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 the district to invest in those plans instead of conducting wholesale staff replacements before campuses had a chance to implement support.

Former trustee and parent Sheryl Bradley also spoke during public testimony to object to a separate administrative decision: a newly announced graduation parking fee. Bradley said charging families the fee was inappropriate for graduation events.

Legal and procedural references: a citizen, Steve Swanson, cited the Texas Education Code and urged the board to use its oversight authority to hold the Texas Education Agency accountable in planning for campuses. Several callers asked trustees to follow the statutory campus-improvement processes and to ensure formal campus plans are posted and reviewed before punitive personnel actions happen.

District response and clarifications: Superintendent Miguel S—egura and his senior staff responded to questions from trustees and the public. Segura said the district's recommended plan includes three restart actions at Burnett, Webb and Adobe (the administration's briefing used the term "restart" to describe Austin ISD's managed turnaround approach) and emphasized that restarts would leave students at their current campuses.

"A restart includes having the campus remain at that location; there are no moves," Segura said. He said the restart model requires an evaluation of staff "primarily in core instructional areas" so that teachers who meet the district's criteria may remain. "Classified staff including front office staff, teacher assistants, custodial staff, food service'those individuals will remain at the campus," Segura added.

Segura and Chief Talent Strategy officer Brandy Hosek said the district is not conducting mass firings. "We are not firing staff," the administration said in response to concerns reported by several callers. The district described a process overseen by Talent Strategy for evaluating instructional staff against criteria aligned with turnaround expectations and noted an administrative expectation that campus leaders demonstrate specific turnaround experience as defined by state guidance.

Timeline and possible contingency: the administration told the board it plans to submit detailed restart plans to the Texas Education Agency in June (the administration identified June 12 as an internal target and noted a formal submission window through June 30). The administration also said an 1882 partnership with an external operator remains a contingency: if the district-managed restart is underway but insufficient progress is evident by December, the district could begin a procurement process to identify a partner for an 1882 transfer in 2026-27. In that contingency, district staff said 2025-26 would be a "pause" year under 1882 rules and a partner-led accountability year would follow.

Why it matters: parents, students and staff told trustees they fear job loss, program cuts and loss of community stability; district leaders said they are seeking rapid turnaround in student outcomes while trying to keep students at their campuses and to preserve non-instructional staff and electives.

Next steps: the administration will finalize district restart plans and submit them to TEA according to the district schedule; the administration also plans additional public communications, campus-level engagement and a summer program plan and said it will publish further details on a turnaround webpage and in follow-up board materials.

Provenance: Public comment and the administration's restart update were recorded during the May 8, 2025 Austin ISD board information session and the restart-update presentation occurred near the end of the meeting.