On January 25, 2024, Superintendent Matias Segura was unanimously appointed as Austin Independent School District’s (AISD) permanent superintendent. Segura had been serving as interim superintendent since January 9, 2023. His mother worked for the district for 42 years, he is a Bowie graduate, and has children at schools in the district.
Segura had previously been the Operations Officer for the district. He led the implementation of the 2017 $1.05 billion bond, which allowed for Bowie to update its fine arts and athletic buildings, according to the AISD 2017 Bond Book. He also helped develop the 2022 $2.4 billion bond which contains updates to heating and air conditioning at Bowie, according to the AISD Bond Program 2022.
“Segura seems inviting, open to answering questions, and open to learning more about us students,” Student Council Co-President Riley Harris said. “I think he’s a good person, and, so far, I haven’t heard any complaints.”
Since joining AISD, Segura has made numerous improvements to the district’s Special Education programs, according to the AISD Board of Trustees. These changes include increased testing, and requiring faculty members to participate in a two-day Special Education Professional Development training.
“We’re always expanding our school culture and we’re very open to individual learners,” Harris said. “I hope that our Special Education programs can grow and become incorporated into classrooms.”
For nearly the entirety of this school year, the single elevator on campus has been experiencing issues. This is a problem both Student Council Co-Presidents hope can be immediately addressed by the district, due to the non-inclusive nature caused by this issue.
“Our schools are inaccessible for a large number of people. It’s not accessible for visitors, students, and teachers in many cases,” Student Council Co-President Charlotte Hill said. “I feel like there’ll be a big push for inclusion and accessibility and our elevator hopefully is just one of those things.”
There’s also a push for better treatment of teachers. Since the pandemic, the district has been asking a lot of teachers and ultimately, teachers need to be respected and given more resources so that they can support students.
“It’s really important to focus on what resources we need to allocate to teachers and students to make them feel safer,” Hill said. “I think the district needs to be working with teachers to ensure the welfare of students is being considered.”
Along with making updates to the facilities on campus, Student Council Co-Presidents hope that Segura makes time to meet with students at AISD campuses. By making himself available to hear students’ needs he’s showing them that he’s approachable.
“I think that seeing a face and being able to put it to the actions that are being done would be really helpful,” Harris said. “I know that, at least from the people I’ve talked to, that students would like to have a face-to-face interaction.”
When it comes to making decisions that are going to impact students, social studies teacher and Student Council Sponsor Alejandro Garcia believes Segura should keep the students in mind and not let regulations or politics get in the way of what students need. The goal is to help Bowie grow and become a better school.
“I hope that he continues to do the right thing for what’s best for students,” Garcia said. “And as long as the kids are doing the right thing and being pushed to be the best they can be, that is what I think our focus should always be.”
