Austin ISD reports progress to TEA on special education work; frontline system rollout and CFAC updates planned

The Austin ISD administration provided a May 8 update on work required by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) agreed order for special education, telling trustees that the district has closed the corrective action plans that prompted the order and is now focused on system and data improvements, training and family engagement.

Monthly metrics and SPP indicators: Dr. Cherry Lee, interim assistant superintendent for special education, reviewed data the district is submitting to TEA as part of its priority-3 reporting. As of April, the district reported 1,056 pending initial evaluations (with zero out-of-timeline initial evaluations since February) and 835 pending reevaluations, 42 of which were out of timeline. The combined pending count was 1,891, with 42 reevaluations flagged as out of timeline.

Dr. Lee explained that SPP Indicator 11 measures whether initial evaluations and initial ARD meetings occur within legally required timelines (45 school days from consent for evaluation; ARD within 30 calendar days of eligibility) and that SPP Indicator 12 measures whether children referred from early childhood intervention (ECI) have evaluation and an IEP in place by their third birthday. The district submits monthly reports to TEA and uses the data as benchmarks for the annual SPP submission in June.

Data systems and Frontline rollout: administrators said the district is transitioning to a new Frontline special-education management system to centralize IEPs, timelines and parent access. District and special education staff completed in-person trainer sessions in late May and will deliver a staggered training schedule: case managers and SLPs in early June (to support summer IEP work), school psychologists and diagnosticians next, campus leadership at July Leadership Institute, and special education teachers in August. The district intends multiple data loads with verification steps to protect data quality.

Family engagement: the district's Special Education Family Advisory Committee (CFAC) met and provided input on a transition guide for families (from early childhood to elementary, and onward) and on district communication templates. CFAC recommended a parent co-chair for 2025-26; the district said it would add a volunteer parent co-chair and continue regular CFAC meetings. The administration also described an inclusion work group that will create toolkits and resources and said the first of approximately eight to 10 planned sessions will begin soon.

Parent portal and language access: administrators told trustees the Frontline parent portal will allow parents to access documents and provide consent digitally; they said the system can provide automatic Spanish translation for documents and that the district is exploring additional language support.

Requests from trustees and next reporting: trustees asked for ongoing monthly updates on out-of-timeline annual ARD counts and asked the administration to report whether specific evaluation types (for example speech-language evaluations versus others) are disproportionately contributing to delays. The district committed to providing those breakdowns in future board updates.

Why it matters: the TEA agreed order required immediate corrective actions and a path toward sustained compliance. The district reported progress closing action plans and said that the new data system, training and family engagement should reduce lapses and improve transparency for families.

Provenance: The TEA agreed order update and the SPP-related data were presented at the Austin ISD board meeting on May 8, 2025.