Students protest Austin ISD’s plan to turnaround the Burnet Middle School by walking out of class Tuesday, May 13, 2025. Austin ISD officials are privately weighing how the district can avoid a state takeover, according to people with knowledge of internal discussions.
Mikala Compton/American-Statesman
With the possibility of a state takeover looming, Austin Independent School District officials are exploring options that would avert intervention, according to three people familiar with behind-the-scenes discussions.
After the Texas Education Agency in May rejected a district bid to buy more time for three struggling campuses to improve academically, state intervention became a more serious threat to Austin ISD’s local control than ever before.
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The state will release new campus grades on Aug. 14, and if any of the three chronically under performing North Austin middle schools scores another failing grade, TEA will have the power to take over the entire district. Under a state takeover, TEA sidelines elected trustees in favor of a board of state appointees and often ousts the sitting superintendent.
Despite recent developments, Austin ISD leaders have been unwilling to speculate publicly on the possibility of a takeover. They have declined to comment on or answer questions about the possibility of state intervention. Instead, officials have touted student growth on recent state tests in high school-level courses, elementary math and eighth grade.
But behind the scenes, district officials are scrambling to avoid the intervention, according to three people who were not authorized to speak publicly about the discussions. Among the considerations: requesting TEA re-score thousands of failed state tests for a new grade and evaluating the possibility of a campus closure or other options as an alternative to a complete district takeover.
Top city officials, lawmakers and education consultants have been involved in the discussions.
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The TEA declined to comment on whether Austin ISD and the agency were involved in talks. Austin ISD declined to comment on whether leaders are seeking alternatives to a takeover. Mayor Kirk Watson’s office did not return requests for comment.
A deal with TEA
State law requires TEA to take over a district or mandate campus closures if any school scores five consecutive failing grades on the state’s accountability system. Grades are based largely on student results on the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, or STAAR, tests.
Since the “Count to Five” law passed, the TEA has taken over seven of eight districts that triggered consequences, sparing just one school system — Wichita Falls ISD — a complete district takeover.
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The North Texas district reached a deal with TEA in March, promising to improve academic scores. In exchange, TEA left elected trustees and the superintendent in place.
The agreement required Wichita Falls ISD to close the failing campus, Kirby Middle School, and follow the advice of a state-appointed conservator, who has power to override school board and superintendent decisions. The conservator can also direct trustees to resign, according to the agreement. The district had already closed Kirby Middle in 2024.
Wichita Falls ISD also agreed to partner with nonprofits and charter schools to run campuses, adopt the controversial state-backed Bluebonnet curriculum and take “any other necessary actions or actions otherwise directed by the conservator” to raise student scores.
If one of Austin ISD’s schools at risk of a fifth failing grade — Dobie, Webb or Burnet middle schools — triggers the law, the district and TEA could negotiate a similar plan. Sources who spoke to the Statesman said one option being explored is the closure of a campus that trips the “Count to Five” law.
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Austin ISD Superintendent Matias Segura said during a Tuesday school board meeting that he doesn’t anticipate asking the board to close additional campuses before the start of the school year.
Two people with knowledge of internal district discussions indicated that top Austin city leaders have been assisting the district in drafting options to avoid a takeover. Another person with knowledge of discussions suggested that district leadership is seeking a meeting with the governor’s office. TEA Commissioner Mike Morath is appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott.
Rescoring STAAR tests
Short of convincing TEA a takeover is not necessary, Austin ISD is pursuing another path to avoid intervention: asking TEA to rescore student tests that a campus principal or the district believe are incorrectly graded. Many of these exams are likely marked with failing grades.
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This year, Austin ISD asked the TEA to rescore about 7,600 STAAR tests, according to records obtained by the Statesman. Austin ISD administered about 102,000 tests in 2025, TEA data shows. Last year, the district asked TEA to rescore just 30 exams.
A district spokeswoman confirmed Austin ISD has received all the results of its rescore requests, but didn’t clarify what scores had changed.
It’s not uncommon for school districts to request that TEA reevaluate a test, especially after the state in 2023 introduced a new method of scoring short-answer responses that relies on computer, rather than human grading. In 2025, The Dallas Morning News reported that 35% of the tests submitted by Dallas ISD for a new score resulted in an improved grade.
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Districts pay $50 for a rescore request, but TEA typically reimburses the fee if a student’s score improves. If no Austin ISD scores improve, officials could pay more than $381,000. District officials said Tuesday that they expect some of the scores will change.
TEA will release A-F scores for campuses — based on these STAAR tests — across Texas on Aug. 14. Any announcement of state intervention would likely come months after that date, when the district has had time to exhaust all appeals.