AUSTIN, Texas - Austin ISD's newest efforts to prevent a state takeover by the Texas Education Agency have been rejected. Thursday, the TEA told the district that it, and its new partner, have a history of failure that could not be ignored.
Austin ISD state takeover
The latest:
The issue surrounds three campuses within the district; Burnet Middle School, Dobie Middle School and Webb Middle School. AISD had recently attempted to secure Texas Partnership benefits outlined in Senate Bill 1882, which the Thursday letter denied.
TEA officials in the letter, addressed to AISD Superintendent Matias Segura, said the three questionable campuses have delivered consistently unacceptable results since the 2018-2019 school year. These records prevent the schools from receiving partnership funding, which keeps the door open to a potential future state takeover by the TEA.
The partner chosen by AISD is the nonprofit Texas Council for International Studies (TCIS), which is set to take the reins at the three schools this fall. According to the TEA letter, TCIS has a limited track record of helping districts to reverse course for failing campuses, and cannot be entrusted additional funding for the three Austin middle schools.
The letter notes that while the SB 1882 benefits were rejected for the partnership, AISD and TCIS can still join forces, just without government funding.
Read the full letter below:
Austin ISD responds
The other side:
Soon after the TEA rejected the proposal, Austin ISD released a statement to their community assuring that the process to support the campuses is ongoing.
What they're saying:
"We partnered with Texas Council for International Studies (TCIS) with one clear goal in mind: ensuring that the students at Dobie, Webb and Burnet middle schools get the exceptional academic support they deserve," the statement says. "We chose this path because we remain entirely confident in TCIS’s proven ability to lift student outcomes."
They say they hope to show through the partnership that the three campuses are able to improve without a takeover by the state.
"This procedural step does not slow down our momentum," the statement continues. "We are continuously working in partnership with our board to ensure our resources are strategically allocated to support systemic improvement across all campuses, especially where our students need the most support to reach their highest potential."
Austin ISD takes new approach to turn around 3 struggling middle schools
Austin ISD is taking a new approach to turning around three struggling middle schools, approving a partnership that hands over daily operations to an outside nonprofit.
Austin ISD partnership
The backstory:
The partnership with TCIS buys the district time. Austin ISD will get a two-year exemption from intervention while the nonprofit works to boost performance.
Trustee Kathryn Whitley Chu said the schools are already headed in the right direction and this adds support.
"The Texas Council for International Studies is going to bring in an extra layer of support to the good stuff that they're already doing," Chu previously said.
What's next:
Under the agreement, the schools must improve to at least a ‘D’ or ‘C’ by next school year and reach a ‘C’ or higher by 2028.
The contract runs through 2029 with the option to extend if goals are met.
The Source: Information in this article comes from Austin ISD, the TEA and previous FOX Local reporting.