A look back at Austin area education in 2009
Meria Carstarphen became the new superintendent for AISD this year.
In Austin, 2009 started with the search for a new superintendent to replace Pat Forgione, who was retiring.
The lone finalist for the position was Meria Carstarphen, who made her first visit to Austin in February.
Austin ISD wasn't the only district looking for a new leader.
Hays Consolidated Independent School District started out the year with a new superintendent. In January, Jeremy Lyon took over the position.
Bastrop ISD's Roderick Emanuel led the district for seven years but announced his immediate resignation in July.
To view our videos, you need to
enable JavaScript. Learn how.
install Adobe Flash 9 or above. Install now.
Then come back here and refresh the page.
In December, the board announced Steve Murray as the only finalist for the position. He's set to take over as the acting head of the district in January 2010.
Less than 48 hours after Carstarphen took over for AISD, the the community worked together with the district to build support for creating a repurposing plan for the school.
Just weeks before the first day of school, AISD board members approved the plan and the commissioner allowed Pearce to re-open.
In April, the Round Rock ISD board also approved a plan to change the boundaries to solve a problem with overcrowding. The plan assigned 4,700 students to new schools.
The H1N1virus shook up some schools in the Austin area in 2009.
The massive change in school boundaries, along with increasing fuel prices, caused many students to have to walk further to school and bus stops.
Illnesses had some schools on high alert this year. In April, Round Rock schools were seeing a
higher number of Whooping Cough cases, but the sickness never spread to the extreme of school closure.
However, the H1N1 virus did cause two schools in Austin to close. In May, the Lucy Read School for Kindergartners closed down after one five-year old was confirmed to have the virus.
In October, all 60 students at AISD's Rosedale School were asked to stay home for one day after several students came down with flu-like symptoms.
As 2009 comes to a close, budget talks for next year are heating up for many Austin-area school districts.
Many plans still remain on the drawing board that will be up for discussion as soon as the school year begins again in 2010.