ATX Pulse 6/15-17/26 (free): 3 AISD Middle Schools at Risk of Takeover // Downtown Hotels Struggle without Convention Center // UT Fires Hiott at KUT, Names Interim GM // UT Baseball Eliminated by UGA // FSU Standout Transfers to Texas Softball

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MONDAY, JUNE 15, 2026 - WEDNESDAY, JUNE 17, 2026

Compiled by Matt Mackowiak

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WEATHER

Thursday: H: 98° / L: 78°. Hot! Heat index of 115.

Friday: H: 92° / L: 78°. 20% chance of isolated thunderstorms.

Saturday: H: 93° / L: 77°. 30% chance of scattered thunderstorms.

Sunday: H: 95° / L: 77°. 10% chance of rain. Partly cloudy.

TOP NEWS

"3 Austin ISD middle schools struggling after release of STAAR test results" via Fox 7 Austin –- The Texas Education Agency released the spring 2026 STAAR test results Tuesday for third through eighth graders.

The numbers reveal a shift in Texas classrooms, including a surge in advanced math and a jump in middle school reading. State officials attributed those reading gains to a statewide school cell phone ban. 

However, three struggling Austin ISD middle schools are not reflecting that same wave of improvement.

The statewide data shows overall progress for grades three through eight. Math exams saw a four percentage point jump among fourth graders, returning them to pre-pandemic levels. 

Eighth-grade reading scores rose by three percentage points. Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath suggested the spike may be associated with the restrictions on phones.

However, Austin ISD’s Burnet, Dobie and Webb middle schools are sitting directly in the crosshairs of a potential TEA takeover. Each campus is one failing grade away from triggering state intervention. With the schools facing potential state action, parents have led several protests voicing their opposition in recent years.

"We demand more time to make plans for any schools facing restructuring plans, in particular, Dobbie, Webb, and Burnett Middle Schools," Austin ISD parent Vincent Tovar said. "We oppose the disruptive turnaround plans pushed by Austin ISD and TEA."

While district-wide middle school passing rates climbed slightly, state data shows 89% of seventh graders at Dobie Middle School failed to meet or approach grade level in math. Only 2% hit the "Meets Grade Level" benchmark. For social studies, 86% of Dobie eighth graders fell short.

Burnet Middle School posted similar numbers, with 86% of seventh graders failing to pass math. At Webb Middle School, 79% of sixth graders missed the mark in reading, and an equal percentage of eighth graders did not pass social studies.

"We do this because it helps us as school leaders improve. We also do this because moms and dads deserve this information," Morath said.

In March, Austin ISD trustees voted to hand operational control of the three campuses to a nonprofit partnership in an attempt to pause state accountability ratings. But the TEA rejected that move, stating that the nonprofit lacked a proven record of turning around struggling schools.

"We oppose charter and or TEA takeovers of our schools or a TEA takeover of AISD," Tovar said.

If any of the three campuses receive a fifth consecutive F rating this August, state law gives the education agency the power to replace the elected school board or close the campuses entirely. (Fox 7 Austin)

"Nearly half of Austin renters moved in a single year. Here’s what’s driving it." via AAS -– Austin posted the highest rental turnover rate in the country between 2023 and 2024, a new study found. Researchers say a glut of new apartments is driving down rents and pushing landlords to offer renters incentives to move more frequently.

Nearly half of renter households in the Austin metro area moved within the past year, the highest turnover rate of any major metro in the United States, according to a new study.

At 49.1%, nearly one of every two renter-occupied housing units in the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos metropolitan area saw a move between 2023 and 2024, according to new research from modular furniture company Rove Lab.

The high turnover comes after years of rapid construction in Austin added thousands of new units and increased competition among landlords, forcing the rental market to adjust as tenants are offered deals by new complexes. (AAS)

"Homeless resource hub reopens in Downtown Austin, bringing services together in one location" via KVUE — A familiar spot for unhoused Austinites to get help is back open, but with a new name and a private partner funding the operation.

On Monday, The Oasis reopened as the SOW Community Resource Hub on East Seventh Street, near the ARCH.

The center closed last fall after the city cut ties with the nonprofit that managed it, Urban Alchemy, because of allegations of mismanagement. But Austin's Homeless Strategy Officer David Gray said a generous donation from the SOW Family Foundation allowed it to reopen.

"They can sit down and relax," said Gray. "They can get a little light meal, and they can get connected with services that are going to be so vital to help them get off the street and ultimately into housing ... If we can use this as a platform to build faith and trust and hope, then we can get those people into shelter and ultimately into the housing that they need to stabilize their lives and achieve self-sufficiency." (KVUE)

"What's the threat of Ebola coming to Austin? Are we prepared?" via AAS –- Volunteers of the Democratic Republic of Congo Red Cross, wearing personal protective equipment, load the casket containing the body of an Ebola virus victim at the morgue of the Rwampara health center, into a vehicle for transfer to a cemetery as part of safe and dignified burial operation aimed at preventing the spread of the virus.

Twelve years ago, a man from Liberia came to Dallas to visit his family. He developed symptoms of Ebola and infected two of the nurses caring for him before he died. Both nurses survived.

That remains Texas' last brush with Ebola. Now, as the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has spread to neighboring Uganda, resulting in more than 800 confirmed cases and nearly 200 deaths, could the U.S. be at risk for another case? How prepared is Austin?

Austin Public Health and local hospitals and emergency services agencies have been having "table talks," said Dr. Desmar Walkes, Austin-Travis County's public health authority. These calls have included sharing updates from the CDC and addressing how different groups are preparing in case Austin gets a case. (AAS)

"UT names interim KUT general manager after firing Hiott over festival drama" via AAS –- The University of Texas tapped a top Moody College of Communication leader to replace fired general manager Debbie Hiott as the interim head of KUT operations Tuesday morning, according to the radio station.

On Monday, UT terminated Hiott, a well-respected and longtime Austin journalist, after a dispute over the radio station’s inaugural KUT festival, which featured prominent politicians including Democratic U.S. Sen. Cory Booker as a keynote speaker. UT pushed KUT to cancel outdoor portions of the event over security concerns, but Hiott publicly refuted that UT’s claims, saying the station had followed all orders related to safety. The festival continued at a private location off campus in early May.

The interim leader, Gerald Johnson, is a seasoned Moody leader who most recently served as executive director for innovation and partnerships at the college. In that role, he worked to bolster revenue for KUT, according to his LinkedIn.

He has worked at UT for over a decade, overseeing Texas Student Media for nine years where he dug student publications out of debt and improved student participation, according to a Friends of The Daily Texan news release. Before that, he spent 16 years at the Houston Chronicle in different roles in sales and advertising, including as an account executive and manager.

Hiott had led KUT Public Media since 2019, overseeing KUT 90.5 and KUTX 98.9 from within UT’s Moody College of Communication. UT hired her as general manager of the two stations and executive director of media operations after a long career in Austin journalism. She spent more than two decades at the Austin American-Statesman. (AAS)

THE BLOTTER

"Husband and wife found dead in southeast Austin" via KXAN -– A homicide investigation is underway in southeast Austin after officers found two deceased individuals, according to law enforcement sources.

According to Austin Police, officers received multiple calls around 3:11 p.m. asking for a welfare check about a husband and wife in the 4700 block of Oltorf St. near Wickersham Lane.

Officers responded at 6:20 p.m. and found a man and woman with injuries.

According to police, the two were pronounced dead at 8:10 p.m. Police said the call was placed as a low-priority call due to information from the 911 call taker.

Police said this is being investigated as Austin’s 28th homicide of the year. Police said there is no danger to the public. (KXAN)

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