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Board members for the Austin Independent School District are considering an outside nonprofit to handle three of its middle schools with chronic failing grades. Another failing grade for these campuses would give the Texas Education Agency the authority to take over the district as a whole. We’ll have more about community meetings happening this week. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has notified AISD of a complaint alleging the district violated the state’s bathroom bill. We’ll dig into the story.
Since the start of the second trump administration. Immigration crack downs have been in the news and affecting communities and families across the nation, as well as here in Texas. Austin-based documentarian Louise Van Assche has taken a closer look at this by talking with the folks being directly affected.
South by Southwest officially kicks off tomorrow, but the unofficial showcases and house shows have plenty to offer up as well. We’ll share details about one benefitting a women’s correctional facility here in the Austin area.
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The full transcript of this episode of Austin Signal is available on the KUT & KUTX Studio website. The transcript is also available as subtitles or captions on some podcast apps.
Jerry Quijano [00:00:08] Board members for the Austin Independent School District are considering an outside nonprofit to handle three of its middle schools with chronic failing grades. Another failing grade for these campuses would give the Texas Education Agency the authority to take over the district as a whole. More about community meetings happening this week and the Texas Attorney General has notified AISD of a complaint alleging the district violated the state’s bathroom bill. More about those stories coming up on today’s show.
KUT Announcer: Laurie Gallardo [00:00:35] The Austin Signal is a production of KUT News, hosted by Jerry Quijano.
Jerry Quijano [00:00:40] Plus, South by Southwest officially kicks off tomorrow, but the unofficial showcases and house shows have plenty to offer up as well. Come hear about one benefiting a women’s correctional facility here in the Austin area. Those stories and a whole lot more, up next on Austin Signal. Howdy out there! You are tuned in to Austin Signal from listener-powered public radio, KUT News. I’m your host, Jerry Quijano. It is the 11th day of March, thank you for making us part of your day. We started out our Wednesday with showers and thunderstorms here in Austin and across the area. Unfortunately, it appears that that rain is leaving us for a good chunk of time with some warmer days ahead. The National Weather Service is forecasting a high right above 90 degrees on Sunday, BYE BUD In classic Texas fashion, the high just 24 hours later on Monday is expected to top out in the mid-60s. We will of course keep you updated on the latest right here on Austin Signal. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has notified the Austin Independent School District of an alleged violation of Senate Bill 8, colloquially known as the Bathroom Bill, limiting transgender Texans’ use of public bathrooms in government buildings. The announcement seems to be the first major enforcement action of the new state law, and comes after another investigation the AG’s office said it planned against AISD. For more, we’re joined now by Acacia Coronado. She is the education reporter for Austin Current, KUT’s collaborator on The Signal, and a partner with KUT newsroom in covering Austin. Welcome back to the show, Acacia.
Acacia Coronado [00:02:26] Thanks for having me.
Jerry Quijano [00:02:27] So let’s talk about this alleged violation, what’s in that?
Acacia Coronado [00:02:32] So according to the attorney general’s office, the violation states that a student used a restroom that is not consistent with their sex at birth.
Jerry Quijano [00:02:43] And that followed a complaint that was made to the AG’s office.
Acacia Coronado [00:02:46] Yes. So the attorney general’s office said they were investigating this because they received a complaint through the tip line that the attorney’s general’s office set up to report these things once the law went into effect in December.
Jerry Quijano [00:02:59] Okay, that law is in effect now, what are the penalties associated for violating Senate Bill 8?
Acacia Coronado [00:03:06] So the penalties that are in Senate Bill 8 say that it’s a $25,000 violation fee for the first time and then $125,000 fee for subsequent violations. However, the notice that Austin ISD was given according to the attorney general’s office was that it will incur a $5,000 penalty per day that the violation continued.
Jerry Quijano [00:03:31] Did it say why it was only 5,000 if the first is supposed to be 25,000? It did not. Do we know which school in the Austin Independent School District this complaint was filed against?
