Austin ISD superintendent talks budget, staffing for school year

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- For the first time in years, the Austin Independent School District is nearly fully staffed for the school year.

“I’m happy to report that we are 96% staffed. This is an incredible number,” said Superintendent Matias Segura. “We haven’t had this number since back to about 2015 at this point.”

AISD recruited teachers and then pre-hired them to strategically to help staff certain schools, according to Segura.

“We allowed those schools who have historically had trouble with vacancies the opportunity to hire them first. So making it available to them first.”

Segura also explained the school district's budget deficit and how that may impact staff.

“Last year we had to make some cuts in our budget. We cut about $30 million in our operating cost in our budget. This year we are starting the process where we are going to find additional opportunities for cuts and cost savings.”