The Austin Independent School District’s proposed budget makes cuts to programs, transportation and as many as 558 positions. At a meeting Thursday night, teachers, staff and parents voiced their concerns over those deep cuts. They urged district officials and the board of trustees to reconsider the proposals being made to reduce the $181 million budget deficit.

“It feels like some departments took the cut a lot worse than the others, and I feel like it should have been spread a lot more equally,” AISD teacher Eric Ramos said. “This is a really bad situation we’re in and we’re gonna get through it together, not with some taking a bigger burden than the rest.”

The plan includes changes that would have a direct impact on campuses and students. That includes moving 112 teachers to different schools, changing the number of librarians and counselors per campus, reducing transportation, increasing the teacher-student ratio for elementary schools and changing stipends for special education and bilingual educators.

Parents and students spoke against cutting librarians, saying they make a difference in students’ learning experience. The district had said librarians wouldn’t be cut, but in the last week of school, 23 librarians found out their positions could be affected. Gabriela Garcia, the library media associate at McBee Elementary school, said despite the financial uncertainty that is yet to come for her, the most painful thing was not being able to say goodbye to her students.

“Reducing library hours or splitting them across campuses may save money, but it comes at a high cost. Running a school library with only one librarian is already a colossal task,” Garcia said. “Schools forced into this model will have deficient library programs, which will directly harm students, staff, and educational outcomes. This essentially means that Friday was my last day as I cannot afford to work part time.”

District officials said certified librarians would be able to work part time at two different schools or would be reassigned to another role within the district. Four non-certified librarians are not guaranteed a job. Garcia said since she is still working on her certification, she is not hopeful about keeping a job in the district, but she wishes she had known earlier because she recently rejected a job offer outside the district.

Parents asked the district to reconsider cutting special programs. AISD parent David Round said part of why his kids are at Doss Elementary and Anderson High School is because of the band and orchestra programs.

“One thing that I don’t wanna see is cuts to these programs because they are attractive and a lot of funding is based on the number of students that we have enrolled. [if] not for these programs, we wouldn’t be butts in the seats on that note,” Round said.

The district is also proposing a new transportation model for middle schools and high schools. Under a “hub model,” students would be picked up and dropped off at their closest elementary school instead of at designated stops. Board members asked Segura if district officials have considered that this change could lead to a reduction in enrollment and attendance rates. 

“I really struggle with asking this of our families and putting our students in these situations,” trustee Lynn Boswell said. “I think we’re gonna have students get harmed. And not every neighborhood is equally safe for a kid to walk to an elementary school.”

When discussing how the district decided to make changes at campuses, some board members asked the district to cut more from central office. Trustee Candace Hunter agreed with community members who say the cuts are being felt more deeply at the campus levels. 

“When weighted it is heavier on the campus than anywhere else, the campus is carrying the brunt,” Hunter said. “And we said we weren’t gonna do that. So not sure why we’re doing that or how we can correct that.”

Segura acknowledged that teachers and staff are learning about the cuts late in the year, but he said the budget numbers change day by day. He also said that the central office has been cutting its budget for years and is now taking a pay cut with the reduction of work days. Segura also said 78% of payroll costs are on campuses, with only 11% going to central office. 

“When you think of the total impact on a dollar basis, it’s going to be higher at campuses because it is seven times greater than the total cost at departments,” Segura said. 

Board members Kevin Foster and David Kauffman agreed that the cuts are being felt across the entire district. Foster said a lot of people are in pain because of the cuts.

“I hope we can step back and understand we are in ‘The Hunger Games,’” Foster said. “We might be kind of we are a little off when we are thinking they are not suffering and they are.’”

The cuts also include reducing the number of work hours for some central office staff, and decreasing the contribution the district makes to employee health benefits. Ken Zarifis, president of Education Austin, told KUT News.

“So not only is [it] going to impact people in terms of their schedule, and they’re gonna be teaching more, but they’re gonna be earning less and will have to pay more,” Zarifis said. “It’s a terrible situation, the state has put this district in a terrible situation.”

Earlier this week parents and teachers asked legislators to increase funding for public school education during the 2027 Legislative session. The state has not significantly increased the per-student allotment since 2019. Last year, it went up by $55, but Segura has said the increase is not enough to keep up with inflation. Segura said other factors that have led to the budget deficit include declining enrollment and attendance rates, immigration law enforcement, and declining values of Austin properties.

District officials have been working on reducing the budget deficit for months, creating uncertainty among teachers, staff and AISD families. Zarifis said he was glad to see that the recommended budget was finally public and he was glad to see the details of the plan.

“If you look at the details, it’s about every position or about every part of AISD is having to give up money. And it’s really hard,” Zarifis said. “At the end of the day, this is all for kids, and the kids are going to suffer because of this. They are going to have less because of this.”

The board is set to have one more public meeting next week before a final vote on the budget in mid-June. The new budget takes effect on July 1.