Update (June 30, 2023) Austin Voices completed its 2023 round of “Our Voices” conversations, with meetings at 10 schools and 430 parents, teachers, students, staff and community member participating. Click here to see the final report, including a summary and notes from each of the sessions.

Several common themes around challenges emerged from the ten conversations across all campuses. These include the impact of understaffing on campuses; teacher pay and teacher retention; the lack of bilingual staff, both support staff and teachers; class size increases resulting from budget cuts; deficits in counseling and mental health supports; inequities in extracurriculars, including sports and after school programs; and safety and security concerns. At most campuses, concerns were expressed about the facilities and grounds.

Positives that were repeated across campuses were a general satisfaction with schools, except for issues around staffing and having unqualified/uncertified teachers/subs teaching classes. Many parents commented positively on the efforts of teachers to communicate with parents. A number of parents commented on the importance of family engagement and supports from families, including the coming from Family Resource Centers. Both students and parents gave kudos to soccer and other sports programs (except the lack of up-to-date uniforms) as well as other after school programs.

Notes from the “Our Voices” conversations will be used in community school planning processes during the 2023-24 school year, with a new round of “Our Voices” conversations to be held in Spring, 2024. One other result of the “Our Voices” conversations was the forming of a permanent parent and teacher advocacy team in the Northeast Vertical Team (NEAT), that will spearhead conversations around equity as budget and other decisions are made in Spring 2024. The Northeast Vertical Team was particularly hard hit by district budget cuts in 2022-23, and is also the home of the majority of non-English speaking students and parents in the district.

(May 4, 2023) Austin Voices is hosting a series of community conversations called “Our Voices, Our Vision, Our Schools” throughout Austin during the spring and summer of 2023. With many schools still facing challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as severe cuts in staffing instituted during the previous AISD administration, Austin Voices wants to hear from parents, students, teachers and staff about the strengths, challenges and opportunities we have going forward.  Conversations have already been held at Burnet, Dobie, Webb, Hart, and Travis, with over 400 participants. Four more conversations are scheduled in May, with more in process.

Staffing was at the top of the list of challenges in the first five meetings. The previous administration reduced assistant principals, counselors and instructional coaches at many Title 1 campuses and restricted how Title 1 funds could be used to fill gaps in classroom staff. Teachers and parents have said that these cuts have affected school climate, behavior and student support systems, including mental health. Without enough counselors, students needing referrals to services are falling through the cracks.

If you would like to schedule and “Our Voices” conversation at your campus or in your community, fill out this form.