AUSTIN (KXAN) – The Austin Independent School District Board of Trustees will meet Tuesday night to vote on the Texas Education Agency’s plan for state intervention in the district’s special education services.
The board postponed the vote Thursday night. It has to decide what to do before the end of the month.
According to a letter from AISD Board of Trustees President Arati Singh, AISD received a final, negotiated proposal (“agreed order”) from TEA Monday night.
Singh said in the letter the board wanted the community to have the opportunity to review this latest proposal in advance of Tuesday’s special board voting meeting.
Key changes that are reflected in the order that the board will consider Tuesday night include the following, per Singh:
- Adding a 10-day period to allow Austin ISD to address areas of concern identified by TEA.
- Excluding closed sessions from the calculation of time spent discussing “student outcomes” and special education monitoring.
- Adjusting the required accounting of minutes spent discussing “student outcomes” and special education monitoring from every meeting to a three-month rolling time frame. This gives the board important flexibility as other important topics arise.
- Clarifying requirements for high-quality special education instruction and interventions at all campuses.
View the full proposal in the document below.
Background
Since March, TEA has said it intends to appoint a conservator to tell the district how to operate matters related to special education.
The recommendation was announced alongside the release of a TEA investigative report finding the district had violated more than 40 special education requirements since 2020.
If the district agrees to the plan – Austin ISD officials will avoid, at least for now, having a state-appointed conservator come into the district and tell them how to handle operations. Instead, as a part of the agreement, a monitor would observe the district’s operations and report back to TEA officials.
