Stories from the Austin metro REGIONAL NEWS For rst time in 3 years, Texas Education Agency releases A F ratings for districts, each campus
Exec. Pablo Vegas selected as ERCOT CEO e ective Oct. 1
Area leaders outline future regional transportation projects, expansions
president of NiSource Util- ities. NiSource is one of the nation’s largest regulated utility companies and operates in six states. Vegas is not new to Texas.
TEA SCORECARD
Leander ISD received a B accountability rating. It also scored a B in each of the three criteria used to determine the overall score.
BY CHRISTOPHER GREEN
30 million passengers annually by May 2037, plans are underway to expand the Barbara Jordan Terminal, develop Concourse B, and upgrade aireld and roadway infrastructure. The improvements are slated to be completed by 2030, she said. Jenell Mo ett, associate vice president for strategic initiatives at the Downtown Austin Alliance, said the population of downtown Austin has been steadily increasing. New and ongoing developments increase the need for the downtown area to be accessible through di erent trans- portation methods, Mo ett said. Lastly, Mike Trimble, Austin Corridor Program Oce director, spoke about plans to redesign I-35. He discussed the “racial divide” construction of the road caused and how rebuilding it—using land bridges with structures or green spaces—can bring communities together.
BY HANNAH NORTON & ZACHARIA WASHINGTON
Local transportation experts gathered for the Austin Chamber of Commerce’s annual mobility summit Aug. 17 where they discussed planned improvements for the Austin-Berg- strom International Airport, down- town Austin trac and the redesign of I-35 throughout Central Texas. With regard to ABIA, ABIA Exec- utive Director Jacqueline Yaft said because the airport will likely see
Accountability ratings were not issued in 2020 or 2021 due to the pandemic. Last year, all districts and campuses were labeled Not Rated: Declared State of Disaster, according to the TEA. From low scores to not rated Eliminating D and F rankings will give schools some wiggle room to recover from the pandemic, Morath said. The TEA is typically required, under state law, to conduct interventions with lower-performing schools. But this year the TEA will not directly intervene, per SB 1365. Instead, unrated schools will receive targeted grant funding and other forms of support in an e ort to help improve students’ academic performance, Morath said. In LISD, Camacho Elementary School, Knowles Elementary School, Leander Extended Opportu- nity and Step-Core were not rated. How the scores are calculated Three criteria are used to determine the overall score for each district or campus. These metrics look at standardized test scores, graduation rates,
The Texas Education Agency released account- ability ratings for Texas school districts and campuses Aug. 15. Texas schools are rated on an A¢F scale based on three criteria: Student Achievement, School Progress and Closing the Gaps. This year, schools that received a rating below a C were considered “not rated” in alignment with Senate Bill 1365, which was passed in 2021. Districts and campuses with scores of 90-100 received an A, followed by 80-89 for a B and 70-79 for a C. Unrated schools scored below a 70. Schools saw “signicant gains” in academic improvement in recent years: 25% of districts and 33% of campuses received higher letter grades than they did in 2019, according to a news release. Accountability ratings help the TEA determine “how well we are leading our kids,” TEA Commis- sioner Mike Morath said at a news conference. Locally, Leander ISD received a B overall rating, scoring 89 out of 100 points. LISD also scored an 89 in both the 2017-18 and 2018-19 school years.
Overall score:
89/100
BY HANNAH NORTON
Pablo Vegas
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which operates the state’s power grid, announced Aug. 16 that Pablo Vegas, an executive for an Indiana-based utility company, will be the council’s next CEO e ective Oct. 1. In a news release, ERCOT ocials said Vegas’ selection came after “an exhaustive nationwide search.” The council has been without a permanent leader for approximately 16 months, after former CEO Bill Magness was red for ERCOT’s handling of the February 2021 winter storm. During the winter storm, multiday blackouts left millions of people without electricity or heat amid freezing temperatures. Hundreds of Texans died. Vegas serves as executive vice president of NiSource Inc. and group
Student Achievement: 89/100
He held multiple roles with American Electric Power. From 2008-10, Vegas was president and chief operating ocer for AEP Texas, which operates under ERCOT. He held multiple other senior roles with AEP. “Texas is the fastest-growing electric grid in the nation with peak demand larger than any other state and leads the nation in advancing reliable resources,” Vegas said. According to Vegas’ employment agreement, he will receive an annual base salary of $990,000. ERCOT will pay Vegas an additional $6.68 million over six years, with the rst portion paid Dec. 1. Vegas will also be eligible for incentive pay- ments beginning in 2023.
School Progress: 89/100 Closing the Gaps: 88/100
SOURCE: TEXAS EDUCATION AGENCY COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
“THE CURRENT DESIGN IS TO RESTRUCTURE
I35 TO PUT ALL THE MAIN LANES BELOW STREET LEVEL, AND THAT’S HUGE.” MIKE TRIMBLE, AUSTIN CORRIDOR PROGRAM OFFICE DIRECTOR
college and career readiness, academic growth and relative performance, and progress for disad- vantaged student groups. LISD received a B rating, scoring 89 out of 100 points, for both Student Achievement and School Progress. The district also received a B rating, scoring 88 out of 100 points, for Closing the Gaps.
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