BG Reads | News - August 11, 2022
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Saturday
[AUSTIN METRO]
Austin has hired 600 new teachers. It's still not enough. (Austin American-Statesman)
Over the course of this summer, Austin school officials hired more than 600 new teachers, the largest flock of new hires anyone could remember. And still, it’s far from enough.
When I caught up Friday with Norma Castillo, the executive director of talent acquisition for Austin schools, she was working on filling an additional 500 teacher vacancies.
“We’ve hired more teachers this summer than ever before,” she told me, “yet we still have more vacancies (remaining)?than ever before.”
The scope of the teacher shortage — which?extends well beyond Austin, indeed?well beyond Texas?— is daunting. Castillo and her colleagues have been working furiously to fill positions: calling applicants, helping people navigate the teacher certification process, reaching out to substitutes to see if they’re interested in becoming full-time instructors…(LINK TO FULL STORY)
City seeks developer to partner on transformation of two historic blocks (Austin Monitor)
Over the next three months, the city’s quasi-governmental development entity will perform the early work that will result in a development plan next year for two?long-discussed?blocks in East Austin.
This week’s Community Development Commission meeting featured a?presentation?from the Austin Economic Development Corporation on its plan to create a request for proposals to lure hopeful developers interested in partnering on mixed-use projects for idle portions of the two blocks on East 11th Street that are home to Franklin Barbecue and the Victory Grill.
The mostly city-owned parcels on those two blocks have been the subject of redevelopment and urban renewal plans going back more than 30 years, with a variety of city departments, including Housing and Planning, stepping in to unsuccessfully manage the process of gathering community feedback and creating a plan that satisfies community and city interests. The EDC, which was formed to operate like a private development entity with the financing and planning resources of a government body, has taken on those blocks’ future in addition to its expected involvement in the South Central Waterfront District and the city’s in-process cultural land trust.
Anne Gatling Haynes, the EDC’s chief transactions officer, told the commission that feedback dating back to 1991, and planning documents such as the Urban Renewal Plan and the Neighborhood Conservation Combining District that don’t naturally cohere, have presented challenges with moving the redevelopment process along.
“The conversation has gone on over a long period of time, and some basic things might not be different, but the people who live there and who’ve been displaced there has changed quite a bit,” she said. “What we’re trying to do leading up to the development of these places is listen and look at the process that has happened before, understand the goals and objectives for the community … and make sure we’re writing our (RFP) so it speaks to the uses we want to see on those blocks.”
Thus far the EDC has hired five consultants for the preparation work ahead of the RFP: Hayat Brown for market/economic analysis, Page architects and urban planners, the Bingham Group for engagement, Civilitude for engineering, and PublicCity for community feedback…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)
Austin airport evacuated after fire alarm goes off, causing delays (Austin American-Statesman)
Austin-Bergstrom International Airport was evacuated at about 7:30 a.m. Wednesday after airport officials said a fire alarm went off in the main Barbara Jordan terminal, creating significant delays for passengers who were forced to wait outside the terminal and faced long lines back through the security checkpoints when the airport reopened.
The alarm was triggered by a water line break outside the building where planes park to load and unload passengers, according to airport spokesperson Sam Haynes. Passengers and staff were evacuated out of an abundance of caution while the alarm was investigated, Haynes said. The cause of the break is still being investigated, Haynes said.
The airport announced about 8 a.m. that the fire alarm was canceled and passengers would be able to reenter the building and be rescreened through security. However, some travelers said they weren't able to get back into the terminal until 8:30 a.m. or later, and then had to go through the airport's security process, which faced long delays due to the evacuation…?(LINK TO STORY)
Austin ISD school board members are divided over some funding priorities in 2022 bond (KUT)
The Austin ISD school board is continuing to work out the details of what should be included in a potential 2022 bond package that could appear on the November ballot. At a board work session on Tuesday, trustees shared competing priorities as they tried to determine how to allocate limited resources.
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Trustees are weighing recommendations from the Austin ISD administration, their constituents and the?bond steering committee, which is a group of community members who put together the bond proposals. The committee developed the proposals using a method called?"Equity by Design,"?which centers historically underserved students and communities. The committee came up with two packages: one for $1.75 billion that requires no tax rate increase and another for $2.25 billion that requires a $0.01 increase to the debt service tax rate, even though the district’s overall tax rate will drop.
The Austin ISD administration on Monday announced it was backing the $2.25 billion package, but with some changes. Interim Superintendent Anthony Mays said Tuesday the district’s recommendations largely align with what the steering committee put together…(LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS]
“He has total veto power”: Greg Abbott takes control over who will lead Texas’ troubled power grid, sources say (Texas Tribune)
When Brad Jones was tapped as interim CEO of the nonprofit that runs the state’s power grid following the deadly?February 2021 winter storm?that left most of Texas without power for days, he said he would help stabilize the grid and get it through the summer. Jones was clear that he wasn’t interested in keeping the job long term.
Now, 15 months after Jones became interim CEO — and more than a month after the June target date when Jones had told colleagues and conference crowds that he wanted to step down — the Electric Reliability Council of Texas’ new board of directors still has not selected his successor.
Eight sources from across the power industry who spoke to The Texas Tribune say Gov.?Greg Abbott?— who has no formal role in the process — has put a stranglehold on the CEO search…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)
Texas state police can keep Uvalde records secret for now, judge rules (Texas Tribune)
A state district judge ruled Wednesday that the Department of Public Safety does not have to turn over records related to the Uvalde school shooting sought by state Sen.?Roland Gutierrez, who had sued the state police in hopes of securing them.
The order by Travis County 419th Civil District Court Judge Catherine A. Mauzy was narrow, however, and sidestepped the question of whether the state police can withhold records concerning their response to the May 24 massacre at Robb Elementary School. Mauzy concluded that Gutierrez had not properly filed his request under the Texas Public Information Act, the state’s public records law, and therefore DPS was not obligated to fulfill it.
Still, the outcome grants a reprieve for the state police, who have fought to keep secret the details of how 91 officers responded to the shooting. Gutierrez, whose district includes Uvalde, wrote a letter to DPS Director Steve McCraw on May 30, requesting the agency’s training manuals as well as any documents that detail how the state police responded to the shooting that day. In a hearing last week, DPS officials said that request should have gone to the agency’s media relations office.
Gutierrez said Wednesday he disagreed with the ruling and suggested the state police were simply looking for an excuse not to comply with his request. The lawmaker has been among the most critical state officials of how DPS has handled the shooting.
"It is most absurd that Department of Public Safety continues to fight even the most benign distribution of documents, like a training manual," Gutierrez said. "And they refuse to do it because they're culpable of their negligence and malfeasance on that day."
At a hearing in the case last week, the district attorney for Uvalde County urged the judge to side with DPS. The prosecutor, Christina Busbee, said since late May she has asked all government agencies not to release any information about the Uvalde shooting, for fear of compromising ongoing investigations by the Texas Rangers, a division of DPS, and the FBI…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)
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