Last AISD board meeting of the school year covers budget plan, underperforming students: Yes, there will be a proposal to increase property taxes – News

You probably saw this coming, but it looks like Austin ISD will be asking homeowners to vote to increase their property taxes this fall. The request is included in the 2024-25 school year budget, which the district’s board of trustees approved unanimously at its June 20 meeting.

The tax increase request, known as VATRE – a voter-approved tax rate choice – is expected to be submitted by the district in August and become a proposal on the November ballot. If voters approve it, taxes on a median-value home would increase by about $35 a month. The increase will provide the district with an additional $160 million a year, but due to the state’s complicated school finance laws, local schools will only be able to receive $41 million. The rest will go to the state of Texas and be used by other school districts and perhaps for Republican projects such as militarizing the border.

This dynamic – that the district will only retain a quarter of any potential VATRE tax revenue – has caused heartburn among trustees, especially Kevin Foster. In previous meetings, Foster appeared to be leading the charge against VATRE. But he has apparently changed his mind, as the district plans to use $17 million of potential tax revenue for targeted raises for teachers and staff.

“We love our teachers, and when we gave them a historic 7 percent raise last year, all I said was that this can’t be a one-time thing where we give nothing next year,” Foster said. “What does a 7% increase mean then? That’s really a 3.5 percent increase over two years. And that’s not what we’re trying to do. Now we are trying to lead the way in compensation.”

Foster and Brandi Hosack, AISD’s teacher retention specialist, then had a helpful discussion explaining why a pay raise and a tax increase to make it possible are necessary. Hosack said last year’s raise made the district’s first- and second-year teacher salaries competitive with nearby school districts, but it didn’t affect teachers with more experience who had worked in the district seven years or more. “We won’t be able to keep them if we don’t keep up with the market,” Hosack said. She added that the increases depend on the passage of the VATRE Act.

“I’m so mad at you right now,” Foster replied jokingly. “And the reason I’m mad at you is because I never thought I could even remotely support VATRE.”

“I never thought I could support VATRE even a little bit.” – Kevin Foster, Austin ISD trustee

Thursday’s meeting was the last one before the summer break, so there were unresolved issues to be resolved, including the finalization of the so-called a district scorecard – its statement of goals setting out its top priorities. The previous scorecard included a dozen priorities and was deemed too cluttered by the Texas Education Agency when AISD and TEA reached an agreement last fall to address the district’s special education crisis. The new scorecard, which will run through the end of the decade, focuses on improving five specific metrics: third-grade reading; third grade math; completion of Algebra I by disadvantaged middle school students; college or career readiness of high school graduates; and bilingualism of high school graduates.

The committee also looked at the results of end-of-year exams in reading and mathematics for third-grade students, which are one of the most important elements of the assessment. This year’s results were moderately encouraging. While the district did not meet its goal of having 50% of third-grade students reading at an elementary level by the end of the school year, that number increased from 43% at the beginning of the year to 47%. It was a similar story in math: The district fell short of its goal of 50% of students performing at grade level, but raised that number from 33% to 39%.

After presenting the data, Principal Lynn Boswell asked LaKesha Drinks, assistant superintendent of elementary schools, what factors distinguished schools with better student outcomes from those with lower outcomes, particularly for African-American students. According to Drinks, schools that did better identified students who needed help and provided so-called interventions – such as tutoring or talking to child care providers – early and often.

Drinks also said that during her numerous visits to schools this year, it was easy to see which teachers were supportive and which were not. “When you walk into the classroom, it hits you right away,” Drinks said. “It is immediately clear whether students feel that the teacher cares about them, that they are engaged and that they are taught. And in full transparency, I see that this is not the case. “This is clearly visible when you walk into a classroom and there are five black men sitting in the back of the classroom and they are completely screened, but the class is going on as normal.”

After discussing strategies for improving instruction next year, the board held a series of rapid votes, with the budget vote coming last. By this point, the meeting had entered its sixth hour, and the board members looked tired. Board Chair Arati Singh asked if anyone had any comments before the vote. None did. “Oh my God, yes!” Singh said with delight. The trustees took the vote, and Singh quickly adjourned the meeting.