AISD in trouble

[Swizzle Stick]

Originally Posted by Austin97

they already did

https://www.kvue.com/article/news/lo...0-b2008f30f1b4

That story was from April 2019. Since that visit, the homeless problem has gotten worse, just like everybody told Adler it would.

[eirenecat]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

Based on the school groups I am in, a few may have done that, but most have opted to just keep kids home right now. At least based on what I am hearing. Virtual school just doesn't work for kinder kids, but many parents are not really big on sending their kids back right now.

Pre-k is also counted in AISD enrollment and it costs (for people that don't get subsidy) something like $600 a month. Almost no one has enrolled in that.

Not sure what school groups you're a part of, but maybe the difference is they have a parent who does not work? Just about everyone I know with a kinder child *who works fulltime* has opted for private school, a small learning pod meeting in someone's home, or something like the JCC's small, pod-based daytime care for children who are doing remote learning via their public school.

My kinder daughter entered a private Catholic elementary school in person and her fifth grade sister is about to do the same. The in-person class sizes are extremely low, they are following every conceivable precaution, and have had no COVID thus far, thank God. My kinder daughter loves it and has not complained about wearing the mask.

I don't know anyone *again, who works fulltime, even at home* who simply opted to keep their kids at home doing virtual kindergarten or nothing at all. Virtual kindergarten is not conducive to fulltime employment by parents.

[Trainwreck20]

Originally Posted by eirenecat

Not sure what school groups you're a part of, but maybe the difference is they have a parent who does not work? Just about everyone I know with a kinder child *who works fulltime* has opted for private school, a small learning pod meeting in someone's home, or something like the JCC's small, pod-based daytime care for children who are doing remote learning via their public school.

My kinder daughter entered a private Catholic elementary school in person and her fifth grade sister is about to do the same. The in-person class sizes are extremely low, they are following every conceivable precaution, and have had no COVID thus far, thank God. My kinder daughter loves it and has not complained about wearing the mask.

I don't know anyone *again, who works fulltime, even at home* who simply opted to keep their kids at home doing virtual kindergarten or nothing at all. Virtual kindergarten is not conducive to fulltime employment by parents.

I guess I haven't really kept track of individuals in any way, but the two families I know of personally that have kids that are entering kindergarten this year have not sent theirs to private schools. Both have working parents (working from home) but also both have older and younger siblings. One was doing the 'virtual' kindergarten in whatever form that was (I have no idea), but has now sent their child to the public school. I have not asked the other, but they were discussing just waiting a year to start K, since he was near the cutoff anyway.

The rest was just my impression from watching stuff scroll by, so maybe more are going to private schools than I realize, dunno. Quite a few did start back on Monday.

[riaelise]

I guess we're talking about strictly the younger grades (K and 1?) because my fourth grader is at home and will be home until probably the Spring of next year. The high schooler is home along with her. We both work full time but at home - him permanently, me until probably next year. We handle schooling in shifts. It can be tiring, but we manage. So far my daughter has caught not one virus/bacterial infection. None of us have - not even a cold. Artificial I know, but in a way it's good because everyone was miserable when my daughter got the flu/etc. (I didn't get sick as much, probably because of exercising who knows..)

As related to me at our charter, in-person involves not much close kid interaction, which is probably the main reason why they'd want to go back. Kids eat at their desks and wear masks 8 hours a day. Our position is why bother when they can have the familiar comforts of home. Virtual instruction has been great and my youngest especially is doing very well. The kids have been exposed to online learning before the pandemic and had to have laptops.

[Trainwreck20]

Originally Posted by riaelise

[...]
Kids eat at their desks and wear masks 8 hours a day. Our position is why bother when they can have the familiar comforts of home. Virtual instruction has been great and my youngest especially is doing very well. The kids have been exposed to online learning before the pandemic and had to have laptops.

Both our kids have gone back, but for different reasons. While both my wife and I are working at home for the foreseeable future, we are not able to sit with them for any significant period of time, as our work involves too many multi-person interactions in the form of meetings or calls and mine, in particular, works on a very fluid schedule. The 5th grader is really enjoying working at school as opposed to home - there were too many distractions and it was too easy to 'forget' something once you were distracted. She also enjoys talking to her other classmates that are back in class with her (only 10 fifth graders have returned so far, spread among four teachers), and she has basically been nowhere but home for 6 months, so this is a nice change of pace for her

The older kid (MS) is SPED and we really have trouble getting her the assistance she needs while she is at home. If she had not gone back, we would have needed to hire a tutor/assistant to help her, which we could do but would be very expensive.

Both kids hardly notice the masks - kids are so much more adaptable than the adults. They never mention them nor complain. As for getting sick - we do not worry about them, they are perfectly healthy and Covid is statistically only a fraction as dangerous as the flu for their age group. The worry is if they bring anything home to us or bring anything there to the teachers. We have become more rigid at home again - curbside groceries only and no more visiting the grandparents anymore.

[cheeva]

https://www.kxan.com/investigations/...uity-concerns/


AISD is pretty much telling wealthy parents to GTFO. I expect an acceleration of the student exodus, and an increasingly expensive "recruitment" campaign by AISD.

[ashbeeigh]

Originally Posted by cheeva

https://www.kxan.com/investigations/...uity-concerns/


AISD is pretty much telling wealthy parents to GTFO. I expect an acceleration of the student exodus, and an increasingly expensive "recruitment" campaign by AISD.

They aren’t recruiting kids in Tarrytown, they’re recruiting the kids who are lost to crap charters like IDEA. Those kids can go to private schools because like you posted in another thread, PTAs can’t pay for positions to increase the achievement gap from west versus east schools. I personally know one person who lost her position at one of those schools, but was already looking in an outside district. She will be at the other district next year.

[Roadking2003]

Originally Posted by karpo1

leadership could visit seattle/portland/san francisco for ideas.

[Roadking2003]

Originally Posted by Swizzle Stick

Is AISD in a downward spiral?

Yes, and has been for several years for all the reasons you suggested. Runaway tax increases gradually drive people to cheaper living areas. And now with the 10 billion dollar rail boondoggle, those taxes will go up even faster so we should expect accelerated enrollment decline.

[cheeva]

Originally Posted by ashbeeigh

They aren’t recruiting kids in Tarrytown, they’re recruiting the kids who are lost to crap charters like IDEA.

If the charter schools are crap, why is AISD losing students to them? AISD is trying to replace the lost Tarrytown kids by recruiting from outside the district, from areas like Del Valle and Manor. Remember the ad campaign? "Austin ISD is for EVERYONE" billboards? Decipher that statement, and it tells me they are trying to pull from outside the boundaries, and also looking the other way when DACA recipients enroll. AISD is desperate to get butts-in-seats in order to get federal funding.

Originally Posted by ashbeeigh

Those kids can go to private schools because like you posted in another thread, PTAs can’t pay for positions to increase the achievement gap from west versus east schools. .

Your statement above doesn't make sense. You're saying: "Rich kids can go to private schools because poor PTAs can't increase (make bigger) the achievement gap between rich and poor"

??

Please reread what you typed.