Travis County Commissioners Court
March 17, 2009,
Item 20
>> number 20 is to consider and take appropriate action on proposed joint resolution of the Austin independent school district, city of Austin of and the travis in the state of Texas regarding families, children, neighborhoods and schools.
and we do have a few visiters with us today.
and for the record, they are?
>> thank you, judge.
laura morrison, councilmember, place 4.
>> (indiscernible) assistant city manager for the city of Austin.
>> so what's this resolution about?
>> thank you, judge.
as you well know, we have -- between the city, the school district and the county, we have what we call a joint subcommittee where elected officials and members come together and work together on common issues.
it's been in place for quite awhile and recently we got an infusion of energy into that with some work that was done.
the city had a families and children's taskforce that is made up of some school district folks as well as city and other community folks that came up with some recommendations, many recommendations, but some of them focused on how we might work together better as governmental entities.
at the same time the school district had a committee, a taskforce that was called the community committees on neighborhoods and schools to look at how to have more vibrant schools and again they came up with many recommendations and several of them address joint work between the different governmental entities.
so the joint resolution that we have before us is to basically it says that the joint subcommittees would come together and work on coming up with policies and recommendations, some of them based of course on the recommendations that came from the different committees that we had where we might better collaborate.
and what we'll do, the joint resolution basically says that the committee, the elected officials on the committee as well as our staff members as well as community members will come together to come up with those recommendations that we'll each then take to our own bodies.
so you will see recommendations coming forward from the judge who represents you all on the committee.
so we're really excited.
some examples are how we might better collaborate on after school and extracurricular activities because we all fund those and it might be time to take a look at whether or not we're most efficiently using our resources.
we'll be looking at multi-use facilities and educational assessment tools so that we can all of us make sure that we understand the impact on schools with the policies that we're making.
so basically this resolution says, yes, we want to go forward and work on those things together.
>> what will happen is that the members of this committee that represent different entities would take responsibility to report back to their respective entity, recommendations from what I call the subcommittee here and I think mel calls it something else.
but I do like the fact that this one sort of generally describes various projects rather than just generally saying we'll try harder to work together.
in the end, though, whether or not participating entities participate is left to them, but this semi will try to take responsibility for pointing out all the advantages of proceeding, and I guess given the proposed projects, due consideration prior to making a specific recommendation to the participating entities.
so we have had I guess a couple of meetings so far, and the resolution basically is to ascertain the level of interest of the governmental entities targeted.
and am I correct that the aisd and the city of Austin have already approved this resolution?
>> yes.
the city, we approved -- what day is today?
we approve it had last week.
last Thursday.
and the school district last Monday.
so we're all on board.
>> I don't think there's anything magical about the wording.
i did participate in the wordsmithing.
but I think -- was it aisd who took the lead in sort of drafting and putting together the first draft?
>> I think -- yes, along with the city.
>> right.
>> we did sort of wrestle through what would be the most effective structure and we wanted to leave it somewhat flexible because we know that there's a lot of community interest and expertise that we have, and the way we have it structured, it will allow all our staffs to come together as well as pulling in the community members that have the expertise and the passion for these issues as we address the different specifics.
>> okay.
>> there's one subject matter, I think, that may need to be considered when you come together.
and I've heard different comments from different folks over the years wondering why we as a collective body, whether it be the city, county, state, aisd or any other school districts, I just hate to see that limited maybe just to aisd because of course when you look at Travis County, we have other school districts other than aisd.
and one point that did come across that may need to be ventured into when you meet collectively, and that is that folks are wondering what happened to vocational education.
years ago when you attended school, there was programs that were set aside in schools that would teach a young person skill levels such as auto mechanics, welding, refrigeration, all of these go to work type of settings because at that time -- now every person that finished school is not going to go to college.
and every person that drops out for whatever reason still will need a skill.
so it's been brought to my attention that why have that been vacated?
and I have no answer to that.
and I do know that there are school districts within the state of Texas that still continue with the vocational education.
those skill levels where you can keep the young persons involved in skill sets whereby they may be employable because they have mastered their skill.
so it's -- I just think that it's something that ought to be considered when you're coming together with any after school setting and dealing with the children of Travis County.
