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The Austin Independent School District's new superintendent officially started Wednesday. Meria Carstarphen comes to Austin from Minnesota's St. Paul District.

She's been doing consultant work since the school board announced her hiring and takes over a district that is in much better shape compared to when her predecessor took it over 10 years ago. But she will still have challenges.

Carstarphen had her celebratory welcome at J.J. Pickle Elementary in Northeast Austin.

It's been 10 years since AISD hired a superintendent, and she is faced with tough decisions -- the preliminary district budget shows a $22 million shortfall.

"It's still going to be a tough budget year. I do anticipate that we'll have to make cuts no matter what. It won't be as simple as spending down the fund balance to get to a bottom line," said Carstarphen.

A recent efficiency study led the district to eliminate 12 top administrative positions, but it created another six with new titles. That leaves Carstarphen to create an almost entirely new cabinet.

"I just want the best people -- whether they are currently in AISD or in other geographic areas of the country. We just want the best people to come and do this job. We'll see how that turns out. I would anticipate it would be a mix of folks," she said.

And there could be more changes. That same study recommended closing schools that are not at capacity.

"My philosophy is to follow the data by and large -- that's how I look at it. If we see that we get better results by tweaking some things... increasing class size maybe is one. I've seen where -- I've actually done this before -- where we've merged programs and schools and reduced administrative overhead," she said.

She says there are a lot of different ways to cut the budget. The key is finding the right way. The budget will presented for public input in mid-August.