Austin ISD board meeting, Jun 11, 2026
4 h 42 min · 37 public speakers
This board doesn’t post agenda times. Click a board member to jump to where they first speak; we list only members whose voice our check named. Video length 4 h 42 min.
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What happened
What happened at this meeting
Austin ISD staff project $95 million deficit for current year as trustees weigh budget 1:27:55
- Speakers at public comment asked the board to keep water polo and Communities in Schools, and some asked trustees to reject item 11.1, the superintendent's contract extension. 4:40
- The chief financial officer said the 2025-26 budget adopted in June projected a $19 million deficit, which grew to $49 million in January and is now projected at $95 million, with a projected fund balance of 10.1%. 1:26:09
- One board member said they would be willing to go to a 13% fund balance, and another board member said they would rather adopt an imperfect, incomplete budget and amend it later. 3:15:54
- Staff presented a monitoring report on college, career and military readiness and another on dual language instruction, and the meeting was adjourned at 1:07 AM. 3:40:15
Until Nov 4, lines where a board member takes a side don't name the member. Why →
Item by item (11)
- Call to order and public comment procedures 0:24
- Public comment 3:17
- Several speakers at public comment asked the board to keep water polo, and one speaker said booster clubs had proposed a co-funding model. 4:40
- Other speakers asked the board to reject item 11.1, the superintendent's contract extension, and raised concerns about budget transparency and transportation changes. 27:11
- Several speakers described support their families received from Communities in Schools and asked the board to keep the program. 32:52
- Trustee questions on public comment topics 1:15:51
- Fernando Lucas de Urioste asked about the timeline for addressing an additional $60 million deficit tied to one-time property sales. 1:16:40
- A district staff member said the district plans to identify reductions early in the spring semester and have the board vote on them ideally before spring break. 1:18:13
- The presiding officer said the budget calendar is item 7.10. 1:20:06
- President's report and celebrations 1:20:46
- The presiding officer said the district will transition away from BoardDocs after the June board meetings and launch Diligent as its new board management software. 1:22:03
- Candace Hunter congratulated high school students who took EOCs and said the numbers are going up. 1:24:22
- Fernando Lucas de Urioste described attending the Mosaic of the Minds unveiling, a student mosaic project. 1:24:53
- Current-year budget update 1:26:09
- A district staff member said the projected deficit grew from $19 million in the adopted budget to $49 million in January of 2026 and to $95 million as of the meeting. 1:27:55
- The chief financial officer cited declining ADA at 3.95%, declining enrollment at 4% and property sales that did not happen. 1:30:31
- Kevin Foster asked whether there was benefit to a later recapture payment, and the chief financial officer said August 15th is the last date to make it timely. 1:36:44
- Recommended 2026-27 budget 1:38:10
- The chief financial officer said the recommended general fund budget has revenue of $1.477 billion, recapture of $630 million and operating expenditures of $907 million, with total reductions of $185 million. 1:38:10
- A district staff member said the district proposes consolidating 3 bus terminals to 2 and continuing water polo with a coach driving a district bus. 1:50:24
- A district staff member said the budget hearing and board adoption are scheduled for June 18th. 2:01:48
- Trustee discussion of budget 2:03:48
- Arati Singh asked whether the deficit would increase by $46 million in addition to the $181 million, and a district staff member said the $181 million number will increase if the district wants to get back to 15% at the end of '26-'27. 2:16:44
- One board member said they did not think there was a budget in front of the board that they could trust and say yes to. 2:57:26
- A district staff member said the administration would like to bring back something that moves the fund balance closer to 15%. 3:31:00
- Preview of upcoming agenda items 3:34:53
- A district staff member called attention to agenda item 7.4, a renovation contract, and said the district is evaluating a potential relocation of the campus. 3:35:43
- Lynn Boswell asked about $580,000 for demographics and almost $1.2 million for document shredding. 3:37:43
- Staff said demographic services are paid with bond proceeds and shredding is required because of confidential records. 3:38:21
- TSI readiness monitoring report 3:41:47
- A district staff member said the district reached 51.4% completion for all 11th and 12th graders in '24-'25, which surpassed the goal of 44.6%. 3:43:25
- Arati Singh noted that special education students passing both sections rose from 8.4% to 15.4%, and a staff member confirmed it. 3:53:07
- A staff member said the district does not have the Gear Up grant now. ~3:56:39
- Dual language instruction monitoring report 4:02:50
- A district staff member said the average language of instruction score rose from 1.9 to 2.2, with a target of 2.5 in 2029. 4:06:14
- David Kauffman asked about large gaps between campus administrator and district team observations at several schools. 4:26:54
- One board member said they did not believe the method of averaging those numbers was appropriate. 4:39:35
- Executive session and adjournment 4:40:24
Written by software from the meeting's transcript and checked sentence by sentence against it.
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Video: posted by the district as “Austin ISD Board of Trustees Information Session: June 11, 2026”