A former Austin ISD trustee will be governor. What that may mean for the district, and where City Hall fits

Democrat Gina Hinojosa's defeat of Gov. Greg Abbott has raised hopes that Austin ISD could avoid a state takeover, KUT reported Thursday. Hinojosa served on the Austin ISD board from 2012 to late 2015, including as president. She has promised to replace Education Commissioner Mike Morath on her first day and to end state takeovers of public schools.

But education policy experts told KUT that state law still requires intervention when a campus fails for five straight years, as Burnet and Webb middle schools have. What could change is the form that intervention takes.

What KUT reported

• The law stays. A new commissioner would still be bound by the intervention law. Lawmakers could change it, but a UT Austin education policy professor told KUT that would take "an all-hands-on-deck approach to modify Texas education code."
• The Senate matters. Replacing Morath means nominating a successor, who needs approval from two-thirds of senators present. Republicans will keep control of the Senate even with Democrat Vikki Goodwin presiding as lieutenant governor, KUT reported.
• Commissioners have discretion. A University of Houston professor told KUT a new commissioner might choose to close the failing campuses and work with the district, rather than replace the elected board.
• Timing. Austin ISD's appeal of the ratings could remove the threat by December, before Hinojosa takes office. Parent petitions to close Burnet and Webb have not yet been validated or sent to the state.

Trustee Candace Hunter, reelected Tuesday, told KUT she is "not opposed to state intervention," but wants the state to support districts rather than replace their leaders. "Governor-elect Hinojosa has a promise to keep," she said.

Where the city fits

The City Council has no vote on state intervention. Under state law that decision belongs to the education commissioner. But the city and the district share students, neighborhoods and land, and our records show the council approves agreements with Austin ISD several times a year.

On today's agenda. Item 21 would approve an interlocal agreement for Literacy First, a reading and tutoring program, for up to $100,000 a year from the parks department budget, with four renewals possible, for a total of up to $500,000. The city has funded the program since 2021 in Title I elementary schools in the Eastside Memorial vertical team, according to the staff memo. The Parks and Recreation Board recommended it 9-0 on Oct. 26.

Earlier this year, the council unanimously approved agreements for city public health services at AISD sites in an emergency and for two high school internship programs. In July it rezoned the former Brooke Elementary site for redevelopment, 10-0 with one member absent.

Our earlier coverage explains the Burnet and Webb petition review, the district's budget cuts and turnaround plans and its land sales and leases.

The board that will face these choices

Four of the board's nine trustees were chosen Tuesday. A fifth seat, at-large Position 9, goes to a Dec. 12 runoff between Pamela Mathai and Cynthia Soliz. "It is a tremendous relief to know that Gina Hinojosa will be our governor," Mathai told KUT. Soliz told KUT she wants to make sure "the law is followed" if the state intervenes. Our results story has the details.

What's next

• Dec. 1: The district's Burnet and Webb plans are due to the state, as we reported.
• December: A possible ruling on the district's ratings appeal, KUT reported.
• Dec. 12: The Position 9 runoff.
• January: Hinojosa takes office and the 2027 legislative session begins.