The district had been under scrutiny since 2021, when a TEA investigation found AISD had failed to properly evaluate students eligible for special education.
AUSTIN, Texas — Austin ISD leaders announced that the district’s special education program is no longer under state oversight, marking a major turning point nearly three years after the Texas Education Agency (TEA) ordered sweeping improvements.
The district had been under scrutiny since 2021, when a TEA investigation found AISD had failed to properly evaluate students eligible for special education, causing a backlog that left many waiting months for support. In 2023, the state assigned monitors to oversee the district’s progress.
Superintendent Matias Segura said reaching full compliance has required extensive effort and an all‑hands‑on‑deck approach.
“Since the beginning, our focus has been on so much more than compliance,” Segura said. “It has been about fundamentally transforming the special education experience for our students.”
According to district leaders, AISD reached full compliance in December and has maintained it since.
To get to this point, the district said teams have completed more than 10,000 evaluations, set districtwide standards, expanded the special education team by over 250 trained staff and launched a new digital system to track services and ensure students get timely, consistent support.
Segura said the district was assigned 99 corrective tasks and completing them required collaboration at every level.
“While we celebrate this milestone, what’s most important is we continue to meet the needs of all our students,” Segura said. “We’re seeing strong evidence that we’re on the path to strong and sustainable gains for our students with disabilities and remain committed to the work ahead. And we will continue to submit state performance metrics as it is a standard for Texas school districts. That does not change.”
Advocates with Disability Rights Texas told KVUE while it is an important moment for AISD and progress is being made, more improvements are needed.
“We continue to hear from families, from the Austin Community, about getting access to services,” said Steven Aleman, senior policy specialist with Disability Rights Texas. “Not all problems are solved, but certainly there has been progress made.”
District officials emphasized that the end of state oversight is not the end of their work.
“While today is a celebration, it is not a finish line,” said Dr. Cherry Lee, assistant superintendent of Special Education Programs. “The milestone has given us a solid foundation, but our next chapter is about sustainability, maintaining that momentum, continued campus capacity building and setting those high standards for our students.”