Latest / Austin Signal / San Marcos residents sound off on proposed data center

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San Marcos residents sound off on proposed data center · Austin Signal

0:08
The Austin Independent School
0:09
District has regained control of its
0:11
special education program.
0:13
The Texas Education Agency has
0:15
signed a pair of monitors to the
0:16
program for the last three years as
0:18
AISD worked to address a backlog
0:20
of evaluations.
0:21
The latest from Austin's school
0:23
district and a San Marcos
0:25
City Council meeting went into the
0:26
early morning hours today as council
0:28
members decided on rezoning property
0:30
to be sold for a data center.
0:32
Hundreds of folks showed up to make
0:33
their opinions known.
0:34
Most were against the idea.
0:36
Others say these sensors are
0:38
inevitable.
0:39
We'll have more from that meeting
0:40
coming up on today's show.
0:42
The Austin Signal is a production
0:44
of KUT News, hosted by
0:46
Jerry Quijano.
0:48
Plus, we're going to hear the whole
0:49
story from our friends over at KUTX,
0:52
today's storyteller.
0:53
Well, you'll just have to keep it
0:54
tuned in here, because Austin's
0:56
Signal is coming up next.
1:08
Howdy out there, thank you for
1:10
tuning in. This is Austin
1:12
Signal coming to you from
1:14
listener-powered public radio KUT
1:16
News.
1:18
It is a Wednesday, the 18th
1:20
day of February.
1:21
I'm your host, Jerry Kehannel.
1:22
Thanks for making us part of your
1:24
day.
1:25
The Austin Independent School
1:27
District can once again run
1:29
its own special education services.
1:31
After three years of state
1:33
oversight, two monitors appointed
1:35
to oversee AISD's special education
1:37
program were removed this week.
1:40
For more about this story, we're
1:41
chatting with KUT's education
1:42
reporter Greta Diaz
1:44
Gonzalez-Vazquez.
1:45
Greta, thank you for being on Austin
1:46
Signal.
1:47
Hey Jerry!
1:48
So first off, remind us,
1:50
since it's been three years, why did
1:52
the Texas Education Agency assign
1:54
two monitors to AISD's special
1:55
education program in the first
1:57
place?
1:57
Yeah, so we have to go back to 2021,
1:59
actually.
2:00
Back then, the Texas Education
2:02
Agency launched an investigation
2:04
into AISD special
2:06
education services because there
2:08
were allegations that the district
2:10
was not complying with state and
2:11
federal law.
2:13
AISd has, or any ISD
2:15
for that matter, they have 45 school
2:17
days to carry out evaluations to
2:19
determine if a student has a
2:21
disability or not.
2:22
That's 45 schooldays
2:24
after parents have signed consent
2:26
forms.
2:26
These evaluations allow parents and
2:28
the district to know if the student
2:30
has a disability and if so,
2:32
what special education or what
2:34
special services they need.
2:36
So the investigation determined that
2:38
the district was not complying with
2:40
those deadlines given
2:42
by the state.
2:43
So the district had two options.
2:45
One was going under
2:47
state oversight, which means
2:49
having two monitors appointed by the
2:51
State that will supervise the
2:52
services.
2:53
Potentially allowing the state to
2:55
take over the services overall
2:57
with a board appointed
2:59
by the TA or by the state.
3:01
Okay. And so they chose the first
3:02
one and I have to say there was a
3:04
backlog of applications back
3:06
then.
3:06
Yeah, I know our education reporters
3:08
have been reporting on this backlog
3:09
for a few years as you mentioned
3:11
2021 I feel like it goes back maybe
3:13
around then maybe a little bit
3:15
before then Speaking of that
3:17
backlog has that been addressed
3:19
entirely?
3:20
Yeah, so Segura said Tuesday that it
3:22
had been addressed when the
3:24
monitors were put into place in
3:25
2023, AISD had
3:27
a backlog of 600 evaluations.
3:30
And in February of 2024,
3:32
the district said they had completed
3:34
over 1000
3:36
evaluations for the 2022-2023
3:39
school year, but they still had
3:41
application spending for the next
3:43
school year. Cause you know, if you
3:44
have a backlog, they just like, it
3:45
keeps back-logging, that's
3:47
right. So on Tuesday, Superintendent
3:49
Matias Segura said that there was no
3:51
backlog and that over the last three
3:53
years the district had completed
3:54
10,000 applications.
3:56
Oh wow, that's a pretty big number,
3:57
and I know that hand
3:59
in hand with this backlog was
4:02
the fact that there were a lot of
4:03
vacancies in the special education
4:05
program for AISD.
