Austin Signal

The Austin Independent School District expects a $181 million deficit in next school year’s budget — but it still hasn’t released a proposal for what cuts will be made.

Austin revised its rules on how city police can interact with federal immigration agents — and city leaders are divided on what the change actually means.

The Austin Animal Center is often overcrowded. But a new program at the Travis Unit state prison is getting dogs there training and socialization to help them get adopted.

And a look back at an iconic performance 41years ago at the Armadillo World Headquarters.

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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.

Jennifer Stayton [00:00:09] The Austin Independent School District expects a 181 million dollar deficit in next school year’s budget, but it still hasn’t released a proposal for what cuts will be made. We’ve got more on what’s going on.

KUT Announcer: Laurie Gallardo [00:00:21] The Austin Signal is a production of KUT News, hosted by Jennifer Staton.

Jennifer Stayton [00:00:28] Austin City leaders can’t agree if all Austinites feel safe calling 9-1-1 without fear that police will call immigration enforcement. We’ll hear more on that. Also, the Austin Animal Center is often overcrowded but a new program in an unusual location is getting dogs their training and socialization to help them get adopted. And a look back at an iconic performance 41 years ago at the Armadillo World Headquarters. Coming up on the 100th episode of Austin Signal, stay with us. Bye. It’s Friday, May 22nd, 2026. I’m your host, Jennifer Staten. This is Austin Signal. The Austin Independent School District is still working on finding potential cuts to balance an expected $181 million budget deficit for the upcoming school year. District officials were supposed to publish a recommended budget yesterday, but the date has been moved to next month, June 4th. The information on how the budget will be balanced has been slowly trickling out as the district has been presenting information to the Board of Trustees. I spoke with KUT’s education reporter, Greta Diaz-Gonzalez-Fazquez, on Morning Edition earlier about the potential cuts. So why did AISD officials delay publishing a recommended budget they had said they were gonna release it yesterday?

Greta Diaz Gonzalez Vasquez [00:01:58] Yes, that’s right. But it’s such a big budget deficit. So they have said that they’re going line by line looking at every single expense in campuses, but also at the central office. It has also taken them some time because they said that they are trying to cut in the right places, although they also say it’s painful, there’s no right place, but that they are making cuts that won’t have long lasting impacts. Superintendent has also said that they’re looking at what is required by state and federal law to make sure that they are still complying. And then also what are things that the district has offered over the years just because they could? Water polo comes up quite a bit. So, you know, there’s some expenses that they say, well, this we need to keep. So Greta, what cuts have they shared so far? Yeah so some of the cuts we or proposed cuts we have known for a couple weeks There’s two that have been big cuts or like that people are concerned about it that is increasing the student teacher ratio that’s for second through fifth grade and reducing planning time for middle school and high schools. And that would mean cutting around 200 teacher salaries. So not necessarily people, but salaries. Then there’s also reducing stipends for a special education and bilingual educators. Um and there’s there’s other ones that have come in the last two weeks, I would say, like changing transportation for magnet school programs, then also moving yesterday was mentioned, moving middle school and high school transportation to a hub model. There’s also other expenses like eliminating phone stipends and travel stipends, and even changing stipends for substitute teachers. So Greta, you said cutting salaries, but not people. What is that? So they are cutting what they call allocations. One allocation is one teacher salary or one salary. And so they are coming around 205, 215, the number varies, but that doesn’t mean that that number of teachers will be impacted because some of them will be, the whole position would be impacted, some would go to part-time, but then also the district has more vacancies than it has than the impacted allocation. So they have said that they will try to find a place for those teachers who will be impacted.

Jennifer Stayton [00:04:19] What have you been hearing from teachers and from parents about the proposals that we know of so far?

Greta Diaz Gonzalez Vasquez [00:04:26] Right, so parents called last night to the meeting and they said that they’re concerned because they don’t know what programs will be offered at their kids’ schools where they are already enrolled or maybe where they will enroll their kids. So they said that they are concerned about that uncertainty. But then there’s also teachers, right, who are being impacted directly. And so yesterday, last night, I talked to a teacher whose job could potentially be impacted. Her name is Christina Coro. She currently teaches at Becker, one of the schools that are set to close. But then she was going to go to Casey, she had a lot job lined up. And then Wednesday night she heard that her position could be cut. So let’s hear her. They say.

