The AISD Board of Trustees held a public meeting Monday night to discuss the recent announcement by TEA proposing a conservatorship over the district. TEA cites AISD’s underfunding and failings in handling special education as reasons for the conservator position, which would oversee and direct the district’s activities. The district was notified of TEA’s plan late last Friday and worked through the weekend to plan a special session to hear from and inform community members.

“This meeting was called as soon as possible,” District 4 Trustee Kathryn Whitley-Chu said. “That’s why it’s a weird time because you need 72 hours’ notice. So this conversation is the first time we’re getting to talk to everyone.”

The session began by hearing 60 minutes of public comment. Individual comments were restricted to one minute in length and had been recorded and submitted via phone earlier today between 7:45 a.m. and 3 p.m.

“It was very quickly decided that this meeting was important,” District 5 trustee Lynn Boswell said. “It was very quickly decided to open the meeting to public comments. We wanted to hear from the community and the community obviously wanted to be heard.” 

A group of educators and supporters from Education Austin showed opposition to TEA’s conservatorship plan by appearing at the board meeting and populating the event’s comments with talking points shared by the organization.

“For too long, the lack of state funding has hurt our public schools, and more directly students,” Education Austin President Ken Zarifis said. “We need more people, more training, and more time. And all of that costs money. If the state truly cares about special education, students, and public education, they will find the money. Otherwise, it’s just politics as usual. And kids suffer.”

Many supporters in favor of a TEA conservator came from parents and students citing personal issues with AISD’s handling of Special Education evaluations and services. 

“The negligence this district has shown has put me in a state of dysfunction,” Austin High School parent Lea Kelly said on behalf of a statement written by her 10th-grade daughter Harper Kelly. “I can no longer perform basic daily activities for myself, driving kids to that state of mind does not serve them, and I don’t deserve the punishment for things beyond my control.” 

The meeting also included a discussion of AISD’s history in handling special education and comments about TEA’s plan from attorney Pam Kaminski who was hired by AISD in late January as a special counsel to the board to assist with this matter. Kaminski explained that the board does have the ability to submit an appeal to TEA that could reverse the initiative. The first step in the appeal process would be a submitted request for an informal review The request must be submitted by the board of trustees by April 17. 

“This is a review by the commissioner,” Kaminski said. “This report essentially goes to the commissioner to determine if [TEA’s] recommendations will be accepted or not. This is the opportunity for the district to take a position with regard to the report and let the commissioner know that position.”

There was also discussion in both the public comment section and the trustee statements about the recent conservatorship that was implemented in Houston ISD and has now evolved into a full TEA takeover of the district.

“Reading about Houston’s situation over the years, I remember one of the actions in 2019 was that the conservator ordered the Houston ISD Board to stop their search for a superintendent, just as they were about to do final interviews,” Boswell said. “So to my understanding, [the conservator’s powers] are quite extensive.” 

The Shield will continue to update this story as it evolves.