Latest news with #MatiasSegura
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Facing mounting deficit, Austin ISD will cut central office staff, weighs school closures
The Austin school district will be reorganizing its central office, including eliminating and reassigning positions, as part of its ongoing effort to cut its budget deficit from $97 million to $78 million. The district's austerity measures also align with discussions about potentially closing schools within the next year to slash long-term expenses. Officials say these measures are essential to maintain financial stability, after a year of budget cuts aimed at reducing a deficit that had grown to $110 million by January. The central office cuts will involve both staff reductions and reassignments, Superintendent Matias Segura wrote in a public letter Friday. 'We recognize the timing of this announcement puts a strain on our central employees,' Segura said in the letter. 'Please know we did not arrive at this decision lightly.' The district is projecting a budget deficit of $19 million for the 2025-26 school year, but won't reach that target without making significant changes, interim Chief Financial Officer Katrina Montgomery told school board members during a meeting last week. This could put the district's fund balance — or cash on hand — at risk, she said. 'That puts us in the place where we might have to borrow to cover payroll as well as accounts payable,' Montgomery said. District leaders cut $63 million from the 2024-25 budget through spending and hiring freezes and streamlining operations, according to district officials. However, the district's predicted costs have also risen this year. When the Austin school board adopted its 2024-25 budget last summer, it predicted a $78 million deficit. Since then, the district received $14 million less in property tax revenue, overspent by $40 million on special education, and lost $12 million in federal Medicaid reimbursements. The district has pledged approximately $1.7 million each to three North Austin middle schools — Burnet, Dobie, and Webb — next year to improve their state-rated F rankings. As part of long-term efforts to reduce costs, the district expects to close some of its 116 campuses before the 2026-27 school year and has pledged to announce its plans before the end of this year. Earlier this month, district officials announced plans for community conversations over the summer and to develop a framework for identifying schools that may be considered for closure. Officials don't expect to release the list of potential schools up for closure until the fall. The district has grappled with declining enrollment for nearly a decade, resulting in smaller student populations at some schools and a loss of state funding. Texas funds school districts per child in attendance. The district's student population has declined by about 10% since 2019, when it enrolled 79,787 students. Current enrollment, at 72,244 this year, has remained relatively steady since 2022. In discussing possible school closures, the Austin district joins other urban or large suburban districts around the state, like Fort Worth and Spring Branch, seeking ways to temper crippling budget shortfalls. The Austin district is asking families and community members to fill out a survey about possible school closures, or consolidations, by June 6. This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: AISD will cut central office staff, weigh school closures amid deficit
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
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. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Why Austin's Dobie, Burnet, Webb middle schools may get new administrators, academic model
Three North Austin middle schools could be revamped with new administrative staff and new academic models as the Austin district seeks to improve the campuses' scores after consecutive years of failing to meet state academic standards. The proposal unveiled Tuesday night at Dobie Middle School would also require teachers at those schools to reapply for their jobs. Superintendent Matias Segura told teachers, parents and students gathered at the Rundberg neighborhood school that he thinks this plan will give Dobie, Burnet and Webb middle schools another chance to improve their academic outcomes. The district predicts all three schools are on track to receive a fourth 'F' rating from the Texas Education Agency at the end of the 2024-25 school year for not elevating above 60% on the state's accountability rankings. A fifth such rating at any school would prompt the TEA to either shutter the campus or take over the district. Community members ask questions of Austin school district leadership, including Austin Superintendent Matias Segura, during a community meeting in April about the future of Dobie Middle School. Segura is now proposing a new academic model for Dobie and two other Austin middle schools. The new plan 'keeps students at Dobie,' Segura said. "It puts money into students and staff, and not buildings.' However, if student scores aren't heading in the right direction by December, the district would partner with a charter operator for those campuses in the next school year. The academic model the district is proposing for the three middle schools is called Accelerated Campus Excellence Turnaround, or ACE, and requires the principal to have 'a history of improving student academic growth.' At least 60% of the teachers at the school must have 'demonstrated instructional effectiveness' through a local assessment and classroom observations or a comparative ranking with other teachers in a district, if the teacher is new to the district. The ACE model also must include an additional 60 minutes of instruction compared with the former campus schedule as well as data monitoring to track student progress, according to a handbook about the model. ACE schools should provide students three meals a day so they can remain after school for extracurricular activities. In a 2023 annual report, the TEA noted that more than 40 campuses had implemented the ACE model at the time. Frustrated parents and teachers pressed Segura for more information about why the plan required their campus administration team to be replaced and why the district has changed its plans for Dobie so much. The district last month had proposed closing, at least temporarily, the 51-year-old campus as a way to stave off state sanctions. Segura told the families that he had been working with the information he had at the time and that he was 'desperately trying' to meet students' needs and prevent harsher state sanctions. 'Look up and see what's happening right now in Fort Worth and that school has closed years ago,' Segura said. 'This is real.' Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath told Forth Worth district officials this week that the district is at risk of a state takeover after a campus received its fifth consecutive "F" rating in the recently released 2023 scores, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported. Heather Wong, a STEM instructional coach at Dobie, told Segura that she worries the aggressive approach to turning around the school isn't realistic. 'I am skeptical about the timeline,' Wong said. 'That is putting a lot of pressure on the students.' Marcela Garcia, who has two students who have graduated from Dobie and another set to enter the school next year, has been frustrated with the district's communication with the elementary schools that feed into Dobie. She wants her son to attend Dobie next year because she wants him involved in the same activities his siblings participated in, she said. Eighth grader Allisson Gavidia said she feels 'very confused, devastated and sad' about the discussion around her school. 