AISD interim superintendent: TEA recommended conservatorship for special education; Mendez Middle School must improve to avoid further intervention

AUSTIN — Interim Superintendent Matthias Segura updated the joint subcommittee on Austin ISD’s response to the Texas Education Agency’s (TEA) recent findings about special education services and on the status of Mendez Middle School, which remains under state oversight because of persistent low accountability ratings.

Segura said TEA’s staff recommended placing conservators over the district’s special education department; he and the board proposed an alternative of a monitor but acknowledged the state could move forward with a conservatorship. Segura described the recommendation as targeted to the special education department — “not over the superintendent or the entire district” — and said the district is working collaboratively with TEA on an audit and a recovery plan with a roughly 18–24 month horizon. He added that TEA typically reviews progress at nine‑week intervals.

Segura told the subcommittee the district has already taken several steps to accelerate evaluations and strengthen…