Austin ISD special meeting, Jul 30, 2026
2 h 04 min · 8 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 2 h 04 min.
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What happened
What happened at this meeting
Board approves modifying Paredes turnaround plan, reassigning students to Mendez and Bailey 14:46
- The superintendent recommended modifying the turnaround plan for Paredes Middle School and reassigning its students to Mendez and Bailey. 14:46
- Trustees questioned district staff about attendance boundaries, class schedules and a contingency plan if the agency did not approve the change. ~35:10
- Lynn Boswell announced that the motion passed, 7 to 2. 2:01:22
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Item by item (11)
- Call to order and public testimony 0:16
- Lynn Boswell called the special voting meeting to order at 6:04 PM and said 3 people signed up to speak in person and 5 left recorded messages. 0:16
- Speakers at public comment asked the board to vote no on closing Paredes and asked about declines in growth and staffing at the school. 5:39
- A speaker at public comment said there were 3 math teacher vacancies at Paredes in the past school year. 12:12
- Paredes turnaround plan recommendation 14:28
- The superintendent recommended reassigning Paredes students to Mendez and Bailey and said Paredes had more vacancies than any other school in the district. 14:46
- A staff survey showed 28 or 44% of the 63 all-staff positions would go to Bailey and 24 or 38% to Mendez. 22:30
- The superintendent said notification letters would go out the next day if the board supported the plan and that the first day of school is August 18th. 32:37
- Attendance boundary questions 34:03
- A staff member said the majority of rising 7th and 8th graders must attend Bailey for Bailey to receive the turnaround plan. 34:44
- One board member asked about the boundaries and said they were worried about families in Goodnight Ranch and Onion Creek traveling to Bailey. 35:10
- A staff member said the boundary was confined at Slaughter Lane to keep a 45-55 balance between the schools. 36:01
- Request for public dashboard 44:32
- Arati Singh asked what signals the superintendent uses to determine whether a school will receive an unacceptable rating. 45:04
- One board member requested a public dashboard showing 3 UA and 4 UA schools and monthly vacancies, and asked to see a draft in a month. 50:57
- One board member said they supported the vote only to avoid putting the district at risk of a takeover. 53:11
- Contingency plan and state approval 55:17
- Staffing and rationale for change 1:01:12
- Fernando Lucas de Urioste asked why the administration was proposing to change the existing turnaround plan. 1:01:26
- A staff member said they were not confident the existing plan could be implemented and said Paredes had over 10, close to 15, 16 vacancies. 1:04:21
- One board member said they were concerned that staffing shortages may be a growing trend. 1:12:54
- Trustee comments on planning ahead 1:15:54
- One board member said the board needs a plan, a backup plan and earlier metrics and decisions. 1:17:41
- Registration and master scheduling 1:20:38
- Andrew Gonzales asked whether a completed Paredes Middle School registration would transfer to a family's new zoned campus and what would additionally be provided to help rewrite master schedules. 1:20:45
- A staff member said registration would continue and that district teams would help build master schedules at the receiving schools. 1:21:13
- Andrew Gonzales requested that the administration return at the August board meeting with an update on transportation, staffing and special education services. 1:29:43
- Trustee questions on schedules, facilities and vacancies 1:30:45
- David Kauffman asked whether students would keep the electives and athletics they selected, and a staff member said it could not be guaranteed. 1:31:18
- A staff member said students could not be moved to Betocek because its last rating was unacceptable. 1:36:41
- David Kauffman asked about the difference between 10 positions posted online and the vacancies reported, and a staff member said the 16 came from a table reviewed weeks earlier. 1:42:53
- Closing remarks and vote 1:55:35
- Announcements and adjournment 2:01:22
- Lynn Boswell announced 2 voting items for August 13th: an MOU with Texas State University for the Prep Grow Your Own grant and a resolution on hazardous traffic conditions. 2:01:22
- The board recessed at 8:07 PM to executive session and reconvened at 9:01 PM. 2:01:22
- The meeting was adjourned at 9:01 PM. 2:03:26
Written by software from the meeting's transcript and checked sentence by sentence against it.
What was said
What board members said, in order
On that shows how many UA ratings they've had. Okay. And the public needs to truly understand that once we get— we hit 5, that's when TEA can take us over. But we have to make decisions about closures before that, before we even get to that point.Arati Singh · Board member50:57
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Other meetings of this board
Video: posted by the district as “Austin ISD Board of Trustees Special Voting Meeting: July 30, 2026”