Acacia Coronado [00:03:41] So according to the attorney general’s office statement, it was a parent from Austin High School that submitted the complaint.
Jerry Quijano [00:03:49] Okay, what have you heard so far from Austin ISD officials in regards to this alleged complaint?
Acacia Coronado [00:03:56] So Austin ISD has said that they received the notification from the attorney general’s office and they said that will respond accordingly.
Jerry Quijano [00:04:03] You also reported this week about the options AISD board members are considering for three schools with continued failing grades. Can you remind us what schools those are and what is being considered for them?
Acacia Coronado [00:04:15] Yeah, so those schools are Burnet, Webb, and Doeby Middle Schools, and it was added to their schedule for Thursday’s information meeting that the board hosts to discuss the possibility of partnering with Texas Council for International Studies, who has also brought on Region 1 Education Service Center as an advising partner.
Jerry Quijano [00:04:37] What do we know about this group and their history with schools here in Texas?
Acacia Coronado [00:04:42] Texas Council for International Studies has worked with several districts including Edgewood, Longview and San Antonio ISDs. They actually, all the schools listed on their websites are partnerships under the SB 1882 program, which allows districts to partner with outside organizations to operate a school, either for innovation or to turn around a school that might be failing for continuous years. Okay. Um, so. The Texas Council for International Studies has 15 partnerships across the state, and some of these include schools in San Antonio that are still at a lower rating, and they also include schools that have kind of improved and gone down and improved and go down.
Jerry Quijano [00:05:34] Was this the only group considered for this kind of initiative?
Acacia Coronado [00:05:38] So we are not clear yet on whether there were other groups considered. We have requested to the school district how many groups applied to operate the three middle schools. However, we have been sent to an attorney general’s ruling on whether that information can be released because the district said that their bid process is technically not closed until they for the contract. So we were still waiting to find out out of how many they selected them and what made them the winner.
Jerry Quijano [00:06:14] Okay, uh, will the community have an opportunity to discuss this new consideration?
Acacia Coronado [00:06:19] Yeah, so community meetings are being held at all three of the middle schools for the parents of those middle schools later today. And then tomorrow at the board meeting, there’s still the public comment section at the beginning of the board meetings. So community can also voice their thoughts then.
Jerry Quijano [00:06:38] And it sounds like there’s still a little bit of this process to be played out. How soon might a plan like this move forward or how soon do officials hope that they might be able to put this kind of plan into action?
Acacia Coronado [00:06:50] Yeah, so the deadline to apply for one of these partnerships is March 31st. So the district has to name their partner and apply with their partner by then. They have a scheduled voting meeting on March 26th, which is when we’re expecting that they will take the vote, whether to move forward or not with this partnership. And the implementation of it would be in the next school year.
Jerry Quijano [00:07:13] We have been talking with Acacia Coronado, she is the education reporter for Austin Current, KUT’s collaborator on the Austin Signal, and a partner with KUT Newsroom in covering the city. Thank you for your reporting, Acacia.
Acacia Coronado [00:07:23] Thank you so much for having me.
Jerry Quijano [00:07:31] This is Austin Signal, thank you for tuning in. Since the start of the second Trump administration, immigration crackdowns have been in the news and affecting communities and families across the nation, as well as right here in Texas. Austin-based documentarian Louise von Asa has taken a closer look at this by talking with the folks being directly affected. She’s the director of the new documentary Ice America’s Hunt for Migrants. Louise, thank for being here with us on Austin Signal.
Louisa Van Assche [00:07:57] Thank you for having me.
Jerry Quijano [00:07:58] Also joining us is Mando Rayo, host of the Tacos of Texas podcast. He is featured in the documentary as well. Mando, thanks for coming on The Signal. Happy to be back. Louise, I’m gonna start with you. Obviously ICE detentions and ICE activities have been in the news for the last number of months. What made you want to document what’s happening with US immigration, particularly here in Texas right now?
