After a busy and eventful week in which the Board of Trustees met twice to consider and approve all six Annual Academic and Facilities Recommendations (AAFRs) for the 2012-13 school year I want to share my thoughts about what to expect moving forward.
First, I would like to thank the Board of Trustees and our school community for being engaged in the process to develop these AAFRs.
When I was selected to be superintendent of Austin ISD, the Board identified four big-picture goals that were the basis for the district’s Strategic Plan: To have students performing at or above grade level, to eliminate achievement gaps between groups of students, to prepare all students for college, career and life, and to have all schools meet or exceed state and federal accountability standards. The Board further clarifies yearly expectations by setting annual priorities for each year. This year, the Board’s priorities were: to explore and establish to provide an enhanced portfolio of academic options; to refine our human capital strategies; to improve the school and district climate; and to develop academic and support strategies for special populations.
These are the goals and priorities that drive my work as superintendent, and they are the framework for many of the decisions that we make every day. One of my most important responsibilities as superintendent is to ensure that more students graduate and are prepared academically for college or careers. In a dynamic, achieving city like Austin, there is no reason to have 78 percent graduation rate. So, when some people suggest that we are moving too quickly in trying to achieve our goals and measurable outcomes set forth in the Strategic Plan, I cannot agree with them, especially when we know that every year we wait to make a decision, more students will not graduate. Rather, we should expect every one of our students to leave AISD with a diploma in hand.
When I was selected to be superintendent of Austin ISD, the Board identified four big-picture goals that were the basis for the district’s Strategic Plan: To have students performing at or above grade level, to eliminate achievement gaps between groups of students, to prepare all students for college, career and life, and to have all schools meet or exceed state and federal accountability standards. The Board further clarifies yearly expectations by setting annual priorities for each year. This year, the Board’s priorities were: to explore and establish to provide an enhanced portfolio of academic options; to refine our human capital strategies; to improve the school and district climate; and to develop academic and support strategies for special populations.
These are the goals and priorities that drive my work as superintendent, and they are the framework for many of the decisions that we make every day. One of my most important responsibilities as superintendent is to ensure that more students graduate and are prepared academically for college or careers. In a dynamic, achieving city like Austin, there is no reason to have 78 percent graduation rate. So, when some people suggest that we are moving too quickly in trying to achieve our goals and measurable outcomes set forth in the Strategic Plan, I cannot agree with them, especially when we know that every year we wait to make a decision, more students will not graduate. Rather, we should expect every one of our students to leave AISD with a diploma in hand.
The Administration developed the AAFRs in response to the work of the Facility Master Plan Task Force. These are the significant events that have taken place over the past two years related to the November, 2009: The AISD Board of Trustees directs the Administration to develop a Facility Master Plan.
- January, 2010: The Facility Master Plan Task Force initiates a year-long facility review process, including community input and evaluation of facility condition.
- March, 2011: The Board of Trustees accepts the Facility Master Plan Task Force Report.
- May, 2011: The Board directs the administration to prepare a response to the Facility Master Plan Task Force and prepare a recommendation for how to move forward.
- September, 2011: The Administration presents its recommendation to the Board, which included that the Board adopt a Facility Master Plan Framework, and that each year, Annual Academic and Facilities Recommendations are presented for action in December.
- November, 2011: The Board adopts the district’s first Facility Master Plan Framework.
- December, 2011: The Board adopts six Annual Academic and Facilities Recommendations for implementation in the 2012-13 school year.
Since the Facility Master Plan Task Force completed its work during the spring, I worked hundreds of hours with a facility master plan work group comprised of representatives of selected board-approved committees and district-established advisory bodies to develop a Facility Master Plan Framework. Participants in this process also analyzed a wide variety of materials on academic programming, student population data, and operational needs to develop the preliminary scenarios for the development of the Annual Academic and Facilities Recommendations for school year 2012-13, including in-district charters such as the proposed partnership with IDEA Public Schools.
