Austin ISD reports progress on TEA agreed order: new case‑management system, training and parent advisory activity

Austin ISD administrators reported progress Thursday on the district’s compliance with an “agreed order” issued by the Texas Education Agency that requires improvements to special education services, governance and data systems.

Joshua John, executive director for governance and accountability, told trustees the agreed order included 99 deliverables across Lone Star governance, corrective action plans, effective‑practice adoption, data‑system improvements and parent outreach. He said 96 of those 99 deliverables have been completed and the remaining items are ongoing monitoring obligations, including continuing to read a monthly Lone Star governance time‑on‑student‑outcomes metric into the record and submitting monthly special‑education reports to TEA and the board.

District leaders said the most consequential operational change this year was the September 2024 decision to transition to a new special‑education case‑management platform, Frontline Special Programs Management. The administration described a fast implementation timeline (project kickoff in January and go‑live in July), heavy training needs and a “large” lift for staff who must learn new workflows. Director of evaluations Amanda Reyes and interim assistant superintendent Cherry Lee said the district prioritized training for case managers, related‑service providers, diagnosticians and principals; the district recorded nearly 700 special‑education staff at its first virtual learning lab session this fall.

Staff said the new platform will enable more consistent monitoring of evaluation and re‑evaluation timelines, better documentation of annual ARD meetings, and improved reporting to TEA. Trustees and administrators acknowledged that the district’s prior system had not produced reliable reports and that the switch alleviated that shortfall—but that the transition required weeks of follow‑up and iterative vendor support.

Under the parent‑engagement elements of the agreed order, the district reconstituted a Special Education Family Advisory Committee (SEFAC). The committee will meet six times during the 2025–26 school year and a parent and a teacher will serve as co‑chairs. The district added a family‑learning monthly webinar series and a family‑engagement staff position; the first family newsletter reached 15,000 households, the district said.

Child‑find outreach (the process by which public schools identify and evaluate children who may have disabilities) is also ongoing: the district held a virtual child‑find session on Sept. 3 with more than 30 family participants, and administrators reminded caregivers that they can request special‑education evaluations for students in public, private or home‑school settings via the district website.

The administration also announced an in‑person transition fair for families of students with disabilities scheduled for Sept. 27 at Bowie High School. The event, intended for families planning for post‑secondary options and independent living services, will include more than 50 agencies and vendors.

Trustees asked where the agreed‑order artifacts and monitoring documents could be reviewed; administrators said those materials could be shared with trustees on request and that monitors from TEA had reviewed many of the deliverables. Trustee questions also focused on whether the district had adequate staffing and whether the new Frontline platform would address historical lapses in evaluation and annual meeting timelines. District staff said Frontline, plus ongoing professional learning and campus PLCs for special‑education staff, were intended to close those gaps.

The district said it will continue monthly reporting to TEA, expand parent learning options in October (including dyslexia‑related sessions), and maintain regular outreach to ECI (Early Childhood Intervention) providers to smooth transitions to school‑based services.