After two Austin Independent School District Middle schools triggered a state intervention, Austin Mayor Kirk Watson said Monday he hopes state officials acknowledge the district has made progress. Now, it’s up to Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath whether to take over the whole district or do a less drastic intervention. Watson said there have been no talks with state officials, but that he expects those conversations will happen soon.
“There’s an appeal process, and then there’s some time before ultimate decisions have to be made, but I’m sure there’s going to be discussions about how successful things appear to be moving,” Watson said. “But the two schools that have had the five years in a row of F’s, something’s gonna need to happen there.”
Austin ISD was the only district in Texas to trigger a potential state takeover based on the just-released accountability scores. With Webb and Burnet middle schools receiving five consecutive “F” ratings, Morath could decide to appoint a new superintendent and board of managers to run the district, something that has been done in multiple districts across the state in the last few years. The other option is to close Burnet and Webb middle schools, which received the five consecutive F ratings, and appoint a conservator to oversee the district’s progress.
Watson said students from Burnet and Webb could be moved to A and B rated campuses. But whether that would avoid a full takeover of the district is up to the state.
AISD officials have until Sept. 11 to appeal the ratings. During a board meeting on Thursday, AISD Superintendent Matias Segura said he would not speculate about the future of AISD. He said district officials were looking into the appeal process, but did not detail if that was the path they would follow.
Overall, AISD earned a B grade this year, moving up from a C for the first time in four years. In the last two years, the number of schools receiving an A or B increased 42% and the number of campuses with a D or F decreased by 35%.
Watson said that since Segura took over the district in 2024, it has been clear that he has the support of the board members and of the community. He said Segura’s approach to improving the district’s accountability ratings has shown positive results.
“It is undeniable that AISD is making the kind of improvement that we should all want and that the state of Texas wants,” Watson said.
Segura said last week that if AISD continues seeing the same improvement, he is sure that in one year the district will have zero F’s.
Commissioner Morath said Friday that it was “way too preliminary to discuss what might happen” in AISD. Final ratings and a decision should be known before Dec. 11.