4:07
Do we have an update on where those
4:08
numbers are?
4:09
Yeah, so yesterday Segura mentioned
4:11
that at some point they had 70
4:13
vacancies.
4:14
And so they really had to invest.
4:16
They had to increase salaries to
4:17
make sure they had enough personnel
4:18
to stabilize the services.
4:21
And they said they increased the
4:22
team by more than 250 specialized
4:25
providers and evaluators, people who
4:27
can carry out these evaluations.
4:28
And they also mentioned that staff
4:30
went through 120,000
4:32
hours of training to be able to
4:34
deliver the same services across
4:36
all campuses in the district.
4:38
And they mentioned that they are
4:40
fully staffed at the moment.
4:41
Okay, what else does the district
4:42
have to say after this
4:44
was announced yesterday?
4:45
So the district was thrilled.
4:47
They said that it entailed working
4:49
with campuses across the district
4:50
because 74% of
4:52
special education students are in
4:54
general education classrooms.
4:55
So you can imagine that meant
4:57
working with teachers across
4:59
the District.
5:00
They said they wanted to make sure
5:01
students had access to the same
5:03
services across the districts and
5:04
that's a lot of training.
5:06
Also, Matias Segura said that this
5:07
showed that the TEA
5:09
was acknowledging that the District
5:11
was moving forward.
5:14
I do believe that the agency
5:15
understands that here in Austin ISD,
5:17
we are moving the work.
5:19
Students are growing and we've been
5:20
able to do things that haven't been
5:22
done before and I think that's
5:23
appreciated.
5:24
Okay, that was AISD
5:26
Superintendent Matias Segura, and
5:28
we have been speaking with Greta
5:29
Diaz-Gonzalez-Vasquez.
5:31
She is KUT's education reporter.
5:33
We're gonna have a link to this
5:34
story in today's podcast, Show
5:36
Notes. Greta, thank you for coming
5:37
on the show.
5:38
Thank you, Jerry.
5:43
Last night's city council meeting in
5:45
San Marcos ended sounding something
5:47
like this.
5:49
Excuse me.
5:54
City Council was considering whether
5:56
to rezone a property from
5:58
single home to commercial, making
6:00
it available for sale to data
6:02
centers for more about what
6:04
happened. We're speaking with Lee
6:05
Walden, KUT's Hayes County reporter
6:07
who was at last night's meeting.
6:09
Lee, we know you had a late night,
6:11
early morning. Thanks for being on
6:12
Austin Signal.
6:13
Thanks for having me!
6:14
So this was a late meeting.
6:16
It went until later than 2 a.m.
6:18
Last night.
6:18
But first, remind us, what was
6:20
this rezoning proposition that the
6:22
city council was considering?
6:23
Yeah, they were considering changing
6:26
about a 200 acre
6:28
plot of land from single
6:30
family home residential housing to
6:33
commercial use that would be sold
6:35
to this data center.
6:36
Okay, so paint a picture for those
6:38
of us who weren't there.
6:39
What was the environment like?
6:41
Yeah, it was busy.
6:43
Folks started coming out to San
6:45
Marcos City Hall around 3 p.m.
6:47
They were, you know, in front of
6:50
the, they were on the lawn of the
6:51
City Hall and in the overflow
6:53
room outside of the council chambers
6:54
and packed into the council room as
6:56
well.
6:57
There were people playing on drums,
7:00
there were people actively playing
7:02
music, there was a potluck.
7:03
It was...
7:05
Celebratory in terms of the
7:06
community coming together in support
7:08
of the environment and the life
7:10
that they have in San Marcos.
7:13
And yeah, a lot of really
7:15
fierce voices against this
7:17
development and against the data
7:18
center.
7:18
So what were some of the messages
7:20
that they had to share with the city
7:21
council?
7:23
Yeah.
7:24
One of the big messages of the night
7:25
was about water.
7:27
We kept hearing about how impactful
7:29
the river was to the people in
7:31
San Marcos and the surrounding
7:33
region, because of course it's all
7:35
connected.
7:36
They were speaking a lot about how
7:38
it's not just an
7:40
environmental issue, it's a social
7:41
issue, and it's cultural because
7:43
it's so important to have
7:45
this waterway within town.
7:47
Just on Monday,
7:49
there was a proposition by the
7:51
Hayes County judge to
7:53
postpone or to put a moratorium
7:55
on building permits
7:57
for high water usage sites.
7:59
So this is a really relevant
8:01
issue and going into
8:03
potentially stage four restrictions,
8:05
I think water is on top of for a lot
8:07
of people in the region.
8:08
Absolutely, we know that water is
8:10
always a top issue for people in
8:12
Hayes County and across Central
8:13
Texas here in Austin as well.