Louisa Van Assche [00:08:22] Well, I started to have this idea for a documentary back in I believe it was March, I was in Europe because I’m originally from Belgium and I was promoting my other documentary there.
Mando Rayo [00:08:33] Okay.
Louisa Van Assche [00:08:33] And whenever I was talking about ICE, nobody really knew what ICE was, which surprised me because up here in the United States, it was such a big topic. So I was like, okay, this is a story I feel like I need to tell here. This needs to be known. And so I flew back, talked to Mando, because we worked together on the podcast, listened to his story and then, you know, talked to Network in Belgium and then started making that documentary.
Jerry Quijano [00:09:02] Yeah, speaking of that story, Mando, you are affected by this as well. Your story is shared in the doc. Can you tell us a little bit about that experience?
Mando Rayo [00:09:11] Yeah, yeah. During the first Trump administration, you know, I was petitioning for my wife. She’s originally from Honduras. And we’re kind of at the last part of the interview process. And I turn over my birth certificate and the ICE agent there says that basically turns it around and says, well, we’re going to have to do an investigation on you because you were born along the border in the 70s. And it was caught off guard, caught surprise. Quickly after that, you know, I mean, I’m a US citizen. Case anybody ask. Yeah, yeah. And back then, you know, during the first Trump administration, they were specifically targeting people born along the border. And so I reapplied for my passport and then it was denied. And so for four years, I was basically stateless. I had to prove I was a U.S. Citizen, which was crazy.
Jerry Quijano [00:10:19] Yeah, Louise, in your documentary you speak with a DACA recipient who was detained in El Paso at the airport ahead of a work trip. She managed to capture her interactions with ICE officials and let her partner know that an ICE official had taken her DACA card and was not giving it back. Let’s listen to a brief clip from that documentary highlighting those interactions.
Immigration Customs [00:10:39] Okay, I’m asking you some immigration documents here, do you have a visa?
Xochitl [00:10:43] Have a work permit. What you have in hand is my work authorization.
Immigration Customs [00:10:49] I’ll see you on the far side, okay?
Louisa Van Assche [00:10:51] Sochil is allowed to live and work legally in the US under DACA, a program that protects people who were brought here as children.
Immigration Customs [00:11:00] Go ahead, go through screening. I’ll see you on the first side. Do you not want to take your airplane ride? Are you threatening me? No, I’m not threatening you. I’m asking you, do you want to take your airplane ride? If you do, go though screening.
Acacia Coronado [00:11:12] When I saw the message, I didn’t know what had happened. I was kind of like waiting to hear from her and then I texted her back like, what happened, did they let you on the plane?
Immigration Customs [00:11:20] Go ahead and turn off your phone, you can come in with those answers, okay? For what? We’re going to question you in regards to your documents.
Xochitl [00:11:26] What’s the questioning for?
Immigration Customs [00:11:28] Don’t do all the talk about it.
Xochitl [00:11:29] What’s the questioning for?
Immigration Customs [00:11:31] Uh, how do you, how you got the format authorization?
Xochitl [00:11:35] I need to have my lawyer here.
Immigration Customs [00:11:38] That’s right
Xochitl [00:11:39] I can wait for my lawyer.
Immigration Customs [00:11:41] While you can’t see your lawyer, let’s just go by plane ticket. So we’re already past screening, so it doesn’t work that way. We’re gonna go downstairs.
Jerry Quijano [00:11:47] Okay, Louise, how did you connect with Xochitl?
Louisa Van Assche [00:11:50] Um, actually, um, I got connected with a journalist up in El Paso, a friend, and then he told me, Hey, you should check out this case, which I had already read about it, but then he connected us and then, um we were able to, uh, speak to the, to such hills partner Desiree and I found their story. These are such innocent people. Like they’re literally working on a community farm. They love flowers. They’re like such sweet people. And they’re caught up in the system. And we really wanted to show like, who are all these people that are being swept up with this like hard immigration crackdown because it’s not like what they were promoting. It’s like, we’re going after, you know, the worst of the worst.
