Parents, students and teachers press Austin ISD trustees over school restart plans; administration clarifies staff process

Hundreds of callers and dozens of recorded messages addressed the Austin ISD Board of Trustees May 8, with many students, parents and district staff urging trustees not to replace principals and classroom teachers as part of proposed restart/turnaround actions for several middle schools.

Public comment: more than 60 people participated in public testimony at the information session ' six spoke in person and 54 left recorded messages ' and the largest block of callers represented students and staff at Webb, Adobe and Burnett (sometimes referred to in the record as "Dobie" or "Dobie/Dobie Middle School" in callers' remarks). Students repeatedly described their campuses as "family" and asked trustees not to remove administrators and teachers. Teachers and union-affiliated speakers urged transparency, staff protections and placement support if positions are changed.

"I don't want my school to be torn apart," said multiple recorded callers identified as Webb and Adobe students, many of them using translated remarks through the district's Spanish-language interpretation service. Webb teachers, staff and parents told trustees that campus staff had developed plans to address accountability challenges and asked…