The Austin Independent School
District is handing over control of
three middle schools to a nonprofit
in the hopes of avoiding a
district-wide state takeover.
Doby, Burnett, and Webb middle
schools are trying to avoid a fifth
failing accountability rating that
could trigger that takeover,
more about that.
Plus, Austin city leaders have
approved a new plan to address some
of the issues faced by people
experiencing homelessness, which
calls for more shelter beds, better
coordination, and increased
community partnership.
More about these ambitions and the
costs that's on today's show.
The Austin Signal is a production
of KUT News, hosted by
Jerry Quijano.
And who's the guy who dances at
the corner of Barton Springs Road
and South First Street?
Well, his name is...
I'm not gonna tell you his name,
you're just gonna have to tune in to
find out.
Come and meet him.
That's up next, right here on
Austin Signal.
Howdy out there, you are tuned in
to Austin Signal.
I'm your host, Jerry Gihannel.
It's March 30th, the
last Monday of the month.
We're glad that you're making us
part of your day.
The Austin Independent School
District voted to hand over control
over Dovey Web and Burnett
Middle Schools to Texas Council
for International Studies.
These schools have failed accountability
ratings four times, and
a fifth failure could trigger a
district-wide takeover from the
state of Texas AIC is hoping
that the move could improve the
future of these middle schools.
For more about this move, we are
talking with Acacia Coronado, an
education reporter for the Austin
Current. Thanks for being back on
the show.
Thanks for having me.
So, this decision tells more
about the things that AISD was
considering prior to making this
move.
Yeah, so each of these three middle
schools, as you mentioned,
have four failing accountability
ratings and so they are trying to
prevent them getting to a fifth.
They had been really investing
in their math and reading,
teaching over the last few months,
but upon reviewing their beginning
and middle of year scores,
the district officials just shared
that they did not feel confident
that they would know for a
fact that the would not receive
a fifth F, so they were looking for
a partner that could really come in
and improve some of those testing
scores and other
aspects that TA takes into account
when doing an Accountability Rating.
Okay well speaking of that partner
that partner is the Texas Council
for International Studies who
are they why were they chosen.
Yeah, so the Texas Council for
International Studies was created to
support schools that use the
international baccalaureate
programs, but they also run,
they operate about a little over
a dozen partnerships under
Senate Bill 1882, which allows
for this outside operator
partnership that Austin
ISD is applying for.
And so they operate partnerships in
Edgewood, Longview, and San Antonio
ISDs. And so.
Austin ISD kind of looked at their
progress at some similar schools,
including I think a similar middle
school in San Antonio, to
see, to get an idea of what that
could look like for AISD and
their three middle schools, and they
selected them based off of that.
Okay, and is this just like a
one-year thing?
What kind of window is this?
The contract that they're looking at
is three years, which is similar
to what they had at Mendez
Middle School.
Okay, okay, so and you're
reporting you call this a
high stakes move.
Can you tell us more?
What do you what do you mean by
that?
Yeah, so if
TEA was to deny
their application, which they still
can, and the
schools were to get a fifth
failing accountability
rating, the state
could either take
over the entire district by
appointing board of managers to
replace the school board,
or they could select to close the
schools.
And has that statewide takeover
happened in other school districts
here in Texas?
It has. We did see it in Houston
ISD and we saw it in Fort Worth ISD
and a few others.
So it is a possibility and
so that's something that AISD I
think has been trying to
stave off and they're hoping
this partnership will not just
improve the schools but also
prevent the situation.
Okay, so I believe the votes
happened late on Thursday, so
there's been a little bit of time
for the community to kind of
take it in.
What have you heard? What's the
response been from parents,
teachers, and even students?
Yeah, so I got to visit one of the
community meetings before they
made the decision on Thursday.
They held community meetings a week
or two before,
and teachers and parents
seemed open to an idea if
it was something that could,
in both the short-term and
long-term, improve the outcome of
the school for the students.
And was there more discussion at the
meeting on Thursday, or was it more
just a vote on the plan itself?
On Thursday we mostly saw a brief
discussion and then a vote.
One of the board members did share
that she was grateful that even
though they did select kind
of close to the March 31st deadline
for applying for a partnership, she
was grateful that it was an
intentional plan that was put forth.
Okay, so where are we
at in the process?
Is this like a final step?
I believe you said this application
could still be denied.
What happens next?
What happens next will really depend
on the response and the feedback
they get from TEA.
Superintendent Segura did say during
the meeting that the response and
the final decision could take a
couple months.