Jerry Quijano [00:12:34] Well, we’re going to have a link to the documentary in our podcast show notes for today. I wanted to also ask you about Amanda, this attorney that you talk to and share her story. How did you get connected with her and what was that experience like?
Louisa Van Assche [00:12:48] I actually got connected through her through an event that Mando had organized together with American Gateways. Through that organization, I was looking for an immigration lawyer because we wanted to follow, we wanted to see what the work looks like on the ground. And she was like, Amanda, she’s amazing. She’s like young, full of energy. She has her own immigration story with her own family. And she’s like really out there working and trying to get those stories out. And so we thought that she would be an amazing person too. To follow.
Jerry Quijano [00:13:19] Yeah, and I thought it was really powerful because in the story or in the documentary, it’s mentioned that we are seeing lots of ICE activities taking place on streets and people being detained that way. But what Amanda is doing, it’s kind of in plain sight out just in a regular building, right? Yeah.
Louisa Van Assche [00:13:34] Yeah. Yeah. That was something that like really hit me hard. So we filmed the scene at an ice check-in in San Antonio. And people are just waiting there because they have like their regular ice check in. So everybody’s just waiting on chairs and then you get called in. And if those people stay in, that probably means they’re detained. And if not, they’re free to go and they have to come back in like another month or year or whatever the term is. But to me, it was so like, it really touched me how all of this is like you because you know, we’ve seen like all the violent videos all around us. I mean, we’re flooded with it and the protests in response as well. Yeah, but this was so happening so quietly and such like it was almost like a machine. It was just routine.
Jerry Quijano [00:14:21] I want to turn it over to you. I know you have done some reporting. You’ve been on the Texas Standard talking about this as well You’ve seen the impacts of immigration enforcement or even just the threat of this type of enforcement on the community here in Austin What have you seen or what have you heard?
Mando Rayo [00:14:36] I mean, I think people are scared. I think that there’s a different culture. We’re in a red state, right? Even though we live in Austin, there’s the culture of compliance. There’s a culture of just don’t make waves, don’t makes noise, and I think that’s why we haven’t seen a lot of protests here in central Texas, unlike Minneapolis, right. But people are scary, but they’re trying to figure out, okay, well, how do I take my children to school? And being aware or you know, if they’re street vendors, how do I look out for some things? Where’s this safe place that I can sell my food or either go to work or or or buy food, you know So I think there’s definitely there’s a lot of people that are wanting to mobilize that are mobilizing But it’s kind of under the radar Even though like we haven’t seen a lot of activity in central Texas, you see that on the outskirts of town for sure but um, yeah people are definitely scared
Jerry Quijano [00:15:38] Okay, Luis, is there anything else about the documentary, about putting it together, anything else that I haven’t asked you about that you would like to speak about?
Louisa Van Assche [00:15:46] I am an immigrant myself to this country, right? I came here from Belgium, from Europe, and it took me five years to get my citizenship. I got it last year in April. And I thought it was a pain in the ass to get it. And then making this, listening to all these stories, realizing how people are waiting 20 years, you know, and still no movement in their case. I never worried about this and I guess I just realized what privilege I have just being from Europe.
Jerry Quijano [00:16:21] As an immigrant, were you scared to cover this topic?
Louisa Van Assche [00:16:23] As a black person, yes, for sure. And I worked with, I didn’t do this by myself. I worked like a white guy from Belgium, Kunti and I, he’s really talented. And we made sure that he was always right by my side. And also if we had questions, because we did have like law enforcement asking us what we were doing, he would always be answering. And it definitely makes a difference if I’m by myself or if I am with like another person of color or if am with a white person. Yes, and I did have a conversation with my husband about this and with Manu and with all the people that were featured in the documentary. Because right now you can watch the documentary on YouTube. And at first it was geo-blogged so you could only watch it in Europe. And then we decided to not do that anymore because honestly I was scared as well for repercussions. I still am, but I think it’s like what Manu said earlier. You need to speak up and you need to do your part. And I guess part of it is being brave. In some way or form, yeah.
