Aug. 26 as restoration crews work to repair damage to HVAC ductwork. Some classes will be temporarily relocated as repairs are addressed.
AISD officials said the school will not have to add days to the calendar to make up for the lost time.
In other news
On Aug. 22, the AISD Central Office, 4000 S. I-35 frontage road, Austin, closed after power was lost to the building around 11:30 p.m. Aug. 21. Enrollment assistance was pushed to campuses, and a Aug. 22 board meeting was instead held at the Austin ISD Performing Arts Center, 1500 Barbara Jordan Blvd., Austin.
Some key items the board approved Aug. 22 included:
- Approval of a settlement to a lawsuit brought by nonprofit Disability Rights Texas, alleging failures by the district to complete special education evaluations in a timely manner
- Adoption of a resolution urging an increase to the basic student allotment—the amount school districts receive from the state based on student enrollment and attendance—an issue AISD officials have alleged is contributing to the current multimillion dollar budget deficit
The office lost power after thousands of customers in Austin suffered an outage the night of Aug. 21, which was repaired by Austin Energy by 9 p.m. and caused by high energy usage.
Dates to know
Voters will see four seats on the board of trustees up for re-election, two of which are uncontested, in addition to the VATRE.
Eligible residents have until Oct. 7 to register to vote. Early voting will run from Oct. 21-Nov. 1. Election Day is Nov. 5.
The last day of classes will be May 25. For more information, visit www.austinisd.org.
