AISD trustees press district on PE staffing and heat protocols after teacher complaints

A public comment from Tyler Shaw, an Austin ISD physical-education teacher, and follow-up questions from trustees prompted several hours of discussion about staffing in elementary PE classes, how the district applies heat-related guidance and what administrators are doing to protect students and staff.

Shaw told the board a single PE teacher was sometimes the only adult supervising three groups of children and described classes with “48 or 49 6‑year‑olds” in a single space, some outdoors in high heat. “When we have an incident, we don’t have anybody close by to assist,” he said during the recorded public‑comment segment played for the board. “This is just a huge safety concern for me.”

Trustee Ann Anderson asked administrators to explain how teacher assistants (TAs) are allocated and what the district is doing to prevent heat‑related illness. “What measures have we put in place to prevent heat stroke?” she asked. Interim Superintendent Anthony Mays and senior staff said the district has staffing‑ratio guidance and temperature guidelines included in the district’s Standards of Service and that campuses may deploy additional adults and substitutes while vacancies are filled.

“A campus that had more than two grade levels that couldn’t do 1‑to‑30, that’s where we added the TAs,” a human‑capital official told the board, describing how the district calculated adult‑to‑student ratios. The official said the district initially used an adult‑to‑student target of 1:45 and later targeted 1:30 (adult:student), noting the adult could be either a teacher or a TA.

District leaders said the guidance for heat is tiered by temperature. They cited procedures for 100°F and for 105°F thresholds and said the guidance recommends limiting exposure and providing frequent water breaks and increased supervision. “At 100 degrees… 60 minutes of exposure with a five‑minute water break is what the guideline is,” an administrator said, adding that the district plans to be “more liberal” than the minimum guidance and that principals may adjust schedules and activities based on current conditions.

Trustees and staff agreed the early days of school produce fluctuating class lists and staffing needs. Chief human‑capital staff told the board the district is still completing a first‑10‑day physical student count and that some vacancies are being covered by substitutes while hiring continues. The chief said the district had about 4 PE teacher vacancies at the time of the report and hundreds of applicants in process across teacher and TA postings.

Trustees asked the administration to bring the heat guidance back to the policy committee for review and asked for monitoring data about where adult‑to‑student ratios exceed targets. Trustee Anderson asked for samples of how principals will communicate staffing and safety plans to families when vacancies remain. The administration said it will provide more detailed campus‑level staffing and safety monitoring data in the coming weeks and will implement a monitoring plan for the district’s new elementary master‑schedule design that created additional planning time for teachers.

The exchange ended with trustees asking for follow‑up: clearer, school‑by‑school reporting on PE staff levels and supervisory plans; a policy‑committee discussion of heat rules and their legal/medical basis; and stronger communications to families where vacancies may affect specialized staffing.

Ending: Board members emphasized that student safety is the district’s highest priority and asked staff to return with specific data and any recommended policy changes at upcoming committee meetings. The board did not take any formal policy vote during the discussion.