AISD Superintendent Gets Big Bonus as School Board Talks Budget

Austin ISD Superintendent Dr. Maria Carstarphen received her performance evaluation at Monday's Board of Trustees meeting, and was awarded a performance bonus that's more than many people make in a year.

According to Board President Mark Williams, Dr. Carstarphen will receive a bonus totaling $41,500 for the 2009-2010 school year, tied directly to the academic performance of AISD schools. She received $19,000 of a possible $25,000 for meeting most, but not all, of the performance objectives tied to state and federal accountability measures. She was also awarded an additional $22,500 after three schools that were rated Academically Unacceptable for multiple years turned their performance around. Those schools, Reagan High School, Pearce Middle School and Garcia Middle School, were all rated Academically Acceptable for the 2009-2010 school year.

Dr. Carstarphen reported that she had a busy day on the first day of school, visiting eight AISD campuses throughout the day and chronicling it in her blog.

During Monday's meeting, the board also approved a $716 million operating budget for the 2010-2011 school year, which began Monday. AISD will also send $128 million to the State of Texas under "recapture" provisions of Texas school finance law that will redistribute a portion of collected property taxes among other local school districts.

The approved budget is balanced, according to Dr. Carstarphen, and cures a $7.1 million structural deficit that had been projected for the school year. The district will also continue the current operating tax rate of $1.079 per $100 of assessed property value, along with a separate bond debt repayment tax rate of $0.148, for a combined rate of $1.227.

The board also voted to discontinue a historical property exemption on property taxes for the 2010-2011 school year that was authorized by the City of Austin.