AUSTIN, Texas — The Austin ISD Board of Trustees voted Thursday to approve a new 1882 partnership allowing Third Future Schools to operate Mendez Middle School.
In December, Superintendent Stephanie Elizalde said that the State of Texas could take over the AISD board if Mendez Middle School's failing Texas Education Agency (TEA) ratings didn't improve. To avoid consequences from the State and to try to improve Mendez, the board was considering ending a contract with the Texas Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Coalition, or the T-STEM Coalition, a nonprofit that had been managing the in-district charter school.
Later that month, the board did terminate the partnership and AISD began engaging with the community to find a new partner to run Mendez.
The district said that on Feb. 8, it made a call for 1882 proposals due on Feb. 25. The 1882 designation refers to Senate Bill 1882, which was signed into effect by the Texas Legislature in 2017 and "provides incentives for districts to contract to partner with an open-enrollment charter school, institutions of higher education, nonprofits, or government entities," according to the TEA.
AISD said it began screening the proposals it received on Feb. 28 and notified the finalist, Third Future Schools, on March 1. Through March, a transition oversight committee received presentations from Third Future Schools and made a final recommendation to AISD's administration.
AISD said some of the goals in the contract with Third Future Schools include:
- Improving Mendez to a “D” campus rating in the 2022-23 school year, improving to a “C” rating in the 2023-24 school year and improving to a “B” rating by the 2024-25 and 2025-26 school years
- Increasing the number of students receiving special education services demonstrating achievement on state assessments on all subjects
- Decreasing the number of students issued a disciplinary action year to year
AISD also announced in February that it would be transitioning sixth grade to 10 elementary schools that fed into Mendez and Martin middle schools. The district said the move is an effort to reduce the number of fifth graders who unenroll from AISD instead of attending those two middle schools.
Thursday's discussion was streamed live on AISD.TV and on the Austin ISD Facebook page.
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