8:16
So it sounds like there was a lot of
8:17
support against rezoning
8:19
this property. Was there any
8:21
support for moving ahead
8:23
with the at the cell for a data
8:25
center?
8:26
Yeah, there were some folks out
8:27
there definitely excited about
8:29
the potential of the development
8:31
and what it could mean for the
8:32
community.
8:33
In particular, there are a lot of
8:35
people from a construction union
8:37
in support of the kind of jobs
8:39
that this development would bring
8:41
and the opportunities that it would
8:43
bring to workers from the region
8:45
who would be able to be the
8:46
construction force for the center.
8:48
Okay, and you spoke to somebody who
8:51
was in support of moving forward
8:53
with the rezoning?
8:54
Yeah, I spoke to Matt Gonzalez,
8:56
who is the president of
8:58
the 1095 chapter, and
9:01
he gave me some context to what
9:03
this construction project could
9:05
mean for
9:08
We're here in support of the data
9:10
center simply for the fact because
9:11
it provides an opportunity to
9:14
put construction members or
9:16
construction workers on
9:17
a pathway to a true career.
9:19
So we have existing members that we
9:21
obviously advocate for, but a
9:23
project like this we've already been
9:24
on the record in previous council
9:26
meetings that we're committed to
9:28
recruit from this community for
9:30
any future positions and that's
9:32
what we're commited to.
9:34
So ultimately, what did the
9:36
Sonomatical City Council decide?
9:38
Yeah, ultimately in a 5-2 vote,
9:40
they decided to
9:42
deny the request for rezoning.
9:44
One of the situations where a
9:46
yes vote means no.
9:48
Um, and that means that this,
9:50
um, filing to
9:52
allow for the rezoning and
9:54
hence the construction for the data
9:56
center won't go through, but they
9:58
can refile again in six months.
10:00
And I don't think that this
10:02
is going to be even the last
10:04
data center.
10:06
I think there's going to be more in
10:08
the region just like we've seen
10:09
throughout central Texas.
10:10
Okay, that is Lee Walden.
10:12
She is KUT's Hayes County reporter.
10:14
We're gonna have a link to her story
10:15
in today's show notes and
10:17
at kut.org slash
10:19
signal Lee.
10:20
Thank you.
10:23
And it is day two of
10:25
early voting here in Texas.
10:27
In Travis County on day one, there
10:28
were more than 10,000 in-person
10:30
ballots cast and mail-in ballots
10:32
received.
10:33
That's about 1.2% of
10:35
the more than 920,000
10:37
registered voters here in Travis
10:38
County.
10:39
A first day turnout was a little
10:41
higher in Williamson County, about
10:43
1,4%.
10:45
Party primary elections tend to
10:46
track the more active and involved
10:48
voters.
10:49
Don't worry, early voting though
10:50
goes until February 27th.
10:53
We have voter guides at KUT.org.
10:56
Austin Signal will be back after a
10:58
break.
11:00
Welcome back, this is Austin
11:02
Signal.
11:04
The Vortex Theater in East Austin
11:05
hosted three sold-out shows
11:07
over the weekend that combined
11:08
improv, drag kings,
11:10
and a dating competition for
11:12
Valentine's Day.
11:13
The event was meant to celebrate
11:15
masculinity in the queer
11:17
community.
11:18
Ella Copaykin has this story of
11:20
joy and being seen.
11:27
Valentine's weekend at the Vortex in
11:29
East Austin was more than the usual
11:30
of chocolates and flowers.
11:32
The audience filing into the small
11:34
black box was lively, rocking
11:36
dyed hair of various colors,
11:38
leather jackets and vibrant
11:39
patterned outfits.
11:40
A cheetah print couch and bubblegum
11:42
pink chairs were placed on stage.
11:47
From Friday to Sunday, the theater
11:48
became the home of Butch Prom.
11:50
The self-described event series
11:52
celebrates lesbian, queer, and
11:53
trans masculinity.
11:55
Lee Farmer came Saturday on a date
11:56
with his partner.
11:58
We've gone to
12:00
queer events from a few different
12:01
groups and we've never really found
12:02
like our home
12:04
base, I guess.
12:05
So I was really excited to
12:07
find a place that was like queer
12:09
masked.
12:09
Each butch prom is a little
12:11
different.
12:11
The first one last summer was a prom
12:13
with a wrestling twist, for
12:15
Halloween it was a monster ball, and
12:17
for Valentine's weekend, the
12:18
organizers decided to put on a
12:20
theater production, a staged game
12:22
show called Mask for Match.