Casey Coro [00:05:05] That our work doesn’t go unnoticed but the way that they have gone about this really demonstrates that it that it has yeah just I feel like it’s been very inconsiderate and and yeah I feel very hurt I feel very disappointed very disillusioned extremely jaded

Greta Diaz Gonzalez Vasquez [00:05:23] So she was set, she has one more year before retiring. So she’s feeling really, really sad. You can hear in her voice. And last night I also talked to teachers who are not directly impacted, but who tell me that they will likely have more classes. They will likely more students. And so they’re also concerned about what is gonna come for next year. And they say they can’t plan for next years yet and that in June they should be planning classes, but they don’t know what they need to plan for.

Jennifer Stayton [00:05:50] So Greta, just in general, what is roughly the overall size of the AISD budget? We’re talking about $181 million in cuts, but what’s the size of the whole budget?

Greta Diaz Gonzalez Vasquez [00:05:59] Right. That’s a really good question. The overall budget is a little bit over a billion. So it’s $1,031,000,000. Out of that, more than 87% is staffing. So you can imagine it’s hard to balance the budget without affecting staff. And how did the budget deficit grow to $181,0000,000? Yeah, I think it’s important to say this is not the first year AISD has a budget deficit or is trying to balance a budget deficit. Last year they actually adopted a budget deficit of 19 million and it has grown to 49 million. Now that will not be added to this year’s or next year’s budget more like. That will be absorbed by the district’s balance so by savings. But when it comes to why there’s many factors, the one that comes up at all meetings is how schools are funded in Texas. The per student allotment has not gone up significantly since 2019. And so it has not kept up with inflation. But then also property values have gone down. There’s also declining enrollment and there’s impact of immigration.

Jennifer Stayton [00:07:03] That was KUT education reporter Greta Diaz-Gonzalez-Fazquez on the potential cuts to the budget. For the past year and a half, Austin, like many Texas cities, has been struggling to make sure residents can feel safe calling 911 without fear that the police will call immigration enforcement. KUT’s Luz Moreno Lozano reports that city leaders still can’t agree if all Austinites safe to call 9-1-1.

Luz Moreno-Lozano [00:07:37] Depending on who you ask, the Austin Police Department either made a major or a minor change last month when it comes to how to handle encounters with people who might be undocumented. The new rules say that an officer or supervisor should, when operationally feasible, contact U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement if they come across someone with what’s called an administrative warrant. That’s basically a document indicating the person might have committed an immigration violation, not a crime. So, does that mean police have to call ICE? Austin City Councilmember Chief Avella doesn’t think so.

Chito Vela [00:08:10] Should is not shall, not must call, it’s not will call.

Luz Moreno-Lozano [00:08:16] He says Austin police are short staffed and they should be prioritizing local matters like violent crimes, property crimes and patrolling.

Chito Vela [00:08:23] Given that we’re 300 officers short, I do not see how it will be operationally feasible for our patrol officers to take time out of their patrol and communicate with ICE when they encounter an administrative warrant.

Luz Moreno-Lozano [00:08:39] The rules used to be different. They used to say Austin police may contact ICE and they had to clear it with a supervisor. But when governor Greg Abbott threatened to pull millions of dollars in state grants, the city revised its rules again to say should. Michael Bullock, president of the Austin Police Labor Union says it won’t change how officers work. So he says people should feel safe calling 911.

Jerry Quijano [00:09:01] Administrative immigration things, if you’re the victim of a crime, it’s not what we’re focused on. We’re focused on the criminal. That’s what we are focused on.”

Luz Moreno-Lozano [00:09:07] But critics say there is no way to know for sure, and the Austin Police Department did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Even among the Austin City Council, there’s disagreement. Councilmember Mike Siegel thinks the rules say the officers should call ICE.

Mike Siegel [00:09:22] Under the amended general orders, Austin police will call ICE more frequently, which will result in more members of our community being detained and deported, and at the same time drawing our officers away from solving real public safety concerns like active 911 calls.

Luz Moreno-Lozano [00:09:41] Take what happened back in January when an Austin woman from Honduras called police for a domestic disturbance. She and her five-year-old daughter, who is a U.S. Citizen, were both deported. The incident sparked outrage, and during a February public hearing, people called on the city to do more to protect people from ICE enforcement. Austin police chief Lisa Davis was heckled during the meeting.

Lisa Davis [00:10:02] There is a rule of law that I have to follow as the Chief of Police here in the state of Texas. But what we can do is create policies that assist with that. So it is likely that we will…

Luz Moreno-Lozano [00:10:17] Could something like that happen again? It’s still unclear. City council members are looking for other ways to put up guardrails that protect people who are undocumented. Like last month, they adopted a resolution to create a working group on the issue. Daniela Sova with the advocacy group Workers’ Defense Action Fund says it’s a start.