So we might not know even up
until May or June what
the final outcome of this is, but
now it kind of goes to
submitting the application by the
March 31st deadline and then getting
a response or feedback from TEA.
And if they, as soon as that
response comes back, if it's
approved, this, I'm guessing, would
go into effect immediately next
school year.
Yes, it would go into effect next
school year for the next three
school years.
And the partnership under
SB 1882 would allow for
the schools to not have an
accountability rating for this
school year and the following one.
Okay, we have been speaking with
Acacia Coronado.
She is an education reporter for the
Austin Current partnering with
Austin Signal and KUT in covering
the city.
Acacia, thanks as always.
Thanks for having me.
The City of Austin has a new
homeless strategy that will add more
shelter beds and resource centers to
the system.
KUT's Luz Moreno Lozano tells
us more about this two-year
plan.
The city's plan was crafted with
more than two dozen community
partners. It includes adding more
shelter beds to the system, opening
two centers to help match people
with additional services, and
increasing collaboration with
community partners David
Gray is the city's Homeless Strategy
Officer
We wanna get people out
of our abandoned
buildings and we wanna get out of
parks and green belts.
We need more beds to put them in.
We need spaces to bring those people
inside.
For people who are experiencing
homelessness, this plan is a first
step in helping to get people off
the street.
Tony Carter, who has been
experiencing homelessness since
2019, says the city should do
more to help the people who need it.
You go around here and you think,
you know, all the people that's here
in Austin, you would think someone,
or they would have enough resources
to...
People that is out here,
you know, but Austin do not have
that.
He says one of the biggest issues is
the city's lack of safe places for
people to sleep.
Over the last seven years, Carter
has been in and out of homeless
camps and rapid rehousing, which
provides a rent subsidy.
He was doing this while trying to
hold down a job, but nothing has
quite worked.
While unhoused and living in camps
over the last couple of years, he
has been swept out so many times
he's lost valuables, belongings,
and even pets.
They're gonna keep kicking us out,
sweeping us.
We need housing, we
really do, because
you kicking people out that don't
have a place to go.
We need the resources, we need
parliament-supported housing.
A place where we
can go get help.
And not just any help, meaningful
help, people who work at the center
that make them matter and feel safe
and who care about the cause.
A lot of people, they'll go to the
shelters, but they ain't gonna stay.
Cuz the employees don't know how to
treat the people for
more. Thank you very much.
Restroom or facilities,
whatever, you know, all messed up
and you got nobody cleaning.
Or if they is cleaning, they have
cleaning them, you know,
and then you got people's stuff
getting stolen there and all that.
The plan aims to address those
concerns by establishing standards
at shelters, including staff
training, and service expectations
like food quality.
As the City looks to adopt and
implement the plan, Gray says the
City will be leaning on its
community partners to help bring
some of these needs to fruition,
especially as the City navigates
budget constraints.
One of those partners will be the
Ending Community Homelessness
Coalition, or ECHO.
The organization recently announced
a new program called Right at Home
that will provide financial
assistance to more than 1,000
families in Austin.
Ashley Hamilton is the manager for
the new program.
She says the goal is to keep people
housed by stepping in before they
hit a crisis point.
And when we talk about a person
being able to
have income, well, in order for them
to have income, they need to be able
to get to their car.
Maybe their car broke down.
They need to able to pay for the
repairs. That all contributes to
them staying housed.
If they can't get to work, they can
pay their rent. If they pay their
own rent, then eventually the
eviction
process comes in.
She says the same could apply to
child care costs or medical care.
Hamilton says her organization and
others are doing everything they can
to help people, but they are at a
turning point and hopefully this
new plan will help guide them.
We are now stepping into
a time where we're acknowledging
that our current kind
of system isn't working
to the best that we think
that it could be.
And it may take us to do some things
a little bit differently in
order to really achieve
the goals.
Tony Carter says all this work is
good, but he hopes the city plan is
thorough enough to help the people
who really need it, because there
are still thousands living unhoused
in Austin.
I'm Luz Moreno Lozano in Austin
And now some sad news to share
that happened since we were last on
the airwaves with you.
John D. Graham died on Friday.
His musical career started when he
left behind the classrooms and
student life here at UT Austin to
join the Skunks.
The band would go on to open for
seminal acts like Ramones and The
Clash and were inducted into the
Austin Music Hall of Fame in 2008.
Graham would move on from the group
and link up with many other artists
including Luanne Barton, Kelly
Willis, and Patti Griffin.
And Graham joined forces with
Alejandro Escovedo in the band True
Believers.
