AUSTIN, Texas — Addison McKenna is a senior within the Austin Independent School District (AISD) and is also special education student.
McKenna said students with disabilities are seen as an "afterthought," and the problem is the mindset toward them. It's one of many examples as to why the district is tangling with the possibility of a conservatorship.
On Thursday, AISD's superintendent and board members met to discuss the future of their district as the deadline to sign-on to a proposed agreed order with the Texas Education Agency (TEA) looms.
The district has until Sept. 29 to decide whether it will take part in the state's alternative Special Ed plan over a full-on conservatorship.
Under the alternative plan, a slew of changes would occur, from board policy revisions to requirements from the board and administrations.
The TEA would install monitors to make recommendations, with failure to comply with any of the requirements allowing the TEA to step in.
Parents and McKenna addressed school leaders. The majority called the proposal a "takeover," and a step toward setting the district and its special education students up for failure.
"If you're a special education student like me, you kind of have to fight every single day to try to get to close to normalcy," McKenna said.
Another factor in the proposal would be to implement the "Lone Star Governance" training model, which would direct the superintendent and board members to spend 50% of each board meetings on student outcomes in an effort to make required improvements to special education.
It is the same model that Houston ISD is currently under.
AISD laid out a presentation of what has been done so far to address past and current problems. Since January, AISD confirmed that it has decreased the evaluation backlog by more than 40%, added 50 special education staff members to accommodate the influx of students needing services and have increased the special education budget by $30.2 million.
The district also added that it has tested approximately 80% more students this summer compared to last.
The superintendent and board members aren't sure what will happen if they ultimately decide not to move forward with the proposed agreed order. However, in that situation, as they pointed out, the TEA could move forward with a conservatorship without the district's consent.
There was no vote during Thursday night's meeting, but district leaders remained firm that whatever course of action they might take, they will remain committed to taking the necessary steps to fix past problems.
As for parents, and students like McKenna, they believe the TEA should take steps to fix the mindset of the district.
"It's not just numbers, it's not evaluations – it's the mindset, it's the problem," McKenna said. "I feel like there are things TEA can do to make progress toward that mindset change 'cause it's not going to happen overnight. But I don't think the plan that's being proposed is beneficial."