AISD Internal Messages Released as Charter Contracts Loom

Austin ISD faced sharp criticism by parents during the board meeting last Thursday, March 12, referencing a document containing internal district communications regarding the school closure and consolidation process that was reportedly released through a Public Information Act request made in mid-September.

The messages don’t make the district look good, to say the least – many of the casually worded messages revealed some of the district’s decision-making process to close 11 schools and move dual-language programs, as was approved in November by trustees. 

The messages also contained complaints about school community conversations regarding the closures, one remarking “the ugly was too much.” Another message calls an individual parent “poisonous” by name.

Delicia McLean, an AISD parent, said during public comment that the messages “raised serious concerns not only about staff behavior,” but about whether or not AISD is in compliance with state law, referring to the fact that some employees tried to delete messages after realizing they were subject to open records.

“Everyone inside the system pretends the process is transparent and principled, while the public can see clearly that it is not,” McLean continued. “The question is, will the board acknowledge it and do something about it?”

At the same time, AISD is attempting to back away from the precipice of state takeover. Dobie, Webb, and Burnet middle schools have all received four consecutive F accountability scores, and a fifth would authorize the Texas Education Agency to replace the superintendent and elected trustees with state-appointed individuals. 

The administration has been closely watching the three middle schools this school year as they undergo “restarts” with new faculty, leadership, and instructional models in an effort to raise the student performance metrics to inform their accountability grade at the end of the year.

But for Texas public schools nearing state intervention, the Texas Legislature offers one avenue to delay takeover: charter partnerships by way of Senate Bill 1882.

If Austin ISD chooses to partner with an open-enrollment charter school to take over management of the middle schools (as Mendez MS did in 2018), the district will be exempt from accountability consequences for two years, giving the district extra time to raise the schools’ current F rating to a passing C.

During last Thursday’s board meeting, trustees previewed a proposed 1882 charter contract with Texas Council for International Studies in partnership with Region One Education Service Center based in South Texas for the three schools, starting the 2026-2027 school year.

The schools will also receive an estimated annual increase of $1,000 per student, according to AISD. AISD must submit the 1882 benefits application before the TEA’s March 31 deadline.

A charter partnership wasn’t AISD’s original plan – the district hoped that its own restarts would be enough to adequately increase student performance. “This is not a path we want to take, and our goal is to improve these schools so that we don’t have to,” the district had written to parents.

And while the three schools have already made impressive gains in math and reading, state takeover of the school district evidently isn’t a risk the administration is willing to take.

“Both [TCIS and Region One] have demonstrated the ability to turn around schools,” Superintendent Matias Segura said, noting that the demographic that Region One serves aligns well with that of the three campuses.

Trustee Kevin Foster gave credit to the students and staff at the three middle schools ahead of the vote on the contract. “There’s been so much growth, and we’ve found ourselves in a unique set of circumstances,” he said. “We’re turning towards an external partner … which has become, I think, a good move.”

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