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Austin ISD approves substitute shortage agreement, new calendar

The district's board also voted to end its partnership with the nonprofit that runs Mendez Middle School.

AUSTIN, Texas — Changes are happening in Austin's school district. The Austin ISD Board of Trustees met Thursday night to vote on several different items.

The board approved an agreement with Education Austin to help address the district's substitute shortage by utilizing existing teachers. Two groups can volunteer to substitute: teachers who have an extra planning break during their school day and special education teacher assistants who work with a full class of students. 

The teachers who would be substituting on their extra planning periods will get paid $18 per hour. The special education training assistants will get paid “an hourly rate of the current substitute rate divided by 7.5 hours to determine the hourly additional amount.” 

RELATED: Austin ISD proposes agreement to address substitute teacher shortage

The board also agreed to end the district's partnership with the Texas Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Coalition, or the T-STEM Coalition, a nonprofit that has been managing Mendez Middle School

Mendez, an in-district charter school, has received poor ratings from the Texas Education Agency for the last several years. If the school does not improve, the State of Texas could take over AISD's board of trustees

AISD said earlier this week that it is working on a plan to improve Mendez, and the board said Thursday that it will discuss the future of the school at a later date.

Finally, the board approved a new calendar on Thursday. The revised schedule aims to create more strategic breaks for teachers to allow for better planning time.

The revised calendar will take effect next school year.

WATCH: Changes to Austin ISD calendar worry education advocates

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