The Austin school board will discuss 40 recommendations Monday evening (Jan. 7th) aimed at pulling the district out of its $30-million deficit.
There are more than 40 recommendations that range from eliminating historic property tax exemptions to outsourcing maintenance work, and possibly redrawing school boundaries, which the employee teacher’s union said is needed to address both school enrollment and social equity within the Austin school district. The idea of selling services to charter schools is also under consideration and generating revenue by increasing the availability of child care services on campuses and at work sites.
A task force report said AISD has already exhausted all easy and non-controversial budget corrections, leaving them in a real tough spot now and, as the report explained, only politically charged and difficult options to address the structural budget remain. Like the possibility of closing up to 15 campuses and cutting down staff in the central office to better reflect staff ratios.
The report highlighted the desperation of AISD to fix this problem, citing ever-shrinking enrollment, aging infrastructure, and skyrocketing per-student spending.
(Photo:shutterstock/By BlurryMe)