>> thank you, Commissioner.
i'll certainly carry that forward as part of the discussion that we have because again that's very clearly an issue that affects all of us.
>> it sure does.
>> in the long run.
>> all across the board, one way or the other.
>> so the -- we've all talked about collaborating, cooperating more.
and clearly there are a lot of issues that impact the three of us.
and this represents our commitment to try to work together more and better in the days ahead basically.
>> that's right.
>> ms.
fleming, do you have any comments regarding this?
>> no, sir.
thank you.
>> mr.
pena?
>> yes, sir.
i do have some comments, your honor.
>> judge, Commissioners, gus pena, proud graduate of the former johnston high school, closed.
went to zavala and allen junior high.
one of the things, I was appointed to the Austin independent school district's dropout prevention and reduction taskforce back in 1998 before dr.
forgione became our superintendent.
it's been close to three years bringing forth the recommendations and suggestions to bring forth to the aisd board of trustees and a lot of those were not implemented simply because of the fact that there allegedly was a statement made, no funding.
yet I found 2.5 million in the budget specifically for these type of entities -- these issues that were not funded.
get to the meat of the crux over here or the crux of the body, I was there at the city council chambers when the city council approved this resolution, but one of the things that I want to highlight to y'all here, this elected body, and I did at the city council.
i know councilmember morrison will remember that clearly and assistant city manager, we spoke about that, but not on those issues, but something going on in the communities regarding crime.
one of the provisions or recommendations in this resolution states that develop a housing assistance program to help in the reduction of student mobility rates, student mobility rates, homelessness, including -- not to limit to credit counseling for families and foreclosure assistance.
let me tell you this much and I forgot to give awe copy of this.
the state of Texas ranks 50th in homeless children who attend schools, 50th.
that's a sad state of affairs for the state of Texas.
our glorious state of Texas.
i'll give you a copy of.
this what happens when a student is homeless, you can't -- you cannot thrive in this type of environment.
it's difficult to do your homework.
you don't have a computer that's required now of all the high school homework.
and so the student is left at a disadvantage if he or she does not go to a library, you can't use the computer because of curfew.
but one of the things that I want to make abundantly clear is this, is that this -- we've been talking about housing the homeless for many years.
we haven't -- we have an increase of homeless families because of the downturn of the economy and loss of jobs and higher rent and lack of affordable housing here and the city of Austin.
so one of the things that I challenge not only the city of Austin, the school board, but this elected body, Travis County Commissioners court, and I know you have heard me many this many times, affordable housing, homeless families, homeless children that attend the school district is that to really clearly address this issue, because if a student cannot thrive because they're homeless, they drop out.
they do not become a productive member of society.
they become a member of the social service agencies and noose not acceptable.
i applaud this elected body and I've done it before in front of the city council and the school board is that y'all are very proactive and took the leadership role on a lot of things.
and I would like to see the housing issue abundantly addressed.
not just talk about it because we need to work on it and correct.
we need our children housed.
it's not acceptable in the united states of america.
one last item.
Commissioner huebner, it's manchaca.
as an mexican american, it's guadalupe.
i'm sorry, I had to bring that up.
but anyway, thank you very much for the city council's participation.
the school district's participation and this elected body.
you know the respect I have for y'all.
i really do.
and let keep up the good work but address heavily the homeless issue because that is one of the things that really impact negatively the families.
thank you very much.
>> thank you.
comments regarding this?
move that we approve the joint resolution.
>> second.
>> discussion of the motion?
all in favor?
that passes by unanimous vote.
thaj y'all very -- thank y'all very much.
appreciate your patience
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Last Modified:
Tuesday, March 17, 2009 1:35 PM