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Abilene ISD's new superintendent tasked with some big challenges

Courtesy of AISD
AISD Superintendent John Kuhn welcomes Thomas Elementary students to school at “High Five Friday” on August 23rd

School districts around the state have had to adjust spending for this school year. Some have had to close campuses or cut programs or staff to balance their budgets. This week, Abilene ISD’s board of trustees approved a spending plan for the year that reflects a deficit of $13 million.

School districts around the state have had to adjust spending for this school year. Some have had to close campuses or cut programs or staff to balance their budgets. This week, Abilene ISD’s board of trustees approved a spending plan for the year that reflects a deficit of $13 million.

The new academic year started with a new superintendent in charge of Abilene schools. In April, the school board unanimously voted to hire John Kuhn to replace retiring superintendent David Young.

Kuhn has spent 27 years in public schools and came to Abilene from his most recent role as superintendent for Mineral Wells. Kuhn has already had several tough issues to deal with in these first couple of weeks.

AISD is also exploring ways to reduce the impact of cell phones on its students.

KACU’s Heather Claborn spoke with Superintendent Kuhn about those challenges and what’s coming up for the district this year.

Heather Claborn joined KACU as news director in January 2018. She oversees daily newscast and feature reporting and works with KACU’s news anchors to develop newscasts. She also conducts two-way interviews, reports for newscast and feature stories and maintains the station’s social media and website content. In 2020, Claborn helped staff develop the daily newsletter that is delivered by email.