Daniela Silva [00:10:34] That this resolution is a really great first step in working to kind of rebuild that trust and communicate to Austinites that our institutions that are there to protect people really want be able to do.

Luz Moreno-Lozano [00:10:48] But it will likely take months, if not longer, for that to result in real change. I’m Luz Moreno Lozano in Austin. We’ll be right back.

Jennifer Stayton [00:11:00] This is the Austin Signal, welcome back. This week, back in 1975, Frank Zappa and his early collaborator, Captain Beefheart, reunited at an iconic Austin venue to record the live album, Bongo Fury. Jason Mellard with the Center for Texas Music History at Texas State University, tells us more about the performance at the Armadillo World Headquarters.

Jon Mellard [00:11:27] This week in Texas music history, a central Texas venue erupts in frenzied bongo fury. On May 20th and 21st, 1975, Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart, and the Mothers of Invention recorded the live album, Bongo Fury, at the Armadillo World headquarters in Austin. Zappa had played the hall a few times before and always packed the place, one of those national acts who found the Armidillo a sort of second home. The album even contains a dedication to Jan Beeman, who ran the armadillo’s kitchen. This 1975 visit was special, not just because of that live album, but because it reunited Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart in performance. Old high school friends who met in 1958 in Lancaster, California.

Mike Siegel [00:12:06] Ladies and gentlemen, we’re going to take an intermission here.

Jon Mellard [00:12:11] Zappa had been the one who dubbed his friend Don Fleet as Captain Beefheart. They appeared together on Zappa’s earliest home recordings, the first steps towards a desert-baked surrealism that would define both their careers. Zappa brought Beefheart on for Bongo Fury because, as he said, the way Beefheart relates to language is unique. With somebody else in the band who’s into it at that level, he gives me a chance to do things I haven’t been able to do before. And their arcane linguistic experiments show when Bongo fury atop the stomping blues rock of a classic Mothers of Invention lineup. B-Fart contributed the songs, Sam with the Showing, Scalp Flat Top, and Man with the Woman Head, while Zappa’s densely comedic delivery sparkled in numbers like Poofter’s Froth Wyoming Plans Ahead, a song that warned of the celebratory 1976 bicentennial then on the horizon. Zappa introduced it with a nod to his progressive country surroundings, calling it a sort of cowboy song. And then there’s the mad science of the closer in climax Muffin Man, where Zappa also tipped his hat to the Lone Star stage. Before stepping off the stage at the end of the Muffin Man anthem, Zappa offered up to the city what would become one of its spectral audio taglines. Good night Austin, Texas. Wherever you are. The album released later that year, in October 1975. This spring saw a deluxe final reissue with new liner notes by steel guitarist Denny Wally and Joe Travers. The echoes of that May 1975 night reverberating yet again on turntables worldwide, wherever they are. You can hear music from the Lone Star State 24-7 on the Texas Music Experience at tmx.fm.

Jennifer Stayton [00:13:57] Like many shelters across Texas, the Austin Animal Center is often overcrowded. But a new program there is getting dogs the training and socialization skills that will help them get adopted. Well, that’s pretty standard fare for an animal shelter. It’s the location of this particular program that makes it unusual. These dog trainers are incarcerated at the Travis Unit State Prison in East Austin. The Texas Standard, Sarah Ash, took a visit. When Chico first showed up,

Kailey Hunt [00:14:26] at the Travis unit, he was extremely anxious.

Sarah Asch [00:14:31] The dog is not listening.

Jeff Pruski [00:14:34] He was very shy and timid. He would not come around people. He wouldn’t let you pet him. He didn’t want to interact.

Kailey Hunt [00:14:41] That’s Jeff Pruski, who has been working with Chico as part of the prison’s enduring service program. Chico is one of the 12 dogs from the Austin Animal Center in this inaugural group. Each dog is paired with two trainers, all incarcerated veterans.

Sarah Asch [00:14:58] I know, well I have a-

Kailey Hunt [00:15:00] Chico is a Labrador Husky mix with a blocky head and curious brown eyes. When you catch him at ease, he has a big smile. He’s very attached to Prusky.

Jeff Pruski [00:15:10] Down, down, down.

Kailey Hunt [00:15:14] The Animal Center’s Julie Thatcher says she tried to pick dogs that would benefit from time away from the shelter.

