Starting Monday, Austin ISD will conduct a series of three virtual conversations with the community about the 2022 Long-range Plan and the next bond.

The conversation, moderated by KUT’s Claire McInerny and Alejandro Martínez-Cabrera, will feature a community panel discussing their experiences with historic inequities in the district and how the district can rebuild trust.

The full list of community conversations is below. Individuals can register to participate using the link on the Austin ISD event page.

• 6-8 p.m., Monday, Sept. 13 – English with Spanish interpretation
• 6-8 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 14 – Spanish with English interpretation
• 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 18 – English with Spanish interpretation

All meetings will offer small group discussions facilitated in English and Spanish. Please note, to access the interpretation feature, participants will need to download the free Zoom app on their phone or computer. Recordings will be made available online at a later date.

Background
In May, the Austin ISD Board of Trustees discussed hiring a planning partner to update the district’s Long-range Facilities Plan, formerly known as the Facility Master Plan. The discussion marked the first step toward updating academic programming, as well as plans for buildings and other infrastructure, since the last major update ahead of the 2017 Bond.

The Looking Back and Moving Forward community conversations will be part of a robust community engagement process before a possible 2022 bond election. With equity as a guide in the process, engagement will be approached with a clear focus on hearing from the more marginalized groups within the community.

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