AISD speaking slots go quickly

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Don't expect to show up at the Austin Independent School District's headquarters on Monday morning and sign up for one of the 30 speaking slots available for Monday night's board meeting.

Those slots were gone by late afternoon on Sunday, as those who supported and opposed the IDEA Charter School plan showed up to camp out overnight. The Austin Independent School District's board of trustees will address the IDEA Charter School contract on Monday night, along with a slew of other facility recommendations.

No doubt, the IDEA Allan debate will be the most heated. By late Sunday, however, the two sides had agreed to disagree and had divvied up the 30 slots for speakers: 10 for IDEA and 20 against IDEA. Then the 20 against IDEA chose to cede 4 of their own speaking slots to the supporters of the proposed Travis Heights Elementary in-district charter, which has broad support from the school community.

The division of slots among speakers was a far more civil arrangement than the last time the IDEA Charter was up for a vote, when tensions were running high and nerves were frayed. Occupy Austin camped out, saving seats for opponents. Around midnight on Sunday night, however, the camps were polite by separate.

Closest to the board room door was a cluster of IDEA supporters, including both teachers and parents of IDEA students. The agreement is that they will speak first. They spent their time watching football and Pres. Obama's speech from Newtown on Sunday night, a stack of pizza boxes and soda on a nearby outdoor picnic table.

Stretched in a line alongside the building, covered by blankets, were the IDEA opponents, many who waited in line overnight for last year's meeting. They were slightly more upbeat, cheered by the election of new trustees who might be a bit more sympathetic to their cause. To one side, parent Vincent Tovar of PRIDE of the Eastside was watching the video of last week's facilities hearing with a couple of allies.

And then, around a corner and sharing a lengthy extension cord, was a table of about 10 students from Eastside Memorial. They, too, had a picnic table covered with pizza boxes and sodas. For them, Sunday night was the toughest. The group intended to stay until 7:45 a.m. to sign up to speak, then make it back to Eastside by the time school starts at 9 a.m. Semester finals begin on Monday.

AISD's long-anticipated vote on facility recommendations will be Monday night. Trustees could choose to support or end the contract with the IDEA Charter, or any variation in between. Trustee Jayme Mathias has proposed extending the IDEA contract for a year, and the final decision is expected to be either a 4-5 or 5-4 vote.