The Austin Toros will host the 2011 Dennis Johnson Memorial High School All-Star Classic games on April 2 at Cedar Park Center. The All-Star Girl’s game starts at 3:00 p.m. and the Boy’s All-Star game at 4:30 p.m. Standout players from across the greater Central Texas area will compete against each other in a North vs. South format. The annual game honors former NBA great, and 2010 Hall of Fame inductee, Dennis Johnson, who was the head coach of the Toros at the time of his death.

The website of the Austin School District has been honored with a “Sunny Award” by editors of the Sunshine Review, a non-profit organization that promotes state and local government transparency.

Only 112 of the more than 6,000 government websites ranked by the Sunshine Review earned a “Sunny Award.” The Austin ISD website scored an “A” on the Sunshine Review’s Transparency Checklist. More information about the Sunshine Review — and its Sunny Awards program — is available at http://sunshinereview.org.

The collaboration between the Austin Independent School District and the Austin business community surrounding the District’s Strategic Compensation (REACH) program was recently highlighted as a national best practice, at the Committee on Economic Development (CED)’s Best Practices and Enabling Conditions of Successful Human Capital in Education Systems Webinar and Luncheon.

Non-Renewal of Contracts—Reduction in Force

The Board of Trustees of the Austin Independent School District tonight took the final steps necessary to eliminate 1,153 positions, so as to address a budget shortfall estimated at $94.4 million for the 2011-2012 School Year.  Superintendent Carstarphen called the action “perhaps the most difficult matter to come before you as a Trustee.”

The Austin School District invites the community to submit award nominations for citizens and organizations supportive of Latino students or services that enhance the academic achievement of Latino students.

Three Latino Community Awards will be presented in conjunction with the District’s Latino Academic Achievement Awards event honoring outstanding students. The Community Awards are:

The Office of Planning and Community Relations launched Phase One of a new AISD Website on Monday, March 21. We experienced several technical challenges during the launch, and are continuing to work to correct these.

The Austin Independent School District recently launched its first Alumni Survey. This survey is open to 2010 graduates. The Department of Program Evaluation (DPE) recently sent email invitations to graduates who agreed to participate in the survey last spring. In an effort to reach all graduates for this survey, staff also encouraged people who have already taken the survey and campus staff to invite other graduates using email and Facebook.

This year, for the first time ever, the  LBJ High School Internet radio station, JAG Radio,  was asked to broadcast live reports from the Austin Convention Center during the South by Southwest Music and Media conference.

The students, senior Donnie Harris and 9^th-grader Sirion Hastings,  conducted interviews with technology company CEOs, musicians, artists and athletes during the events, which coincided with Spring Break for the students. “

Adam Garibay, a senior at Crockett High School, has been informed that he is a Gates Millennium Scholars finalist. The Gates Millennium Scholars program will select 1,000 talented students from across the United States to receive a good-through-graduation scholarship, to use at any college or university of their choice.

Student performances, presentations of academic achievement awards, skits, spoken word and a black history presentation are among the activities planned for the “I am the Dream, You are the Dream” program at Eastside Memorial High School on Thursday, March 10. The program, sponsored by the African American Men & Boys Harvest Foundation, will be at 3:15 p.m. in the school gym, located at 1112 Arthur Stiles Road.