Jerry Quijano [00:17:23] Well, we’ve been speaking with Luis Van Assa, director of the new documentary, Short Ice America’s Hunt for Migrants, as well as Mando Rayo, host of the Tacos of Texas podcast who’s featured in that documentary as well. Again, the 30-minute documentary is available to watch on YouTube. We’re gonna have a link to the doc in the show notes and at kut.org slash signal. Luis, Mando, thank you for your time. Thanks, Jerry. Thank you so much. And thank you out there, forcemen, and part of your day here with us. This is Austin Signal. We’ll be back after a break. This is Austin Signal, welcome back. Music lovers who do not have a badge to go to SXSW shows this year can still take advantage of dozens of unofficial events and house shows happening across town. For KUT’s Artbeat, Ella Kopekin reports on one unofficial show that benefits people who can’t attend the festival at all.
Ella Kopeikin [00:18:20] Every year during South by Southwest, local bookers put together unofficial music showcases around Austin. Nicholas Reyes is the organizer of one showcase in East Austin that raises money for the Texas Prison Education Initiative.
Nicholas Reyes [00:18:33] It feels like an oasis from the festival. Artists to get to see friends from out of town. Everyone kind of knows each other. It’s very communal.
Ella Kopeikin [00:18:41] The initiative, commonly called TPAY, is an education program at a women’s prison in Lockhart. The classes are all taught by volunteer professors and graduate students from UT, like Reyes, an assistant math professor. He became a volunteer teacher at the prison in 2019.
Nicholas Reyes [00:18:57] I love the students, that’s my favorite aspect of it.
Ella Kopeikin [00:19:00] Reyes is also an established fixture of the Austin music scene. Known as Nicky Christmas, he started playing around town while he was a UT student. Before COVID, Reyes hosted a free, unofficial South By Music Showcase every year.
Nicholas Reyes [00:19:13] The official South by organization brings in a lot of people from out of town. The unofficial showcases just give the bands more opportunities to play more shows. And this was just the biggest thing that I threw every year.
Ella Kopeikin [00:19:25] In 2022, he decided to make the show a fundraiser for T-Pay. The aim is to get as many donations as possible. The money raised is divided. About two-thirds goes to the musicians, and the rest goes to T-pay.
Nicholas Reyes [00:19:36] Sometimes bands will just donate their portion to TPEI.
Ella Kopeikin [00:19:40] Dorothy Rao is T-Pay’s program coordinator and only paid employee. They said the Texas Prison Education Initiative depends entirely on outside funding to operate.
Dorothy Rao [00:19:50] Calculators, notebooks, pens, pencils. We have about a hundred students every semester. And the other thing we have to pay for is to register them at the university. So we’re paying to register each student so that they can get that college credit and that college transcript once they get out.
Ella Kopeikin [00:20:05] The program helps students land on their feet.
Dorothy Rao [00:20:07] When they get out of prison. So after they leave, they can request a transcript from UT and they can either use this to continue their education or to show experience and job applications and also just to like build their confidence and have something they enjoy in an environment where there’s often a lack of…
Ella Kopeikin [00:20:26] Reyes knew his concert would have a bigger audience thanks to South By, and that could translate to more donations for T-Pay.
Nicholas Reyes [00:20:33] I thought that it would be nice to set up donations. It goes a long way towards buying school supplies.
Ella Kopeikin [00:20:39] Rao attended the benefit for the first time in 2024. There were a bunch of cool bands, the vibes, the building, it just feels so old school Austin and the way I love. Sunday’s lineup at the Sahara Lounge will feature bands exclusively from Texas and New York.
Nicholas Reyes [00:20:52] The first three years, we had a big contingency of Mexican bands, but those bands are not traveling to Texas anymore.