12:24
This is founder and co-producer
12:25
Sophia Rumbarger.
12:27
You've ever seen The Dating Game
12:28
where they set up a wall and there's
12:30
a contestant and then there are
12:32
three eligible bachelors basically.
12:35
We're doing that but as a drag show
12:37
theater play.
12:39
While the theme for each event
12:40
changes, the central focus is
12:42
designing a safe and fun environment
12:44
for people who present themselves in
12:45
a masculine way.
12:47
It's not about being exclusive,
12:49
it's specifically about creating
12:51
space for something that may
12:52
otherwise not be highlighted.
12:54
Butch lesbians, people who identify
12:56
as transmasculine, trans
12:58
men, studs, boys,
13:00
we're saying this party is for
13:02
you and it's about you.
13:03
Rumburger came up with the event.
13:05
She never saw the idea growing
13:07
beyond her own backyard, though.
13:08
Then she ended up at the Texas
13:10
Renaissance Festival with a friend
13:12
of a friend, Olivia Amy.
13:14
And i remember her saying something
13:15
that changed my perspective entirely
13:18
about how it was like you
13:20
don't have to do that at your house
13:21
you can do that at a bar
13:24
Amy had wanted something to produce
13:25
from the ground up that focused more
13:26
on the on the queer community. Here's Amy:
13:28
. I wanted to throw as many
13:30
events that centered queer joy
13:32
as possible and also wanted
13:34
to do like a wrestlemania type
13:36
event where it was like masculinity
13:39
but safe for queer people.
13:43
They began to meet regularly to
13:44
outline their kickoff event.
13:44
We started developing this idea of
13:46
like, we'll do fun stuff.
13:47
We'll shotgun beers.
13:48
We can do mud wrestling.
13:49
We'll shave each other's heads.
13:50
We'll give each other buzz cuts.
13:51
They also wanted the event to
13:52
showcase queer artists and vendors,
13:54
and to promote community culture.
13:55
We definitely have like
13:57
our values matrix and how we
13:59
decide who is involved.
14:02
First posted to Instagram in June
14:03
2025 and quickly gained traction.
14:06
The wrestling prom sold out.
14:08
The night's emcee was Bobby Pudrito,
14:10
a celebrated local artist and drag
14:12
king.
14:12
I started drag at
14:14
around the same time.
14:15
Things started getting really
14:17
intense with legislation,
14:19
anti-trans, anti-queer bills.
14:22
And I had a lot to say.
14:23
This event seemed even more aligned
14:25
than any other events I've done
14:26
before, so it was an easy yes.
14:28
Pedrito also hosted the Halloween
14:29
Monster Ball, which proved equally
14:31
successful.
14:32
After that, the organizers wanted
14:34
their next event to be totally
14:35
different.
14:36
Instead of throwing a party
14:37
featuring performances, they decided
14:39
to put on a performance that
14:40
would feel like a party.
14:42
I felt like we want to hear
14:44
what folks are saying.
14:45
So a theater experience might be
14:46
best. And then the Vortex offered
14:48
us the three day run.
14:50
Rumburger.
14:51
Imagine a twist on a challenge from
14:52
RuPaul's Drag Race.
14:54
Drag queens impersonate celebrities
14:55
in a parody of the game show Match
14:57
Game.
14:57
I think that drag performers do
14:59
celebrity impersonation probably
15:01
better than anyone else.
15:02
I kept thinking to myself, man,
15:04
there are so many male celebrities,
15:06
why aren't drag kings doing this
15:07
more often?
15:08
The team came up with Mask for
15:09
Match, a play combining improv,
15:12
drag kings, and a dating element for
15:13
Valentine's Day.
15:15
There would be three butchlers and
15:16
one butchler.
15:17
So it will be a theater show.
15:19
There will be drag performances
15:21
while also being a dating
15:23
show.
15:23
So we'll have drag kings
15:25
being celebrities.
15:27
All three nights of Masked for Match
15:29
sold out.
15:29
Welcome to the Vortex!
15:32
You're here, you made it,
15:33
and let's get ready for Mask
15:35
for Max!
15:39
Drag king travis randy travis
15:41
played butchler number two kermit
15:43
the frog
15:43
This specific time
15:45
of wanting to
15:47
show queer identities and
15:50
also my own queer identity feels
15:52
so important for me and for us
15:54
to be on this stage and to be that
15:56
comfortable and to share that with
15:57
an audience too.
15:59
We exist.
16:00
We're here.
16:01
Audience members were just excited
16:02
to watch the show as the performers
16:04
were to be in it.
16:05
I caught Ali Lee after the Saturday
16:06
performance.
