Hello Families,
Hope you are having a great week!
It’s School Resource Officer Appreciation Week! SROs play such an important role in keeping our schools and communities safe. Don’t forget to thank them for their service if you see them!
Reminder: Monday, February 17 is a student holiday for President’s Day.
Now, let's get started with this edition…
We’re back with another budget update! When we last checked in, we shared that the district was working to tackle a $92 million deficit over three years.
Since then we’ve gotten new information from the Travis County Appraisal District that means we could be facing a budget deficit between $110–120 million for the 2025–26 school year.
Why it matters: A bigger budget deficit means our savings will run out faster if we don't reduce spending — so we’ll have to make deeper cuts sooner than we’d expected.
How we got here: Austin ISD relies on estimates from the Travis County Appraisal District to forecast how much revenue we can expect from local property taxes — our primary funding source.
When we first began forecasting funding for the 2025–26 school year back in the fall, TCAD estimated that Travis County property values would remain flat.
TCAD now anticipates they will go down by about 9–11%, which could amount to a loss of tens of millions in expected revenue.
Yes, and…The budget deficit continues to be a moving target as we grapple with higher costs than anticipated in areas such as special education and facility repairs.
That’s why we’re implementing a districtwide hiring freeze, excluding special education staff, to reduce spending for the current year, effective March 1.
So now what? Previously discussed reduction strategies remain on the table as the district continues to reduce the current year deficit.
The district has already cut roughly $60 million from the budget in the 2024-25 school year, which includes eliminating Central Office positions, reducing service contracts and operational efficiencies across the district.
We’re now at the point where we must consider options that will have a direct impact on campuses such as eliminating programs and reviewing staffing levels.
The board is also exploring selling real estate for a one time, cash infusion.
We're keeping an eye on the state legislature, which has multiple school funding bills under consideration, though it's too early to tell what impacts those might have on our budget.
Get involved: This district is hosting a series of community and staff budget conversations in the coming months:
Next up is Saturday, Feb. 22 at 11 a.m. via Zoom
Go deeper… with the presentation of the fiscal forecast to the board.
Around 200 parents from 18 different countries gathered this week as part of the Maestro en Casa Master Class series.
This free program offers community members the opportunity to learn English and is in its 10th year in Austin ISD. As part of this special anniversary, the Master Class series brings Maestro en Casa cohorts from across the district twice a year to learn together and find belonging as they learn English.
This year’s district wide cohort speaks eight languages and represents 23 schools!
Learn more about the Maestro en Casa.
It’s a new month and we’re back with the latest happenings with the Board of Trustees.
This Board Information Session covered two Scorecard items, as well as deep dive on the fiscal forecast. Let’s get right to it…
The first presentation focused on our college readiness, measured using the Texas Success Initiative standards. The TSI is used to indicate whether a student is ready for college-level courses. Students can meet TSI standards by passing the TSI assessment, or though the SAT or ACT.
This is the first year we’re including juniors and seniors in this reporting, which helps spot trends early so students can get support before senior year.
Overall, we’re on track to meet our goal of having 52.3% of juniors and seniors meet TSI standards by 2029. We’re seeing especially strong results for seniors.
While junior levels are low at 9%, that number could change next month as all 11th-grade students take the SAT during the school day.
One especially bright spot is our students receiving special education services, who outperform the state average two to one in college and career readiness
From our oldest students, to the youngest: the next Scorecard presentation focused on our early learning classrooms. This data looks at how teachers are using developmentally appropriate practices with students in Pre-K through second grade classes.
Since this is the baseline year for this reporting, Early Learning administrators are looking at teacher evaluations from the 2023-24 school year to understand experience levels of staff.
Developmentally appropriate practices must be fluid and support how each child learns within the classroom. As teachers and campus leadership learn more about how to support students, we expect to see teacher evaluations dip before rebounding.
We’ll keep an eye on this reporting as we continue on through the year.
Finally, the board received a pretty heavy budget presentation, outlining the increased budget deficit.
We now have to implement stronger budget savings strategies, including a hiring freeze starting March 1, a spending freeze and selling real estate.
What’s next: Stay tuned for our ongoing coverage after each board meeting. The next Regular Voting Meeting will be Thursday, Feb. 27.
Check out our guidelines for directing public comments to the board.
The deadline to apply for the SPEDTex grant is March 31. Eligible families can apply for a one-time Parent-Directed Special Education Services grant.
National African American Heritage Month - Feb. 1 to Feb. 28
School Resource Officer Appreciation Week- Feb. 10 to Feb. 14
Student Holiday/Staff Development President's Day - Feb. 17
School Health Advisory Council (SHAC) Meeting - Feb. 19
You Know It...Like A Poet - Feb. 21
For more events, please visit the Calendar of Events website.
Austin ISD working to prevent illegal bus passing with new video cameras- Community Impact
Happy Valentine’s day! Hope you are celebrating with your favorite people.
Got any fun plans?
Did you know that this year, people are expected to spend a record $27.5 billion on Valentine’s Day? That’s up from $25.8 billion last year, according to the National Retail Federation. They also said the top five gifts are candy, flowers, greeting cards, an evening out and jewelry.
Definitely it is a win for businesses today!
Have a great weekend and be safe!
Nayeli 💛
Have a story idea?
Got a great story about an Austin ISD student, staff, parent, or community member? Share it with us! It could be featured on our website, in our newsletters, on social media, or even on the news!
For questions or comments please email me at nayeli.santoyoflores@austinisd.org
For languages other than English and Spanish, we use an AI-powered translation tool. As a result, there may be some contextual inaccuracies or other errors. We apologize for this. Please email translation@austinisd.org if you are in need of clarification. To change your preferred correspondence language, contact your school's front office.