AISD in Profile

(Courtesy of Texas State Comptroller, Texas State Performance Review of the Austin ISD School District -- Update, November 2001).

Unlike many urban school districts, AISD generally has enjoyed widespread community support. But in recent years, this support has eroded under the strain of one management failure after another.

Since 1996-97, student enrollment has grown by 2.4 percent, or about a half-percent annually.

Some 48 percent of AISD's students are classified as economically disadvantaged, a level about on par with the state average. At the same time, AISD's property tax wealth per student is estimated at more than $437,000, making it one of the state's "property-wealthy" districts, and requiring it to share its property wealth with Texas' poorer districts.

AISD's 2000-01 budget totaled more than $579 million. The district has more than 9,600 employees, making it one of the largest employers in the greater Austin area. More than 5,000 of these employees are teachers. The student body is 46 percent Hispanic, 35 percent Anglo, 17 percent African-American, and 3 percent "other." The teaching staff is 70 percent Anglo, 21 percent Hispanic, 8 percent African-American, and 1 percent "other." The district has more than 100 campuses, of which 12 are high schools, including the new Garza Independence High School.

Under the state's school accountability system, TEA assigns annual ratings to each district and campus based upon TAAS student passing rates, student attendance and dropout rates, and the quality of various data reported to the state. AISD as a whole is rated as "academically acceptable," but its student performance remains below state and regional averages. The district's overall 1999-2000 TAAS passing rate of 71.2 percent (most recent data available) trailed both the statewide average of 79.9 percent and the Central Texas regional average of 80.9 percent.

In 2000-01, TEA rated five AISD schools as "low-performing," down from 16 in 1998-99. Of those five, however, four have been low performing for three of the last five years. AISD also has had some remarkable successes, with 14 schools rated as exemplary and 24 as recognized up from 10 and nine respectively in 1999-2000.

In spring 2001, Annie Webb Blanton Elementary School was named a National Blue Ribbon School by the US Department of Education.

Since April 2000, when TSPR's report was released, AISD has undergone some fairly significant changes. The district is introducing new districtwide data systems to handle finance, human resources, and student data; these promises to ease the administrative burden on AISD staff members, ensure more accurate data reporting, and make the data more useful for staff. AISD board policies that had not been comprehensively reviewed and updated since 1995 have been revised, presented to the board and are now online. The district has reduced its per-student cost for legal services from $21.71 in 1998-99 to $9.52 in 2000-01 through the use of in-house attorneys. Core business functions such as human resources, finance and technology are being restored under the leadership of a new administrative team.

While the district still has much work to do, both AISD managers and TSPR's team members have a sense of steady progress. Eighty-nine recommendations have been implemented, 67 are in various stages of progress and seven have not been addressed because the district felt they were not feasible at this time. (See Appendix A for details on the status of the recommendations.)

Austin ISD Report Card

Exemplary Programs and Practices

TSPR identified numerous "best practices" in AISD. Through commendations in each chapter, the original report highlighted model programs, operations and services provided by AISD administrators, teachers and staff members. Other school districts throughout Texas are encouraged to examine the exemplary programs and services to see if they can be adapted to meet local needs. TSPR's commendations include:

• Magnet Program - AISD's three magnet schools do an outstanding job of providing advanced, challenging curricula in science, mathematics and liberal arts. LBJ High School's class of 1999 (120 students) included 14 National Merit Scholars, 17 National Merit semifinalists, 17 National Merit Commended Scholars, two National Achievement Scholarships for Outstanding Negro Students and five National Hispanic Scholarships. At Kealing Junior High, about 60 students received state recognition for academic achievement in the Duke University Talent Search.

  Amid concerns about the future of AISD Magnet programs AISD formed a Working Group to study the issues. The Academic Magnets/ Neighborhood Schools Working Group issued an interim report concerning possible magnet school options to the Board of Trustees on June 7, 2001. The Working Group is presenting its final report to the board in September. During September and October, the board will make a decision regarding the future of the magnet programs.

• Account for Learning - AISD has developed a locally funded initiative, Account for Learning, to assist campuses with a high percentage of economically disadvantaged students in improving their reading and mathematics performance.

  For 2000-01, AISD's reading and math scores improved for all categories of students

• School-to-Career Program - AISD offers a School-to-Career program that prepares students for careers while allowing them to move from one pathway to another as their interests and skills evolve.