16:08
Just kind of like one portrayed way
16:10
to present masculinity
16:13
and they kind of like opened
16:15
it up to everything and that's what
16:16
it's about like everything is dragon
16:18
we're all just floating around and
16:20
trying to survive
16:21
The Butch Prom organizers want to
16:23
continue expanding.
16:23
The size and scope of their events.
16:26
I think we want to have an amazing
16:27
prom this summer,
16:29
so a lot of our focus after
16:31
our Valentine's Day event is going
16:32
to be on making that prom as
16:34
fantastic as possible.
16:35
Let's make this the best prom ever.
16:37
With queerness and transness being
16:38
increasingly challenged by
16:39
legislators, the team feels that
16:41
events like theirs are only becoming
16:43
more important.
16:44
Here's Boudry, though, again.
16:45
The entire premise of
16:48
anti-queer legislation is for
16:50
us to cower and for us
16:52
hide.
16:53
It is a priority to
16:55
me for people to know that what
16:57
I'm doing is
16:59
pushback.
16:59
We're having the best time of our
17:01
lives and that in itself is
17:03
pushing back.
17:03
Because sometimes the greatest form
17:05
of protest is just having fun.
17:08
For KUT's Artbeat, I'm Ella
17:10
Kopaken in Austin.
17:18
The Hole Story is a new series
17:21
from our music station KUTX,
17:23
taped live on the front stage of
17:25
Hole in the Wall across the street
17:26
from us right here.
17:28
Artists are invited not just to
17:29
perform, but to share the
17:31
inspiration, meaning, or backstory
17:33
behind their music.
17:35
Today's storyteller, Texan
17:37
Hayes Carl.
17:39
People ask me all the time, you
17:40
know, how do you write songs, is it
17:42
the words or the music
17:44
that comes first, and I
17:47
don't really know.
17:48
I'm still trying to figure it out.
17:50
It's different things at different
17:51
times.
17:52
But this next song, I set a line,
17:54
and immediately said I need to put
17:56
that in a song,
17:59
and the song's called High.
18:00
And it's not about drugs, although
18:02
I was on drugs when I
18:04
said that line.
18:08
But it's more about
18:10
just trying to, again,
18:12
still the mind and find peace
18:15
and be present.
18:19
So, it goes like this.
18:23
I am just
18:25
the right amount of
18:27
high
18:31
floating between this
18:33
moment and the
18:35
sky
18:38
Exactly at the height
18:41
That I'd
18:43
like to fly
18:45
And I am just
18:47
the right amount of
18:50
height
18:53
And I have chased
18:55
a feeling all
18:57
these years
19:00
Blocked by insecurities
19:04
and fears
19:08
And oh, it feels so
19:10
good,
19:12
as that all disappears.
19:15
And I have chased this
19:17
feeling all these
19:19
years.
19:21
And now I
19:23
am just the right
19:25
amount of high
19:30
Floating between this
19:33
moment and the
19:34
scan
19:38
exactly at the
19:40
height that
19:42
I'd like to fly
19:45
and I'm just
19:47
the right amount of
19:49
hight
20:53
Sometimes this old world
20:55
scares me to death.
21:00
It steals my joy
21:02
until there's nothing left
21:08
covers up the
21:09
light and
21:11
knocks out all my breath.
21:15
Sometimes this old world
21:17
scares me to death.
21:21
But right now, I
21:23
am just the right
21:25
amount of high.
21:30
Floating between this
21:32
moment and the
21:34
sky
21:38
Exactly at the
21:40
height of
21:42
that I like to fly
21:44
And I am
21:46
just the right amount
21:49
of height
21:53
The wind is at my
21:55
back, and
21:56
the world is on my
21:58
side And
22:00
I am just the
22:02
right amount of
22:05
high
22:13
Thank y'all.
22:14
That was Hayes Carl performing
22:16
on the front stage at the world
22:18
famous Hole in the Wall.
22:20
Across the way from where I'm
22:21
sitting and talking to you right
22:23
this second, there's much more
22:25
from that performance.
22:26
You can find the whole story in
22:28
today's podcast, Show Notes,
22:30
and over at kut.org
22:32
slash signal.
22:34
That's it for today's show.
22:35
Thank you for including us as part
22:38
of your Wednesday.
22:38
Hope you're having a nice one out
22:40
there.
22:41
Kristen Cabrera is our managing
22:42
producer.
22:43
Reyna Sevilla is our technical
22:45
director. Thank you to QUT's
22:47
Greta Diaz, Gonzales-Vasquez, and
22:49
Lee Walden for their updates.
22:51
I'm your host, Jerry Quijano.
22:53
We'll be back with you tomorrow.