And yet, many Austinites will
remember him for his solo work
and his regular presence at the
Continental Club on South Congress.
Our friend Lori Gallardo from KUTX
said Graham's songs would quote,
connect to the soul in ways you
didn't think possible.
We're gonna have a link to a Studio
1A performance that Graham did back
in 2016 in today's
show notes.
John D. Graham was 67
years old.
Little Adaloo-Bee-Loo
This is Austin Signal, welcome
back.
We could debate all day long
about whether Austin is still
weird, but sometimes it
is undeniable.
We got a question for KUT's ATXplain
project about a person whose whole
thing is getting noticed.
KUT's Matt Largey has the
story.
Ardiabello doesn't remember exactly
when he first saw him.
It was a few years ago.
He and his wife were living in South
Austin.
They were driving through the
intersection at South First and
Barton Springs Road.
We notice this person dancing,
rapping, having the time of their
lives, and it appears to be a young
gentleman not doing anything wrong,
not bothering anybody.
They'd go through this area a lot.
Let's see them again.
I would say close to 90.
Percent of the time we drive by.
Same corner every time,
looking like he's having the time of
his life every time.
In a city known for its characters,
this man stood out.
It didn't look like he was just
hanging out on a street corner.
There was no sign plugging his
Instagram, no Venmo code
asking for money.
Could it be a dude who
was just genuinely out there?
We were just interested, how are you
having such a great time?
And I'm sure some other people
wonder, what are you up to?
So Artie asked A.T.
To explain about him, and one
evening, I went to go find out.
This is my spot.
When you come here, you will see
the.
Man, he gets there a little after
5 p.m.
And time for rush hour.
He's wearing something that will
attract your attention He looks
pretty sharp.
He'll stay all evening dancing
singing rapping waving
By now, everybody know I'm not
crazy. But if they didn't know,
let me just go ahead and answer that
question too. I'm now crazy.
I'm nowhere near crazy.
His name is Broderick Cornelius
James, Jr.
AKA Primetime
King, AKA Positive Thinking King,
P.O.
WEIRD!
He says he's out on this corner more
than 300 days a year.
A lot of what he does is more like
pantomime.
The microphone that he holds doesn't
do anything.
It's just a prop.
He raps or sings along with the
music in his headphones.
At times, he seems lost in
the performance.
It's an actual unofficial show,
not a real show, like, but it's an
actually unofficial show that people
are actually invited
into the show with me standing at
the red light.
He calls it Invisible Theater.
Invisible theater means everybody
is my audience.
If they spend a moment or five
or two minutes, I
got two minutes to impress.
So in that two minutes I might get
a couple people who will look my
way, that's the audience.
Every few minutes, someone stops at
the light, rolls down their window,
and shouts at him.
These are the moments when Broderick
really comes alive.
What's up, man?
I love you, man.
He got somebody in the car.
Broderick is 46 years old.
He grew up in Atlanta, joined the
army, got married, had kids.
Things went downhill about 20 years
ago. His marriage fell apart.
He went to jail.
He was having mental health
problems.
Things were really bad.
I wanna kill myself, right?
I wanna commit suicide or whatever
the word is.
He spent some time in psychiatric
treatment.
A doctor there gave him some advice.
She told me, you gotta find
a way to replace your
pain and what you went through to
make you wanna do that.
You gotta find something in the
community to do or in the world
to do that can make you feel just
like that pain made you feel
in reverse.
He did find something.
If you've been around Austin long
enough, you might remember, because
this is not the first intersection
he's been a fixture at.
No, no it's not.
It's not the first. Everybody know
me from being on the other side of
town in North Austin.
Specifically, the intersection of
Lamar and Runberg.
For years, Broderick was known as
the Runberg Running Man.
The Running Man was famous, a
mascot for the neighborhood.
His superpower was positivity.
This is from a short documentary he
made about him back in 2013.
I turned my community into a place
that people want to see somebody be
happy. That is the purpose why I'm
here. Know what I'm saying?
At the end of the day.
Look at this.
When everybody said it was negative,
we turned it into something good.
But over time, it became more than
just running and dancing.
People wanted him to be more of a
leader to solve their problems,
and he got burned out.
I feel like they made me king,
Martin King of that.
Like up there, I became like
somebody I never wanted to
be.
I never want to be the actor.
He was more interested
in being an artist.
Plus he says the corner started
to get more dangerous.
Broderick put ten years into being
the running man.
And then he stopped.
Then he left.
Even though I left Rumburg, I had to
replace it with another corner.
