Austin ISD trustees approved improvement plans for struggling campuses Oct. 29 and heard early options for cutting at least $60 million from the district's 2027-28 budget, including reductions to turnaround school funding and arts and PE staffing.
What parents should know
Trustees approved six turnaround plans, four targeted improvement plans and 16 local improvement plans due to the Texas Education Agency by the end of November, district staff said.
Families can follow progress at these campuses on a public dashboard the district launched Sept. 15 to track academic and staffing data at schools with unacceptable state ratings, as previously reported by Community Impact.
Campuses need turnaround plans after two straight unacceptable state ratings; targeted improvement plans after one; and local improvement plans after a "D" that follows an unacceptable rating, per TEA guidance.
Trustees Arati Singh and Candace Hunter raised concerns that the plans lack parent engagement. Singh said her search of several plans found parents mentioned only in the notice of a meeting. District officials said the TEA's template has no section for it and agreed before the vote to write parent engagement into the schools' campus improvement plans.
"Parents got choice. They're going to vote with their feet," Hunter said. "They're our best partner. We've got to invite them in."
Budget explained
Payroll makes up 89.9% of the district's budget, compared with a national average of 81%-83%, Chief Financial Officer Katrina Montgomery said. Options Superintendent Matias Segura presented include:
Cutting turnaround school funding, now nearly $20 million, by up to $3 million
Revisiting stipends, which total more than $20 million
Expanding last year's music, art and physical education staffing cuts
Monetizing the central office building
No action was taken.
This year, the district projects a $39 million surplus, up from $19 million budgeted, largely from the $16 million sale of the former Brooke Elementary site and better-than-expected property values, Montgomery said. Still, reserves would end the year at 13.77%, below the 15% minimum Singh said board policy requires. Reaching 15% would take about $10 million in additional cuts, Montgomery said.
Trustees approved the Brooke sale in January and adopted the current budget in June with a $19 million contribution to reserves, as Community Impact previously reported.
Also on the agenda
Uncertified teachers fell from 10.96% of the teaching workforce last year to about 5%, and teacher retention rose to 85% from 73% in 2021-22, district staff said. The district aims to have no uncertified new hires by 2029-30, as previously reported by Community Impact.
Trustees also unanimously approved 2027-28 boundary changes giving Marshall Middle School its first attendance zone, drawing from Blanton, Harris, Jordan and Overton elementaries and parts of Andrews and Pecan Springs. Part of Linder Elementary's zone moves to Travis Heights Elementary, according to district documents. The changes are the first phase of the district's boundary realignment.
Families can look up their address on the district's interactive boundary map.
What's next
Board President Lynn Boswell said trustees will continue the $10 million discussion at the Nov. 5 information session. The next voting meeting is Nov. 12, according to the district's meeting schedule.
