13-05-2025
Protest at Burnet Middle connected to potential loss of teachers, administrators
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Parents and students at Burnet Middle School made their voices heard Tuesday morning as they gathered to protest the potential firings of teachers and administrators.
This comes as Burnet, Dobie and Webb middle schools face a critical school year ahead where they must show signs of improvement or face state intervention from the Texas Education Agency (TEA).
AISD says expert teachers could improve failing schools
In August 2024, Dobie was identified for Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) under the district's Federal Accountability System for the third consecutive year. If a campus fails to exit the CSI for multiple years, then this requires the campus to enter a Turnaround Plan.
Discussions about what the district will do moving forward have included closing Dobie and moving students to Lamar Middle School. However, the district is no longer exploring a temporary closure for Dobie, so it is now proposing the district-managed restart plan.
To turn around the lower-performing schools, Austin Independent School District is trying to hire the best teachers it can get to replace some of the current ones at all three schools.
The teachers the district chooses to remove from their position could then be placed in other AISD schools, according to the district.
'I don't think the new teachers are going to have an easier time — I think they're being set up to fail — and that's a horrible feeling. It's also horrible to lose our teachers who we really like,' said Ellen Knox, who has a child attending Burnet Middle School.
On Tuesday night, the Burnet Middle School Parent Teacher Association will meet with AISD Superintendent Matias Segura to make their voices heard.
The district will host a job fair on Wednesday and Thursday to look for teachers with a track record of improving students' grades.
The positions are eligible for up to $20,000 in stipends to support one of the three restart campuses, according to AISD.
Nabil Remadna contributed to this report.
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