Like, I could not just leave
Rumburgh and not have, I have to
find another corner, had to, because
this is my lifeline.
In 2022, Broderick moved
to an apartment in South Austin.
One day, he came out to Barton
Springs in South First.
He stood on the northeast corner,
looked out at the intersection, and
he knew this was the place.
I saw this as my sanctuary and
I was like, this is where I'm
going to perform until I die.
If The Rendered Running Man was
about inspiring a community,
Bradwick's new character isn't too
far off.
If The Running Man is Martin Luther
King, he says this version
is the spiritual descendant
of Leslie Cochran.
We know Leslie is the king or slash
queen of weird.
So let me be the kingpin.
I'ma be the other side.
I'm gonna be the part of the corn.
Leslie was, of course, the
cross-dressing, thong-wearing icon
of Austin weirdness in the late 90s
and 2000s.
He died in 2012.
I honor the king,
he's the peak.
You can't have anything without a
foundation.
I'm on his foundation.
This is weird Austin, this is Leslie
Austin, and I'll get a chance to
continue his legacy.
As I watch Broderick do his thing,
a couple of teenage boys tear up to
him on these electric bikes.
At first, I think they're going to
give him a hard time, but then
the high fives start going up.
And it's clear that they came here
to see him, to joke around, to
say hi.
He's a fixture in their lives.
It's the idea of
where I was when I wanted
to commit, to not live anymore.
Once I got free,
this became like
the freedom.
So for me, to be out here is
to wave to everybody, to say what's
up to everybody because this to
me is my family.
And just like family, it's not
always fun.
Some days he just doesn't have the
energy. But he still comes out,
gives it the energy he does have.
Because you never know when someone
is gonna need what you're putting
out there.
Everybody is looking for something,
you know what I'm saying? I don't know
what it is, maybe it's love, it's
peace, a friendship, a connection.
I'm not saying I'm giving them what
they're looking for, but I'm giving
them something that I guess to make
them say, maybe this is enough
like to keep going, because that's
what the world want.
People want to be encouraged.
Give them a reason not to give up.
But there's a danger to doing any
kind of public performance, at least
as Broderick sees it.
There's no doubt he's charismatic.
He radiates confidence and
positivity.
Just spending a few hours with him
makes you want to be a better
neighbor.
For the Running Man, that meant
people wanted more from him.
He felt like they wanted him to
fight their battles, to be the
activist.
Here on the other side of town,
he says people wonder why he's
out here on the street.
Doesn't he want to be more
than this?
He tells me about a time when a
woman in fancy business clothes
stopped and asked him, is there
anything she could do to help him
become more?
How could she help him fulfill his
vision?
And at the time, he didn't know what
to say.
He didn't have an answer.
But he kept thinking about it.
If she came back and asked that
question, I'm no longer clueless.
The answer would be no.
There's nothing she can do to help
me.
He's already living the dream.
The vision, he says, is
already realized.
I don't want this
life-changing,
aha, revelational
message of what I'm trying
to do for the world and
Nobel Peace Prize, no.
We've already reached that
already.
This is it.
This is what you get.
It sounds simple.
Show up in the same corner almost
every day.
Give folks who come by a wave or a
high five.
Put on a show for people who are
late for dinner.
People resting to pick up their
kids.
People who avoid making eye contact.
Make them smile.
Help them chill out at the red
light.
Let them know weirdness is
still alive.
In a city where people want you to
be more, be bigger,
maybe the invisible theater.
I love the smallness of
my name, not making
it bigger than it needs to be.
You got the stars for big.
I want to be small,
compact. You can pull up on me and
say you love me like you do.
That's what I want.
I'm Matt Largey in Austin.
If you or someone you know is
experiencing thoughts of suicide,
the 988 Suicide and
Crisis Lifeline offers 24-7
support.
That story was originally part
of our most recent AT Explain live
show. Our next show, show
number 10 with brand new stories,
is coming up on May 21st at Bass
Concert Hall.
You can get tickets at
TexasPerformingArts.org.
One last thing before we get you out
of here today, the Texas women's
basketball team will play this
evening for a spot in their second
consecutive final four.
The 1C Longhorns will face
Michigan with tip-off scheduled for
six o'clock.
The win tonight would send the Horns
to Phoenix for another game on
Friday night against UCLA.
That is it for today's show.
Thank you for starting off the week
here with us.
You can find more about us
at kut.org
slash signal.
Rayna Sevilla is our technical
director and Kristin Cabrera is
our managing producer.
I'm your host Jerry Quijano.
We will talk to you tomorrow.