Austin ISD Board of Trustee, District 7
School District Board TrusteesSchool Board Trustees are elected to represent residents of the school district. Together, the Board hires and evaluates the superintendent, adopts the budget, oversees district spending, sets the property tax rate, and sets policies for the district. The Board may also call bond or tax rate elections.
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Jimmy Counihan
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Laurie Solis
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Qualifications: What specific training and experience prepared you for this position?
Teachers: How would you attract, retain, and cultivate effective and highly-qualified teachers?
Facilities: How would you deal with the challenge of adjusting the number of facilities (whether by closures or by new construction) to match changing enrollment and financial constraints?
Students: What are your top priorities for improving student outcomes?
Budget: Given current financial shortfalls, what ideas do you have to balance the budget while protecting student learning?
I serve as Rep. Donna Howard’s Policy Comms Director, advising on pub. edu. policy. I also served at the Legislative Budget Board, Comptroller of Public Accounts & the AISD Advisory Council for 6 yrs.
Attracting quality teachers requires competitive incentives and a supportive work environment. I will work to increase teacher pay, protect planning time, invest in professional development, and reduce bureaucracy. Right now, I think our teachers are tired of the instability caused by district leadership. As the son of an AISD teacher, I know when teachers thrive, our students do, too.
12 AISD campuses have closed, and enrollment has fallen in the 2026-27 school year. Opening new campuses for the foreseeable future is not a responsible use of taxpayer resources. I'd like AISD to retain ownership of closed campuses and build new revenue streams with community partnerships to keep facilities in use. Selling and demolishing existing infrastructure erodes community trust.
Improving academic outcomes requires investments in our teachers and programs. Across District 7, we're seeing program reductions that kept students engaged - French at Gorzycki, the Vida Clinic at Bowie, and Communities in Schools at Covington. For students to thrive, they need quality teachers, quality programs, and quality instruction. All of which I will fight to restore in the next budget.
Restoring financial solvency is my top priority. To achieve this, we need to stabilize student enrollment by listening to families and leading a district-wide recruitment effort. From there, I'd like to reduce inefficiencies at district headquarters, establish new revenue streams by leveraging closed campuses, and partner with the City and local organizations to offload certain program costs.
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