Oh Look, Austin Schools Finally Did Something Right

In a shocking turn of events, the Austin school district and Disability Rights Texas have actually reached a settlement over a 2021 lawsuit. Who would've thought? The district was only accused of dropping the ball on providing timely special education services to five students. No biggie.

The school board voted Thursday to approve the settlement, but hey, who needs details? Neither the district nor the nonprofit bothered to share those tiny, insignificant specifics by Friday.

Meanwhile, the Austin district is scrambling to meet a September 2023 order from the Texas Education Agency. Why, you ask? Oh, just because they couldn't be bothered to evaluate students for special education services and provide other minor necessities.

But don't worry, folks! The district and Disability Rights are "pleased to reach this agreement and now await final approval from the court," according to their joint statement. Isn't that lovely?

Let's rewind to the March 2021 lawsuit, where Disability Rights called out the district for neglecting students with disabilities due to a years-long backlog of evaluation requests. You know, just kids seeking services they deserve.

Under federal law, once a parent requests an evaluation, the district must complete it within a strict timeline. But Austin said, "Nah, we'll do it whenever." They had hundreds of overdue evaluations because... reasons. Staffing issues, data collection problems, blah blah blah.

The state finally stepped in and installed a monitor in September. Yay, accountability! The TEA order demanded aggressive timelines for clearing the backlog, updating data systems, staff training, and more.

Surprise, surprise—the district has apparently made progress! They reduced overdue evaluations from 1,780 in January to a mere 306 in December. Isn't that just heartwarming?

Stay tuned for more breathtaking tales of incompetence and redemption from your favorite Austin school district! 🙄