  Student participation in AISD's School to Career program in 2000-01 was at 14.5 percent (11,250 students), up from 13.6 percent (10,772 students) in the previous year. The district has formed a Career Preparation Workgroup to develop recommendations intended to increase the academic rigor of AISD's program and strengthen its links to the area business community. These recommendations will be provided to AISD's Board of Trustees in Fall 2001. Significant program development is under way in the areas of health sciences, hospitality and culinary arts, and construction.

• Student Health Care - AISD provides high-quality health care services to its students through partnerships with Travis County, the City of Austin, and the Children's Hospital of Austin.

  AISD continues to provide high-quality health care services to its students through these innovative partnerships.

• Austin Partners in Education - This nationally recognized program involves businesses and community organizations in enriching all AISD schools through volunteer services, in-kind contributions, and financial support.

  During 2000-01, AISD's partners, mentors, tutors, volunteers, and parents provided almost 400,000 hours of service valued at $6 million. In all almost $15 million in time, cash, resources, and hours was donated to the district by businesses, community organizations, and volunteers, an increase of 25 percent over the prior year. Since the Partners in Education program's inception in 1983, the total amount donated to the district has exceeded $79 million.

• Community Education - Over its 25-year history, a nationally recognized AISD/City of Austin partnership, the Community Education Program, has worked effectively with local organizations to provide tutorial and after-school services for more than one million area children and their families. The program has received national recognition.

  The Community Education Program continues to thrive. Local agreements with Austin Community College, the Travis County Commissioner's Court and Austin Interfaith (a grassroots, faith-based advocacy organization) have helped to build communities of learners across the city. AISD provides after-school and summer programs for children and adult education classes at 50 school campuses in all parts of the city. The program places a major emphasis on high-need students and their families. The Community Education Program employs AISD curriculum standards to extend student learning during out-of-school time. Programs such as VICTORY tutorials, TAAS Power! Workshops and Project HELP (services for homeless students), help ensure that "at-risk" students receive help in overcoming barriers to their academic achievement.

• Qualified Substitutes - AISD's automated substitute-teacher calling system has proven effective in ensuring the availability of qualified substitutes.

  AISD continues to use its efficient automated substitute caller system to identify and fill classrooms with qualified substitutes when teachers are absent.

• Building Prototypes - AISD uses building prototype designs to ensure quality and control school construction costs. In 1996, AISD developed building prototypes for elementary, middle, junior-high, and high schools that established effective relationships between functions and the areas constructed for their use.

  The District's educational specifications set square footages for each use area while the prototype designs provide a two-dimensional representation of the required special relationships that must be preserved between the various use areas.

• Insurance - AISD adopted a novel insurance initiative called the Rolling Owner Control Insurance Program (ROCIP) as part of its 1996 bond construction program. ROCIP has generated estimated savings of $3.6 million and expanded the participation of smaller local contractors in the district's program.

  Under this innovative program, smaller contractors can be covered by greater limits of liability insurance and more comprehensive Worker Compensation and Builders Risk coverage than would otherwise be available.

• Bonds - AISD saved $4.8 million after refunding its Series 1996 bonds and has effectively managed its debt since the 1996 bond election.

  AISD's business staff regularly monitors market conditions to determine when and if the refunding of bonded indebtedness is in the best interest of the district.

• Telecommunications - The Greater Austin Area Telecommunications Network (GAATN) is a state-of-the-art wide area network capable of rapidly delivering large volumes of data directly to any computer system anywhere in the district.

  AISD is beginning to use this unique capability to offer distance-learning opportunities at its secondary schools and expand its use of net-based software to enhance student learning.

• School Resource Officers - AISD's school resource officers are the focal point of the district's safety and security efforts. They work harmoniously with schools and provide an important asset to the AISD community.

  School resource officers continue to serve a vital role in AISD's overall safety and security efforts.

• Absent Student Assistance Project (ASAP) - ASAP, a community-based collaborative effort involving the Austin and Del Valle school districts and Travis County constables, improves school attendance by providing timely responses to student absenteeism.

  Austin ISD has been working closely with the City of Austin and Travis County on a three-way funded "roving truancy master/judge" that would bring the court to the campus. In addition, AISD administrators are being trained in the need to file cases earlier in the year and provide better documentation on truancy cases.

• Campus Crime Stoppers - A collaborative community effort between AISD and the Travis County sheriff's office, Campus Crime Stoppers provides a "hotline" and rewards students who report weapons and possible criminal activity in and around schools.

  Campus Crime Stoppers continues to provide staff, students and community members with an easy way to report weapons and possible criminal activity in and around schools. Reports are followed up on by the AISD police force in cooperation with the Travis County Sheriff's Department.

For a complete report, go to www.window.state.tx.us/tspr/austinpr/