The community’s participation and feedback have been an invaluable part of the process, helping to shape and refine the district’s recommendations and the contractual agreement. Since the summer, AISD team members have met with hundreds of community members and received several thousand survey responses from parents. And, during that past three months, the district has provided information and welcomed feedback at more than 50 meetings with external groups and more than 40 meetings with internal stakeholders.
The community’s participation and feedback have been an invaluable part of the process, helping to shape and refine the district’s recommendations and the contractual agreement. Since the summer, AISD team members have met with hundreds of community members and received several thousand survey responses from parents. And, during that past three months, the district has provided information and welcomed feedback at more than 50 meetings with external groups and more than 40 meetings with internal stakeholders.
These are the six Annual Academic Facilities Recommendations that the Board approved for the 2012-13 school year.
1. Expansion of the Dual Language Immersion Program
Dual Language Immersion Programs will be expanded to four more schools. There will be a one-way Chinese dual language immersion program at Doss Elementary and three two-way Spanish dual language immersion programs at Blanton, Casey, and Galindo Elementary Schools.
2. Learning Support Centers
Students who are removed from classes for disciplinary reasons will remain on their campuses rather than attending an off-campus disciplinary alternative education program, if the removal was for discretionary reasons. Additional teachers and counselors will be assigned to campuses based on student needs and related services. The district will seek an agreement with an outside provider to operate a Learning Support Center to serve students who are removed from class for mandatory reasons, as well as those removed for discretionary reasons if there are safety concerns.
3. Address Overcrowding in North-Central Elementary Schools
To reduce overcrowding in north-central elementary schools, the following changes to school assignments will be made:
Barrington, Brown and Walnut Creek elementary schools will no longer offer sixth grade. Sixth grade students will attend either Webb or Dobie Middle School.
4. Designation of 2008 Bond Program Elementary School
The Board approved the designation of the north-central area of the District for the location of the 2008 Bond Program Elementary School.
5. Graduation Pathways Partnership with Responsive Education Solutions
As an In-District Charter, Responsive Education Solutions will provide a Graduation Pathways Education Program at Lanier and Travis high schools. The program is designed for students who are over age for their grade level, having failed at least three classes per year over time. Using individualized curriculum plans as well as direct teach, paper-based curriculum, and computer-based instruction, students will have the opportunity to recover credits, accelerate credit accrual, and receive intensive tutoring in math and other areas of need.
6. College Preparation Partnership with IDEA
For the 2012-13 school year, IDEA will offer grades K-2 and 6 at Allan elementary school. In subsequent years, IDEA will expand each year, so that by 2018-19, the program will serve students in grades K-5 in the current Allan attendance zone and all students in the Eastside Memorial assignment area in grades 6-12. Any remaining seats will be available to other students in the district through a lottery system.
Students in pre-K and grades 3-5 who live in the current Allan attendance zone will be assigned to Govalle or Ortega. In future years, students who opt out of IDEA will attend Martin Middle School in grades 6-8 and Travis High School in grades 9-12.
In January, we will begin developing AAFRs for the 2013-14 school year. This 18-month process is described in the Facility Master Plan Framework that the Board adopted in November, 2011. I want to thank everyone who contributed to the process over the past two years, and I look forward to working with you and others in the year ahead.
Reflecting on the past two years of facility planning in AISD, it is clear to me why the district has never had an articulated, long-term Facility Master Plan. It's not an easy challenge to solve and it won't happen in short order. I will take years for us to agree on where we are going and what hard decisions we are willing to make to get there. But, I know we can get there. There will be missteps and triumphs along the way but we can do this with all the talent Austin has to offer. While we have a framework for our planning, I know that the district and the community must continue to have more conversations in the months and years ahead to finally get us to a place where we have a long-term facility master plan. The process has not always been easy, but as I look at what we have accomplished as a district and a community so far, I believe that we have made great progress in our shared goal of offering all students in AISD access to a high quality education.
