Austin ISD agrees to $4 million fund making up for evaluation delays

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Austin Independent School District must create a $4 million fund for hundreds of students it failed to evaluate for special education services within state and federal timelines, according to nonprofit Disability Rights Texas, or DRTx.

The fund was part of a settlement the district agreed to after a three-year legal battle with DRTx. At the time, the lawsuit alleged the district illegally delayed evaluations for an estimated 800 students suspected of needing special education services.

District officials said on Friday the district currently has zero delayed evaluations and has not since Aug. 20.

“We are pleased to reach this agreement on behalf of hundreds of children who attend AISD schools,” said Kym Davis Rogers, supervising attorney at DRTx.

According to Austin ISD's General Counsel Kenneth Walker, the district, through the agreement, would consider offering services to impacted students who were denied compensatory services if they were currently enrolled students and if their evaluation was delayed more than 20 school days beyond the state requirement that Austin ISD conducted from March 1, 2020, through the end of the 2024-2025 school year.

Federal law requires school districts to evaluate students within 45 school days of getting parental consent, but an April 2023 Texas Education Agency investigation found the district repeatedly failed to do this on time and, in some cases, delayed evaluations for up to nine months.

The investigation prompted TEA officials to recommend state intervention. After appealing the recommendation, Austin ISD trustees voted last year to enter into an agreement allowing it to remain in control of its special education operations for now while working to comply with a years-long backlog of evaluations and other state requirements.

The decision meant the district waived its ability to appeal or sue if the agency decided to increase the level of state intervention in the future. The district also agreed that the TEA could do just that if, at any point, the district failed to meet a requirement or deadline set by the state.

Under the TEA agreement, the agency would require the district to comply with more than a dozen corrective action plans, including completing evaluations requested during the previous school year.