Ella Kopeikin [00:20:58] Fewer acts from outside the U.S. Playing the festival means more local bands filling in. Matt Galsadon is a singer and the lead guitarist for Queen Serene, one of the five Austin bands on the bill for the show.
Matt Galsadon [00:21:09] It just seems like less bands are coming into town now. The lineups are a little bit more low key. It is feeling a little more like it’s a locals kind of festival again. As opposed to like being like this giant international thing.
Ella Kopeikin [00:21:21] Sarah Ronan, the band’s lead singer, said unofficial South By shows feel more community-oriented.
Sara Ronan [00:21:27] Friends always come out, the lineups are actually curated, and there’s just heart and soul actually put into it. It feels like that’s what South By was supposed to be.
Ella Kopeikin [00:21:37] The prison education program used to rely heavily on grant money, but now funding is mostly donation-based. Rao says that’s why the concert is so important.
Dorothy Rao [00:21:47] Organization like this is really hard to sustain. Fundraising is really hard and it takes away a lot of time and energy that can be put towards other things like teaching and like getting new volunteers and starting new classes. The benefit show is one of.
Ella Kopeikin [00:22:00] Two yearly fundraisers for T-Pay and the only one in person. Just being able to f-
Dorothy Rao [00:22:03] confident in our financial stability to be able to continue to do what we’re already doing would be really amazing.
Ella Kopeikin [00:22:10] Reyes wants to keep putting on the annual showcase indefinitely, maybe even a few times a year.
Nicholas Reyes [00:22:15] I’ll be doing this every South by Southwest forever. I am hoping to do a counterpoint to this event in winter.
Ella Kopeikin [00:22:24] And the TPAY leadership is just as invested in keeping the event going as Reyes. Getting to.
Dorothy Rao [00:22:29] See so many bands I like, be with my friends, and support an organization that I really care about is like such a beautiful combination, a beautiful soup of everything that I like about Austin.
Ella Kopeikin [00:22:40] A South By show that’s just as much about the people playing as the cause they’re playing for. For KUT’s Artbeat, I’m Ella Kopeikin.
Jerry Quijano [00:22:53] South by Southwest EDU is underway right now. South by SouthWest Conference and festivals run from tomorrow through next Wednesday. You can keep up with more art beat coverage at KUT.org. And our colleagues at KU-TX are gearing up for day one out at Schultz Garden. Doors open up at 730 in the morning with music starting at 8 o’clock with Quinton, an Austin artist. Speaking of those Austin artists, you know, kind of re-emerging at South By. We’re going to start off the music with an Austin artist. It’s a $10 entry, which directly benefits the Central Texas Food Bank. That means you get to do something good and take in some good tunes as well. And that’s just the beginning of what they have planned for South By Southwest. You can check out all the details at kutx.org. Also, it’s just the beginning of what’s happening out at Schultz Garden tomorrow There’s gonna be live music from 8 until 11 o’clock and then the Austin signal is going live out at Shultz garden tomorrow It’s a one-hour live special show. It’s free open to the public You can come out here from some of the great people that we’re gonna be talking to currently slated to speak with Shaky Graves and Kid Jones, as well as some chefs from La Santa Barbacha, Ramen Del Barrio, and Die Due, and director and producer of a documentary that is premiering here at South By. Lots happening again. Schultz Garden tomorrow, one o’clock. It is free, it is open to the public. We’re doing some radio. This is a community show that we make for you. And, Maya, it would be nice to see some of you out there tomorrow and to just share this experience for you because you are the reason that we do what we do every single day. So thank you for supporting this station and thank you tuning in to Austin Signal. Again, we’ll be out at Schultz Garden live tomorrow, 1 o’clock, it’s free and open to the public. If you can’t be there, tune in on the radio. I’m your host, Jerry Quijano. We will talk to you then.
This transcript was transcribed by AI, and lightly edited by a human. Accuracy may vary. This text may be revised in the future.