'We need more time,' Gavidia said. 'Not everyone learns the same way. Not everyone is going to learn by simply getting a packet. Sometimes they just need to do group activities or little experiments to understand the topic more.' She said the district's plan for Dobie should give strong consideration to the school's fine arts programs. 'Now we're accomplishing great things with our little fine arts,' Gavidia said. 'Not everyone thinks that fine arts is something good to have in school even though it motivates kids to do better because if you don't have good grades you can't go to field trips or participate in certain things.' The Austin school board could decide on a turnaround plan for the three schools as soon as May 22, but it has until June 30 to submit a proposal to the TEA. The district is meeting with Webb families on Monday and Burnet families on Tuesday. This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: AISD proposal for failing schools: new administrators, academic model
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Austin ISD responds to TEA's school ratings
The Brief The Texas Education Agency released its ratings for school districts across the state Austin ISD said the ratings don't accurately reflect student success due to a shift in standards. AISD's rating dropped from a B in 2019 to a C for 2023 AUSTIN, Texas - The Texas Education Agency has released its ratings for school districts across the state. Districts like Austin ISD say the ratings don't accurately reflect student success due to a shift in standards. Big picture view Across the state, F-rated schools increased by 233 percent. The ratings were released after two years of legal battles. The ratings are public for the first time since 2019. RELATED:Texas releases ratings for schools, districts. See how your district scored One-hundred-and-twenty school districts had raised concerns in a lawsuit over the standards for ratings. The 2024 ratings have not yet been released by the courts. For a breakdown of ratings, click here. What we know AISD's rating dropped from a B in 2019 to a C for 2023. Thirty AISD schools were identified as failing, 16 of which dropped from a B to an F. The district says changes to the STAAR test make it harder to get an A and easier to get an F. AISD says since 2023, they've: Implemented historic raises for educators Reinforced multi-tiered systems of support, helping ensure every student receives high-quality instruction and targeted, timely interventions when needed. Invested in instructional coaches to build capacity with our newest educators and content interventionists to bolster student learning. What they're saying "This is a systemic reshaping of the yardstick that's used to measure our state's public schools," Lynn Boswell, president of the AISD Board of Trustees said. "These are the same students and the same teachers from one year to the next," superintendent Matias Segura said. "We know we have to do better and we know we need to step up to meet the increasing demands, even in an imperfect system that will not capture the brilliance of all children as they go through their educational journey." "When I look at the most recent test results, I feel alarmed and disheartened. I'm not surprised students struggled with a brand-new online test with completely new standards," Laurie Solis, president of the Austin Council of PTAs said. Rodriguez Elementary School went from a B to an F. "The test changed. The questions changed. It went from paper to all online. It went for multiple choice to multiple ways to ask questions," principal Monica Mills said. "The entire STAAR test was on the computer, and the results were graded with AI." Another consideration is that the Spanish version STAAR test is only offered in grades 3-5 for dual language learners. "Between 5th and 6th, we do see a significant kind of impact to the way the STAAR ratings are calculated," Segura said. Dobie Middle School, which the district is considering closing, has an F rating. AISD has until June 30 to decide its fate. What they're saying The TEA says their system refresh provides an "applies-to-apples" comparison between 2022 and 2023 ratings. State law did not allow D and F ratings in 2022 due to pandemic effects. The two years before that, there were no ratings due to the pandemic. The agency says families have been "denied access to information" for too long thanks to "frivolous lawsuits." In response to Austin ISD, TEA says: "TEA is disappointed to see that a few school system leaders have continued to perpetuate fundamentally misleading information, as these statements do a grave disservice to children and parents. When school board members, and their paid administrators, sow doubt on an independent appraisal of their school performance and instead promote a message that schools with significant academic weakness are performing just fine, students suffer." The Source Information from the TEA, an Austin ISD press conference, and interviews conducted by FOX 7 Austin's Angela Shen
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
TEA extends deadline for Dobie MS turnaround plan
AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Texas Education Agency on Wednesday issued an extended deadline for Dobie Middle School's federal accountability plan. The new deadline will be June 30 instead of the previous April 30 date, according to a letter from Austin Independent School District Superintendent Matias Segura. 'This new deadline gives us more time to consider the feedback we've received fromboth communities and to more deeply explore options for Dobie's future,' Segura said. Segura said the board will share an update regarding the extended deadline at their regular meeting Thursday night. In early April, AISD said it risked a potential 'takeover' by TEA, if Dobie Middle School 'does not significantly improve student success … by the end of next school year,' according to a memo sent to teachers. According to AISD's Dobie Turnaround Plan FAQs, for the 2018-2019 school year, Dobie Middle School received an 'F'. 'School ratings will not be calculated until the end of the 2024-25 school year. While there have been meaningful improvements at Dobie, the results of mid-year student assessments indicate that Dobie will not receive a rating of 'C' or better,' AISD said in the FAQ. PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Parents, staff voice concern over potential for Lamar Middle to take on students facing Dobie closure In the Dobie Turnaround Plan FAQ, AISD outlined three options it must choose from regarding the future of the school: Restart the school for the 2025–26 school year in partnership with a charter school approved by the Texas Education Agency. This would be similar to what has happened at Mendez Middle School with Third Future Schools. The charter school would have the authority to hire all campus staff, including teachers and the principal, and we could not guarantee positions for current staff. Permanently close Dobie at the end of the 2024-25 school year and reassign Dobie students to another Austin ISD middle school for the 2025-26 school year. Temporarily close Dobie at the end of the 2024-25 school year and develop a plan to reimagine the school. Current Dobie students would be reassigned to another Austin ISD middle school for the 2025-26 school year and a new school would open at the Dobie campus at a future date. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
