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Hello Families!👋🏻🌸🌳
Hope you are enjoying this long weekend. Today we 🎉 honor labor leaders and civil rights activists César Chávez and Dolores Huerta.
Please don’t forget to mark your calendars 🗓️ that next Friday, April 7, there are also no classes due to it being an 🍎 Austin ISD holiday. All campuses and district offices will be closed.
🏫 Yesterday we got an update from the board. During their Thursday meeting, the members voted to slow down the search 🔎 for a new Austin ISD superintendent and extend Interim Superintendent Matias Segura’s contract through June 30, 2024.
We also want to remind you about important deadlines for April:
🏫 Elementary schools will be hosting an Early Learning Day on April 5.
💻 The survey on the proposed Essential Area Redesign is open until April 5.
📝 The annual school climate survey for families is available until April 14.
💼 The Boldly Go! Teacher Career Fair will be April 15.
And with this edition we end the 🎉 Women's History Month ♀️ profiles, and you will learn more about Wilhelmina Delco, a great leader for our community.
Now, let's begin...
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Family Newsletter
By Nayeli Santoyo & Collaborators ● Mar 31, 2023
Smart Brevity® count: 4.5 mins...1215 words
Hello Families!👋🏻🌸🌳
Hope you are enjoying this long weekend. Today we 🎉 honor labor leaders and civil rights activists César Chávez and Dolores Huerta.
🏫 Yesterday we got an update from the board. During their Thursday meeting, the members voted to slow down the search 🔎 for a new Austin ISD superintendent and extend Interim Superintendent Matias Segura’s contract through June 30, 2024.
We also want to remind you about important deadlines for April:
And with this edition we end the 🎉 Women's History Month ♀️ profiles, and you will learn more about Wilhelmina Delco, a great leader for our community.
Now, let's begin...
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1 Big Thing: Trustees extend Interim Superintendent Segura’s term through June 2024 🔎
🏫 At a special voting meeting on Thursday, March 30, the Austin ISD Board of Trustees voted unanimously to extend the contract with Interim Superintendent Matias Segura through June 30, 2024, and slow down the 🔎search for our district’s next superintendent.
Why it matters: The board’s decision will ensure consistent leadership for 🍎 Austin ISD students, families and staff while the trustees conduct a 🔎search to identify the next permanent leader for the district. Trustees had been aiming to recruit and name a new superintendent by July 2023.
What they’re saying: “We have committed to an open, 📖 transparent search process. Our district, our students and our staff deserve for this process to be methodical, even if it doesn’t look like what we thought it would when we started three months ago.” – Trustee Noelita Lugo
“We’re putting the structure in place [here at Austin ISD] so that it can be the core of what we’re doing 📈 no matter who is here in this seat.” – Interim Superintendent Matias Segura
What’s next: In the coming days, trustees will consult with the 🔎 search partner, GR Recruiting, to discuss options for continuing the superintendent search process.
✉️ Go deeper: Read the Austin ISD Board of Trustees’ message to the community.
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2. Climate survey 📝 for families open until April 14
📝 Austin ISD’s spring climate survey is open until April 14 to gather feedback from students, families and on-campus staff.
Why it’s important: The surveys let the district hear 👂 how respondents view the district’s educational 🏫 climate, culture and engagement. The surveys help Austin ISD continue to improve. ��
Strictly confidential: 🔏 The district does not have access to individual responses or any personal data that could be used to identify a respondent. All respondent data is de-identified for complete confidentiality.
Have your say: Our goal 🏅 is for all campuses to reach an 80% completion rate for this spring’s survey.
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Please access our family survey by navigating to surveys.panoramaed.com/austinisd/family and selecting your student's school from the dropdown list.
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The survey takes about 10 minutes and can be completed on any screen reading device (phone, laptop, tablet) connected to wifi.
Deadline: Responses are 🗓️ due no later than April 14.
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3. 🏫🍎 Austin ISD welcomes new investments
(Left) Congressman Lloyd Doggett joined students from St. Elmo Elementary School. (Right) Former UT and Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Derrick Johnson with Langford Elementary students.
Last week 🍎Austin ISD welcomed two new public and private investments in our mission to provide an excellent educational experience for students, teachers and families.
On March 21, Congressman Lloyd Doggett joined students and district leaders at🏫 St. Elmo Elementary to announce nearly 💵$4 million in federal funding to expand 🌳outdoor learning programs, and a 🎓college and career pilot program.
On March 23, the Defend the Dream Foundation, in partnership with the Kendra Scott Foundation, opened DJ’s Discovery Den at 🏫Langford Elementary. Defend the Dream is the foundation of former UT and Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Derrick Johnson. The new 📚 library space gives Langford students hundreds of brand-new, age-appropriate 📖 books that reflect their diverse student body, and new soft seating 🛋️ for independent reading.
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4. Celebrating 🎉 education activist and political pioneer Wilhelmina Delco
As Austin ISD concludes its celebration of Women’s History Month, we profile political trailblazer Wilhelmina Delco.
Legacy of firsts: After earning her bachelor’s degree 🎓 in sociology at Fisk University in Nashville, Delco and her family moved to Austin in 1952. In 1968 she built on her active leadership in the 🏫 Parent-Teacher Association to launch a successful bid for the Austin ISD Board of Trustees – becoming the first Black person elected to public office in Austin. 🗳️
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Following years of public service with Austin ISD and on the founding board of Austin Community College, in 1974 Delco successfully ran for the Texas House of Representatives. She represented East Austin at the State Capitol for 20 years, including a two-year spell as Speaker Pro Tempore – the first woman and second Black legislator to hold the post.
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In 1986, she was 🏆 inducted into the Texas Women’s Hall of Fame.
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In 1993, she received the James Bryant Conant Award –the most prestigious accolade bestowed by the Education Commission of the States. 🏅
In her own words: "My mother felt that education 📖 was the only thing nobody could take away from you," Delco told the Austin American-Statesman.
Legacy of service: Following retirement from the legislature in 1995, Delco has continued to serve her community as the board chair 🪑 at what is now Huston-Tillotson University and as an adjunct professor at the University of Texas at Austin. 🐂
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Delco Activity Center in northeast Austin near LBJ Early College High School is named for this political pioneer and her husband, Dr. Exalton Delco. The facility provides a venue for sports, 🏀 cheerleading and dance 💃👯 competitions, in addition to student musical performances.
Go deeper. Watch this 1990 interview with Delco during her time as Chair of the Texas House Higher Education Committee. 🏫
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5. 📅 Austin ISD honors César Chávez and Dolores Huerta Day, Friday, March 31 🏫🍎
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7. 🗞️Rounding up the news
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Nayeli has plans to visit family this weekend hoping that the weather ☀️ will help to spend some time outdoors and recharge🔋 batteries.
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