At the AISD Board of Trustees meeting last night, superintendent Dr. Stephanie S. Elizalde announced that the seven out of eight schedule change for teachers that was previously announced for the ’22-’23 school year was not going to be implemented.

After receiving negative feedback about the plan internally from employees and externally from the community, Elizalde said, “Seven out of eight is not something we are going to be able to do.”

Elizalde added that it was important that the budget enable district employees to earn higher pay:  “How do we still ensure that our lowest-paid get a significant market increase?” she said.

Chief Financial Officer Eduardo Ramos later clarified the district was committed to a minimum $16 hourly wage for classified employees and bus drivers.

Elizalde said it was a priority to give elementary school teachers an additional three hours of planning each week in order to bring their scheduled planning time more closely in line with the amount that secondary teachers currently have.

“Our elementary school teachers deserve that planning time,” Elizalde said.

Instead of the reduction in campus teaching staff, Elizalde said the district would reduce central office staff by approximately 250 positions.

Elizalde began her comments by saying balancing the budget was essential if the district is to maintain its AAA bond rating.

Ramos said that the budget projection had changed in part because the recapture sum (the amount paid to the state as part of the statewide recapture system) had increased by almost $52 million because of an increase in property value growth in Austin and a decrease in student enrollment in the district. He said the projections at Thursday’s meetings were based on current information and that the budget would be finalized in June.

This is a complex and fluid story and we will be reporting on it in greater detail on this website and in our next print issue.