Students from the Austin Independent School District participated in a national walkout last Friday to protest Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Some district teachers and staff walked along with them, while AISD Police followed along to help keep the students safe. Now, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said he’s demanding information from the district about its involvement.
The order comes after Gov. Greg Abbott said on social media Friday that he asked the head of the Texas Education Agency, Mike Morath, to launch an investigation of AISD regarding the walkout.
Paxton is in a tight Republican primary race for the U.S. Senate nomination and is hoping to get President Donald Trump's endorsement. Paxton has asked AISD for internal communications regarding the walkout, their policies on students leaving campus, excused absences and security protocols. The attorney general argues that district staff helped students leave campus in some cases.
But some AISD parents say they appreciated the district's efforts and question the state's investigations.
Melanie Oltman, whose son attends Lively Middle School, said the governor's call for an investigation feels politically motivated. “I think he continuously targets Austin because we are a more progressive city,” she said.
Wes Ahearn, another parent at Lively, said he felt relieved that AISD officials were at the walkout his son participated in. Many of the students who walked to the Capitol were minors.
“If we end up spending more money in the investigation than the amount of money that was spent on 'chaperoning these kids,' what are we really accomplishing?” Ahearn said.
Students in other school districts across Texas also took to the streets on Friday, including San Antonio ISD and New Braunfels ISD, where the district also had staff monitoring students. The TEA told KUT News they received complaints regarding the walkouts in AISD and other school districts. But Abbott and Paxton have only publicly asked for information from AISD.
On Friday, AISD Superintendent Matias Segura said in a written statement the district cannot physically prevent students from leaving campus, and that leaving campus to participate in a protest is considered an unexcused absence.
Segura said teachers and staff walked along with students because the district’s goal is to ensure the students’ safety. But, he said, their ability to ensure safety is limited at “non-school-sanctioned” events.
The TEA said state law requires educators to facilitate student learning free from political bias and that schools have an obligation to make sure students attend school, with "consequences for unexcused absences." The TEA said it will investigate the complaints thoroughly and take appropriate action to ensure school districts are upholding state law.
It is unclear what the TEA’s investigation will entail or how much taxpayer money could go toward Abbott's and Paxton’s directives.
In his X post on Friday, Abbott accused AISD of “political indoctrination.”
KUT also reached out to AISD officials, and did not hear back regarding Paxton's allegations before this story was published.
