Austin ISD is set to cut 215 full-time educator salaries — 85 for elementary schools, 51 for middle schools and 79 for high schools — as it faces a $181 million budget deficit for the 2026-27 school year. These cuts are in relation to newly proposed teacher-student ratios, Superintendent Matias Segura said on Thursday.

“The ability to serve our students in a way that we had a couple years back or even last year is going to be impacted,” Segura said. “We have not been able yet to get the funding we need to ensure that we keep up with the costs that we have. So we have to make these cuts, as hard as they are.”

Segura’s update comes just two days after AISD officials said they identified ways to reduce the projected deficit by $152.7 million for next school year, including $73.8 million worth of cuts to the central office, $33.9 million in cuts to campus budgets, and $45 million in revenue from real estate sales and leases.

Earlier this year, Segura said campuses would be impacted.

“It’s going to create some disruption because things that have been there in the past won’t be there,” he said Thursday.

Segura said it is likely that layoffs will occur, but that doesn’t mean 215 teachers will lose their jobs. The district has hundreds of vacancies, he said, and will need to adjust how many educators are at each school based on enrollment, the number of teachers retiring or leaving and the newly proposed teacher-student ratios.

District officials said having families enroll for next year before summer would help them plan ahead.

The proposed changes announced earlier this week include increasing class sizes for second through fifth grades and reducing the planning time for middle school and high school teachers. Next year, educators that teach core courses, such as English, math and social sciences, will teach 6 out of 8 periods, having two planning periods. All other teachers will only get one period to plan, teaching 7 out of 8 periods.

Campuses with a state-mandated turnaround plan, or those that received an unacceptable rating in the last year, will not be affected by these changes. Segura also said librarian and counselor positions will not be impacted.

District officials presented the information to the board during a meeting on Thursday night.

Trustees Kathryn Whitley Chu and Candace Hunter raised concerns, saying cutting teachers’ planning time could lead to educators leaving the district. Whitley Chu said making such a change would “devastate the system.” They both proposed looking at other places where cuts could be made.

“It feels like watering down the formula for my babysitter. It is unacceptable,” Whitley Chu said. “This is going to result in much poor working conditions, and for those who hold the line in trying to keep their sanity is going to result in poor performance.”

Trustee Lynn Boswell said she was concerned that the district is sending a general message that tested subjects matter more than the rest. She said planning time is directly tied to teachers making sure students are career and college ready.

“These are opportunities that help our kids get to and through college. They are opportunities that turn into scholarships. They are opportunities that turn into careers,” Boswell said. 

The proposed changes also include a new tiered system for stipends for special education and bilingual educators. Segura said the proposal reduces stipends for educators who don’t interact directly with students.

“One of the things that we as a district had not done well for quite some time is make sure that those stipends are tiered appropriately,” Segura said. “If you’re in the classroom, your stipend is undisrupted.”

Dozens of parents and teachers spoke against the changes at last night’s board meeting. They asked district officials to reconsider cutting planning time, increasing the student-teacher ratio and reducing stipends for special education and bilingual educators.

“Educators are telling you clearly, a 7 out of 8 teaching schedule is not sustainable,” said Taylor Cavin, a sixth grade science teacher at Dobie Middle School. “Taking away planning time is not a small adjustment. It increases burnout, increases turnover, and ultimately hurts students.”

Teachers said that using the terms “foundational” and “non-foundational” to differentiate between teachers depending on what they teach is “deeply insulting.” AISD officials clarified that these are terms used by the state.

Educators also said fine arts teachers, who would be affected by the changes, tend to have larger classes and more special education students. Ivan Garciduenas-Vanzzini, a teacher at Crockett High School, said he uses his prep time to translate every lesson into English and Spanish.

“Without adequate planning time, I cannot provide these bilingual materials or modify curriculum (…) or manage large size typical of fine arts,” Garciduenas-Vanzzini said. “This policy would lead to fewer course offerings and the loss of programs that keep our students in school.”

This year, the Texas Education Agency ended its oversight of AISD’s special education program. Community members who called into the public comment section of the meeting said removing stipends for special education staff would have negative consequences for students, with the potential to go back under state oversight.

“That progress depends on stable, experienced teams supporting our students. A pay cut for SpEd staff pushes out experienced providers and leads to turnover, delays in evaluations and services,” said Zeb White, a language pathologist at Doss Elementary. “If we’re serious about financial responsibility, retention has to be part of the strategy, and that includes protecting the SpEd stipend for the full team.”

District officials said the proposed budget cuts take into account state and federal requirements.

AISD officials said they are still working on finding more cuts and they expect to have a “line-by-line” version of the cuts by the end of the week.