Julie Thatcher [00:15:20] We already know from experience at the shelter that a shy, quiet volunteer does well with a shy quiet dog. And then somebody who’s just a little more rough and tubble and wants to play around, we can give them a dog like that.

Jeff Pruski [00:15:30] Pruski raised his hand for Chico right away. He sounded like a dog I wanted to take home. First day was high anxiety and I knew we took on a challenge but a good challenge.

Kailey Hunt [00:15:44] Chico’s second trainer was released from prison in April, and since then, Pruski has been on his own. Over the 12 weeks, the incarcerated trainers have remade their schedules around their new companions.

Jeff Pruski [00:15:55] A day starts usually around 4.30 in the morning. I go to get medicine and come back. Next thing is him, of course. I take him out, let him do his business, of course, and let him have some free time to walk around.

Kailey Hunt [00:16:10] April Zamora, with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, says she wanted the trainers to understand the commitment going in.

April Zamora [00:16:17] A good heart check is what I call it. Like don’t do this because you’re looking for an outcome where parole is gonna say a favorable vote. What are you looking to change within you?

Kailey Hunt [00:16:27] This is the first group of dogs at the Travis Unit. The program was based on one in nearby Williamson County.

April Zamora [00:16:33] It hit like wildfire. It’s a win-win situation for not only the community, but for these veterans. They have a sense of purpose when they’re working with these animals.

Kailey Hunt [00:16:42] Zamora says the healing goes both ways. Incarcerated trainers have reported learning patience and good habits through their work with the dogs. You really are teaching people to modify.

April Zamora [00:16:52] Behavior and reaction.

Kailey Hunt [00:16:54] Brendan Gemmel is an Austin Animal Center trainer who leads weekly classes at the Travis Unit. He was blown away by how quickly the group made it through the 12-week course he had planned, which allowed them to move on to more advanced skills.

Brendan Gemmell [00:17:06] The hardest thing we worked on was nothing. These dogs, when they get adopted, they will be at Torchi’s Taco or somebody’s backyard and they’re just gonna sit there and be calm. That’s a win.

Kailey Hunt [00:17:21] Over the 12 weeks, Chico started to come out of his shell. He’s still nervous around strangers and flinches at sudden movements. And he never did get comfortable with my microphone.

April Zamora [00:17:31] Oh, sorry. You can move 2,000 with my hand. That’s a dog that’s been hit, huh? Yeah. That’s what I wanted to do. Woof, woof.

Kailey Hunt [00:17:39] But he began to play with other dogs in a fence field next to the dorm. His tail curls up to show off his husky side when he’s interested in something, and he tolerates a bath, though he’s still not a fan. Prusky says it’s been gratifying to watch Chico open up.

Jeff Pruski [00:17:53] He’s a complete goofball. He likes to have fun, run around. He’ll jump and just chase ball and things like that.

Kailey Hunt [00:18:02] Chico started learning tricks beyond the basic obedience of sit and down. By week 11, he was working on rollover.

Jeff Pruski [00:18:09] He loves treats and almost does anything for a treat.

Kailey Hunt [00:18:13] May 1st was graduation, and the day dawned humid and bittersweet as the incarcerated trainers prepared to say goodbye to their pups. The group was honored in a ceremony in the visiting room.

Brendan Gemmell [00:18:27] Number one is Mr. Theo, Big Head Theo with Handlers Daniel and Mark.

Kailey Hunt [00:18:36] Yay! I love you! Some of the dogs went to foster homes after graduation, several were adopted, the rest are still available and waiting for their forever homes. Austin Animal Center’s Julie Thatcher says she hopes they don’t have to wait long. They need good homes and they’re ready. They’re all trained, they’re all ready. Meanwhile, trainer Brendan Gemmell is already preparing for the next group of dogs to show up at the prison. This time, he says, the incarcerated trainers will take turns leading the classes each week. Some in the group are interested in pursuing careers in dog training or grooming.

Brendan Gemmell [00:19:10] They’re all going to be responsible for their day’s training, and they’ll train each other, is ultimately what we want.

Kailey Hunt [00:19:16] TDCJ’s April Zamora says,

April Zamora [00:19:18] other prisons may start similar programs. So we just opened up our dog unit in Garza County. We had heard from the commissioners out there, hey, our animal shelter may have some interest in coming out to talk to y’all. Chica was not one of the dogs.

Kailey Hunt [00:19:34] Who went home on graduation day.

Richard Vasquez [00:19:37] Come on, let’s go for a walk. Come on let’s, go. Good boy, yeah.

