Mendez leaders report attendance gains, sharp drop in discipline and announce principal transition

Mendez campus leaders reported to the Austin ISD Board of Trustees in April that average daily attendance has risen to 86% and discipline incidents have fallen to 44 this school year from 157 the previous year, and they announced that Miss Miranda will take over as the campus principal for the 2025–26 school year.

The update, delivered by Mr. Willis, principal at Mendez, and Miss Miranda, covered enrollment and demographics for second and eighth grades, leadership-development activities for staff, athletics and extracurricular programming, plans to restore sixth grade next year, summer school (called “fifth quarter”), ongoing hiring for sixth-grade vacancies and a leadership transition.

Mr. Willis said the campus currently reports about 200 students enrolled in grades 7 and 8 and an average daily attendance (ADA) of 86%. He noted that ADA was about 80% at the end of the previous year. "At this time last year or end of year last year, our ADA was at 80%, so that is an increase from previous years," he said.

He reported a decline in discipline incidents, listing 157 incidents in the prior year and 44 incidents this year. The presentation did not provide a slide-calculated difference; the transcript’s spoken math contained an inconsistent figure that was not reflected in the numeric totals presented.

On staffing and leadership, Mr. Willis described leadership development opportunities for teachers and said two teacher leaders have been promoted to administrative roles and have served as admin-on-duty and led professional development sessions. He invited trustees to campus events including a May talent show and the eighth-grade graduation and noted athletic events using the campus tennis courts.

The presentation said some eligible students have been notified about a planned student travel opportunity to Germany. The campus also described its extracurricular “dyad” classes — cooking, art, photography and MMA — and said athletics participation has filled the stands at recent events.

School leaders outlined plans to restore sixth grade for the 2025–26 school year and said they are working with Austin ISD to hire staff, order furniture and set technology in place. Mr. Willis said teacher vacancies listed on the slide are all for sixth-grade positions and that salary ranges were shown on the slide; exact salary numbers were not specified in the spoken presentation.

Summer programming described as "fifth quarter" will be mandatory for students with excessive absences and will be open to incoming sixth- and seventh-grade students, the presentation said.

On leadership succession, Mr. Willis announced that Miss Miranda will assume the principal role for 2025–26. Miss Miranda said, "It's a really, exciting opportunity for me, and I'm really looking forward to continuing the success that our future and Austin ISD has had together. Everything's been collaborated very well and I'm really, really excited to be in the position I am." The presentation closed with an offer to answer questions from trustees.

No formal board action or vote on personnel or budget items appears in the transcript of this presentation; the remarks were presented as an informational update.

Less critical details provided on slides — such as the precise salary ranges for vacancies and detailed demographic tables — were referenced by presenters but not read aloud in full during the update.