The push comes as AISD officials work through what grew to a $205 million reduction package for the 2026-27 school year, part of a budget crisis that's left the district's real deficit running ahead of its own projections.
The overview
CIS serves 110 campuses across its nine partner districts this year, including 44 in Austin ISD, and already funds the majority of service costs on every campus it serves through its longstanding district partnership model, CEO Sharon Vigil told CommunityImpact.
This year, 19 of those 110 campuses faced funding challenges that threatened the sustainability of that support. Without the money, these students risk losing the counselors and support staff who connect them to mental health care, basic needs assistance and attendance help, Vigil said.
Measuring the impact
Citing 2024-25 school year data, the nonprofit says 99% of students it worked with stayed in school and 99% graduated or were promoted to the next grade.
Austin Ed Fund's Inspire the Future grants fund what the district's budget no longer covers, said Executive Director Michelle Wallis. The foundation received 115 grant proposals this year requesting a combined $842,000—nearly double what it could fund—and ultimately funded 48 projects, she said.
The program has awarded more than 630 grants to AISD educators within four broad areas, according to its website. These include early literacy and numeracy support, college and career readiness, educator experience grants like the one funding Burnet's program, and a crisis support fund that provides emergency relief to AISD families facing hardship.
At Burnet Middle School, where Austin Ed Fund's grant materials put emergent bilingual enrollment at 78% and on-grade-level reading at just 22%, the foundation's grant funds a bilingual literacy program the district budget doesn't cover, Wallis said.
What they're saying
Austin Ed Fund has also taken on a role few might expect of an education nonprofit: helping campus communities grieve, Wallis said. When Bedichek Middle School closed last year, its principal worked with students and staff to create murals commemorating the campus's legacy.
Those murals now hang at the receiving campuses—Mendez and Covington middle schools and Crockett High School—with support from the foundation's School Impact Fund, which Wallis said has invested more than $150,000 in campuses affected by closures and consolidations since spring.
Bedichek Middle School students paint one of the murals honoring the campus's legacy ahead of its closure last spring. (Courtesy Austin Ed Fund)
Created in response to last year's closures, the fund helps affected campuses honor their legacies and build community during consolidations. Wallis noted that the foundation prioritized community input over dictating spending. This year, the fund expanded to support campuses accelerating achievement and those still navigating the effects of consolidation.
"That's an example of community making that happen," Wallis said. "They just needed a little support to get it off the ground."
"Every innovative idea deserves a champion," Wallis said. "Austin Ed Fund exists to be that champion for teachers, for students and for the future of public education in our city."
One of Bedichek's farewell murals pairing the Bobcat with the Mendez Maverick now hangs at Mendez Middle School. (Courtesy Austin Ed Fund)
Superintendent Matias Segura and AISD board member Candace Hunter both sit on Austin Ed Fund's board as ex officio members, according to the foundation's website.
Why now
Wallis said the line between what public schools fund and what philanthropy fills in has shifted over her time at the foundation.
"Philanthropy is not meant to sustain public funding and can never fill the gap," Wallis said."But, we look at where a boost can make a big difference.”
She said the pressure isn't unique to Austin. Education foundations across the state are fielding requests they didn't used to get, she said.
"There's a lot of conversation about public school funding and the increased pressures on education foundations," Wallis said.
That same pressure is playing out just across town, where CIS is asking the public to help close its own funding gap before the school year fully gets underway.
Some context
The budget pressure has been building for months, according to previous CommunityImpact reporting. AISD trustees voted in 2025 to close 10 campuses amid declining enrollment and mounting budget concerns. The district ultimately adopted an $887 million budget June 18, closing a projected $181 million shortfall through a reduction package that grew to $205 million in gross cuts. Paredes Middle School then closed weeks later, with students split between Bailey and Mendez middle schools.
Even after the cuts, the district's fund balance remains below its 15%-20% target. The district's actual deficit for the year that ended in June was $105 million, more than five times the $19 million originally budgeted. AISD's state Financial Integrity Rating fell to a B, according to district officials Aug. 27. AISD also plans to borrow $140 million this fall to cover cash flow and has identified roughly $51 million more in cuts for the current fiscal year.
A larger trend
Nearly $8.4 billion in new state funding under House Bill 2 wasn't enough to shield Texas school districts from budget shortfalls this year, Community Impact reported in June, as administrators from AISD, Judson ISD and Plano ISD told state lawmakers they were still cutting positions and closing campuses.
Both nonprofits predate this year's budget by decades. CIS places support staff across nine Central Texas school districts, and Austin Ed Fund has raised more than $46 million for AISD students and teachers since it was founded in 1993, originally as the Austin Public Foundation per the two nonprofits’ websites.
How to help
Donations to CIS' $325,000 goal are matched dollar-for-dollar by an anonymous donor through Aug. 31. Beyond the campaign, CIS also takes recurring monthly gifts, sustained multi-year pledges through its Promise Circle, corporate sponsorships, donor-advised fund and stock transfers and planned or memorial gifts year-round.
Austin Ed Fund accepts campus-specific donations year-round through its giving page, and will host its Inspire the Future Luncheon Oct. 20 at the JW Marriott Austin.