Kailey Hunt [00:19:42] That’s only because his new owner had to work. He was picked up a few days later by Richard Vasquez, his trainer who had been released a few weeks before. Vasquez knew he was close to getting out when Chico and the other dogs arrived at the prison. He had no plans of adopting a pet, but as the weeks passed, the two developed a special bond. Vasquez realized he couldn’t leave the dog behind.

Richard Vasquez [00:20:10] I got released, Chico still had about two more weeks in the program. Oh man, that was the most difficult thing because I sat there looking at him. I went inside his kennel and I put my head against his head and I said, look bud, I’m going to be back. I promise I’m coming back for you.

Kailey Hunt [00:20:24] Vasquez did not particularly want to return to the site of his incarceration, but he did, making the four-hour drive down from Denison, where he lives with his sister. A few weeks later, both man and dog are settling in to life on the outside.

Richard Vasquez [00:20:38] I can really see the change in his behavior, like, I’m out, you’re out. We’re not behind the fences anymore. We can actually go on a walk whenever we want.

Kailey Hunt [00:20:46] Vasquez says it’s an honor to care for a dog who has experienced trauma not unlike what Vasquez himself has been through. He says having Chico makes it easier to focus on keeping his life on track.

Richard Vasquez [00:20:57] Chico depends on me. I gotta be here now. So just as much as I’m honored to do it for him, I’m very grateful that he’s doing it for me. Come this way. This way, Chico. Good boy. Good boy!

Kailey Hunt [00:21:16] Back at the Travis unit, Jeff Pruski is gearing up to welcome another dog for round two of the program. He misses Chico, but is happy Vasquez was able to take him home.

Jeff Pruski [00:21:26] It’s all about second chances with us here. And I believe in my heart we got him a second chance and a place to live forever.

Kailey Hunt [00:21:33] And that, Pruski says, made it all worth it. In Austin, I’m Sarah Ash.

Jennifer Stayton [00:21:45] And before we let you go, Austin Signal is celebrating 100 episodes. That’s 100 shows packed with news, music, and what matters most to you.

Jerry Quijano [00:21:57] So let’s start with the biggest news. Obviously, first, what who is what is the name of the suspect? What did Austin police have to say about it?

Andrew Weber [00:22:04] The name of the suspect is Robert Brashers. He has.

Jennifer Stayton [00:22:08] We’ve brought you the latest news like solving of the yogurt shop murders and a look at Austin’s airport traffic controller woes.

Nathan Bernier [00:22:15] Bratcher says controllers received nothing on their last two paychecks. Now they’re waiting on weeks of back pay and trying to stabilize their finances without really having a chance to catch a breath.

Bratcher [00:22:25] You have people in Austin that are working six days a week that if a controller is not fully filling well, nobody wants somebody that’s got a cold or a flu to come in and plug in and work airplanes like that at that high volume.

Jennifer Stayton [00:22:36] We’ve heard from different KUTX’s artists of the month, like Gran Moreno.

Nathan Bernier [00:22:41] I don’t know. It’s Gran Moreno to be honest. It is Gran Morena Classic Rock Psy Blues.

Brendan Gemmell [00:22:49] Norteño y de todo

Jennifer Stayton [00:22:54] and Annabelle Chairlegs.

Lindsey Mackin [00:23:05] I actually wrote that song about a friend of mine who died and it was I was sort of thinking about when you die are you still around and are people with you or they you know I sort of imagined me and her running around New York City and what that would be like.

Jennifer Stayton [00:23:21] If they’re cool with ties to Central Texas, like actor Ben McKenzie, you know we’re gonna talk with them.

Ben McKenzie [00:23:27] Yeah, I wanted to go against what most people would think if you said I’m making a documentary about cryptocurrency. They’d probably fall asleep as you’re delivering the line. And so let’s make this fun, let’s makes this fast. It’s a 90 minute comedy about how stupid this whole thing is. And really lean into the sort of strengths of crypto, which is that most of it is sort of patently absurd. Right, you’ve got coins like, can I curse one?

Jennifer Stayton [00:23:55] Not right now. But most of all, thank you for listening. We’ll keep on going. And that’s it for us today on Austin Signal. Rene Chavez is our technical director today. Kristen Cabrera is our managing producer and Alexandra Hart is our producer. I’m Jennifer Staten. Have a good weekend.

This transcript was transcribed by AI, and lightly edited by a human. Accuracy may vary. This text may be revised in the future.