Newest Austin ISD Trustee from Southwest Austin

Posted on 09/29/2015 by Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce

Congratulations to Yasmin Wagner, Austin ISD’s newest Trustee. Wagner has a long record of involvement with Austin ISD through service on multiple PTAs. She served on the Austin ISD Boundary Advisory Committee, a tremendously difficult but important position that provided her familiarity with school campus facilities. Ms. Wagner had run for District 7 last November, earning more than 9,000 votes (48% of the vote) as well as significant voter interaction throughout Southwest Austin. She was named last night to fill the unexpired term of Robert Schneider, who tragically passed away a few months ago.

Ms. Wagner will be able to immediately address major issues that the Austin school board must focus on including:

  • Creation of a school district strategic plan with clear, annual student performance targets;
  • A school district master facility plan: many schools are overcrowded and, at the same time, many are under-enrolled. The school board had promised to adopt a plan by May 2014, but has yet to do so.
  • A Human Capital strategy, despite a fixed budget, to focus on competitive compensation in areas identified as highest need in the strategic plan

Dale Sump, a member of the Community Bond Oversight Committee, and a long-time public servant with the University of Texas and the Texas General Land Office, also put his name forward to fill the unexpired term. Mr. Sump is a good man with a broad set of professional skills. The Chamber encourages Mr. Sump to continue and broaden his engagement in public affairs related to Austin ISD.

Contributed by Austin Chamber Senior Vice President Drew Scheberle.


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