Austin ISD Halts Cooperation With Huffines School-Spending Probe After His Defeat

Austin ISD has stopped cooperating with Comptroller Don Huffines' school-spending investigation, The Texas Tribune and Austin Current reported Monday, just days after voters defeated Huffines and weeks before the review's Dec. 31 deadline.

State investigators did not show up for a scheduled visit Monday after the district told the comptroller's office on Friday that it was suspending participation, a district spokesperson confirmed to the Tribune. Huffines is still in office. Incoming Comptroller Sarah Eckhardt has said she will curtail the reviews.

What the district says

In a four-page letter Friday, Austin ISD General Counsel Kenneth Walker said the district would "respectfully discontinue our participation" and would not be available the week of Nov. 9-13 for site visits or interviews.

Walker questioned three things, according to the Tribune:

• Whether the comptroller has clear legal authority to require extensive employee interviews.

• Whether a fair review can be finished on the current timeline.

• Why investigators want records on library books, sex-education materials and student identification numbers if the stated purpose is school spending.

Austin ISD said it had already provided hundreds of pages of documents and expected investigators to interview 30 to 40 employees, some for hours. District officials first expected about 12 senior administrators to be questioned. On Nov. 5, the comptroller's office identified more than 32 employees it wanted to interview, the letter said.

"The inconsistency, coupled with the large number of staff that have been identified, has prompted a question for us as to whether there is authority to interview Austin ISD staff at all," Walker wrote, as quoted by the Tribune.

The district also cited a Texas Tax Code provision that requires public officials to provide books, records and accounts in certain investigations, arguing the statute does not clearly create the same duty for interviews.

On scope, Walker was blunt: "The motivations for this investigation do not seem aligned with the statutory purpose. Put differently, there is no clear scope."

Austin ISD left the door open to resume cooperation if the comptroller's office answers those concerns.

What Huffines says

Huffines fired back Monday in a comptroller news release. His office said investigators had already finished site visits at the three other districts under review — Barbers Hill, El Paso and Prosper — and that the Austin probe would continue without the district's help.

"I have news for the leadership of AISD. You can run, but you can't hide," Huffines said. "Our review will continue and a full report will be published with or without your cooperation."

The Tribune reported that Huffines did not directly answer the district's questions about interview authority or the library, curriculum and student-ID requests.

Huffines' office selected four districts in October — Austin, Barbers Hill, El Paso and Prosper — for a spending review meant to show whether taxpayer money was going to students, classrooms and teachers rather than administrative growth, with findings due Dec. 31 ahead of the next legislative session. Gov. Greg Abbott had asked for audits of up to four districts.

What Eckhardt has signaled

At her first news conference after defeating Huffines, Eckhardt said she would limit the reviews to school finances rather than library books and hiring policies, KERA reported, according to the Tribune. Her office confirmed Monday that she received Austin ISD's letter and pointed back to her earlier comments that she would "immediately curtail" the reviews.

That leaves a gap: Huffines remains comptroller, and the reports are due before Eckhardt takes over. Who finishes the work, and how wide the report goes, will matter as much as the slogans on either side.

This is the same comptroller's office that recently disclosed its own long-running I-9 record failures; we covered that in Texas Comptroller Says Its Own Hiring Records Failed Federal I-9 Rules for Up to 20 Years. Taxpayers May Owe $5 Million. Taxpayers are entitled to honest books in Austin ISD and in Austin's state offices.

Hold both sides to the same standard

School districts spend public money. They should answer lawful questions about how they spend it. Library catalogs and sex-education materials are not off-limits for public debate in a free state. But investigators also owe a clear legal basis, a clear scope and a fair chance for the district to respond before a report is used as a political club.

Proverbs 20:23 says, "Divers weights are an abomination unto the Lord; and a false balance is not good." If the comptroller wants classroom-first spending, prove it with the books. If the district wants cooperation, answer the lawful questions. Texans should get the facts before December's report, not a fight that hides them.