Austin, TX— Austin Independent School District (AISD) is proud to announce the district has earned the 2011 Gold Leadership Circle Award for a second year in a row from the Texas Comptroller. The Gold Leadership Circle Award is presented to cities, counties and school districts which meet the highest standard for financial transparency online.

A government agency can initially be considered for the award if three key financial documents are posted online. Those documents are the annual budget, annual financial report, and the check register. Other factors considered in the Gold Leadership Circle Award include sharing information in a user-friendly format that provides ease of access and providing consistent information of spending.

"We are honored by the recognition from the Texas Comptroller now for the second year in a row," said Nicole-Conley Abram, Chief Financial Officer for Austin ISD. "Our goal is to ensure our publics have a clear understanding of the challenges and opportunities in regards to the budget, and we are pleased that the Comptroller recognizes our efforts to be transparent with the hard-earned dollars of the taxpayers."

For more information on the Texas Comptroller's Texas Transparency program, please visit http://www.texastransparency.org. To view AISD's financial documents online, please visit our website at http://archive.austinisd.org/inside/budget/index.phtml.

For more information, please contact the Department of Public Relations and Multicultural Outreach at 512-414-2414.