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Austin ISD board meeting, Sep 10, 2026

2 h 30 min · 8 public speakers

Budget cuts and layoffs ▶ 2:13:27Reading and test scores ▶ 22:39Safety, weapons and police ▶ 2:20:52

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 30 min.

  1. Who spoke · first speaks at
What happened

What happened at this meeting

Austin ISD trustees accept 3rd grade literacy and numeracy monitoring reports 1:28:45

  • Several speakers at public comment asked the board to work to avoid a state takeover of the district. 8:38
  • The Austin ISD Board of Trustees heard summative monitoring reports on 3rd grade literacy and 3rd grade numeracy and accepted both reports. 23:58
  • The superintendent reported that 54% of 3rd grade students earned meets grade level or above on the STAAR reading assessment, up from 49% in '24-'25, and that 44% did so in mathematics, up from 42%. 25:11
  • David Kauffman asked about a tax and revenue anticipation note and a recapture payment, items for the upcoming voting meeting. 2:11:46

Until Nov 4, lines where a board member takes a side don't name the member. Why →

Item by item (8)
  1. Call to order and public comment 0:29
    • Lynn Boswell called the information session to order at 6:09 PM and said 4 people signed up to speak in person and 12 left recorded messages. 0:29
    • Other speakers asked the board to urge a full environmental impact statement on the proposed MOPAC expansion near Austin High School and asked for IT support for teachers moving materials from Canvas to Google Classroom. 10:51
  2. Trustee follow-up on public comment 21:11
    • Arati Singh requested written follow-up to trustees on matters raised by two of the in-person speakers. 22:01
    • Kevin Foster offered congratulations to a speaker's family member starting at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. 22:23
  3. Third grade literacy monitoring report 22:39
    • The superintendent said the goal is to raise the share of 3rd graders at meets grade level or above in STAAR reading from 47% in June of 2024 to 59% by June of 2029, and that the district is on track. 23:58
    • A staff member said the American Indian student group dropped from 78% to 43%, missing a 61% target. 30:57
    • David Kauffman said 2,316 3rd graders were not meeting the standard and asked what the district's theory of action was for faster gains. 1:05:49
    • Lynn Boswell announced that the motion to accept the monitoring report passed by all those on the dais. 1:28:45
  4. Third grade numeracy monitoring report 1:28:45
    • The superintendent said the goal is to raise the share of 3rd graders at meets grade level or above in STAAR mathematics from 39% in June of 2024 to 55% in June of 2029. 1:29:24
    • A staff member said the American Indian student group dropped from 40% to 29% and missed its target. 1:35:19
    • Candace Hunter said all 118 students in one group at a struggling school were not successful in math and said trustees would be sent a list of schools to monitor. 1:49:58
    • The motion to accept the monitoring report passed by all those on the dais. 2:02:23
  5. Preview of board administration items 2:02:23
    • David Kauffman asked when scorecard measure 2.1 would be updated, and a staff member said there was no defined timeline and suggested a board subgroup. 2:03:38
    • Arati Singh asked when the board would discuss constraint 3.1, and a staff member said one had just been added for the next month. 2:05:01
    • One board member said the hope was that monitoring of those campuses would become its own agenda item. 2:09:02
  6. Preview of business and finance items 2:10:37
    • A financial advisor said that at a 3.75% interest rate the interest cost would be about $1.5 million on $140 million borrowed, with about $500,000 in professional fees. 2:13:27
    • David Kauffman asked whether about $630 million would be sent to the state for recapture, and a staff member said that was correct. 2:19:50
    • A speaker asked why a $1.8 million increase to the police budget was not identified during budgeting and asked for clarification before a vote. 2:20:52
    • A speaker said the board's counsel and staff would be asked to make the note a separate voting item. 2:16:29
  7. Preview of talent strategy items 2:22:41
    • A speaker asked what had been communicated to employees about the 2027 benefits plans, and a staff member said a final proposal would be in the board update that week. 2:23:30
    • A staff member said benefit changes should be finalized in time to notify employees before open enrollment. 2:26:53
  8. Executive session and adjournment 2:27:53
    • The open meeting recessed at 8:37 PM for executive session. 2:28:32
    • The meeting was adjourned at 10:21 PM. 2:29:24

Written by software from the meeting's transcript and checked sentence by sentence against it.

What was said

What board members said, in order

I have just a handful. Thank you so much for this, um, and thank you to everyone for conversation. Um, so I see statewide for all students that we're actually 3 points above the average for this year on the statewide STAAR for 3rd grade reading. That was exciting to see.Lynn Boswell · President1:10:50
Other meetings

Other meetings of this board

Video: posted by the district as “Austin ISD Board of Trustees Information Session: September 10, 2026”