San Antonio Independent School District is considering closing Carvajal Elementary School, a tiny, academically struggling campus on the West Side.
The move is part of the district’s ongoing “rightsizing” process with declining enrollment across several campuses and a multimillion-dollar budget deficit.
SAISD closed 15 campuses at the end of the 2023-24 school year. Currently operating 86 campuses, district administrators say the ideal number of open campuses should be closer to 50 to serve its decreasing number of students.
Ending the 2024-25 cycle with a little more than 44,000 students, SAISD’s current enrollment is 42,564. District enrollment counts from October show the district has 1,600 fewer students that originally projected for the current school year and enrollment could drop by 2,000 for the upcoming 2026-27 school year.
District superintendent Jaime Aquino said Carvajal should’ve been included in the list of campuses closed in 2024.
“Carvajal was not included in the original rightsizing package, but it should’ve been because it met all the criteria,” Aquino said in December. But the district resisted shuttering Carvajal because it didn’t want to disinvest from the West Side of San Antonio, a historically underserved area.
Carvajal first opened its doors to students in 1949.
Carvajal is affected by the downward enrollment trend: currently sitting at 313 students, nearly 90 students fewer than two years ago. SAISD is also singling the school out for poor academic performance, a first in the district’s rightsizing efforts.
Carvajal, along with 17 other campuses, has been labeled a failing school three years in a row, each time getting an F-rating.
If a school receives a failing grade — an F or D — for five consecutive years, the Texas Education Agency has the right to close that campus or take over a district by replacing school board members with a state-appointed board of managers and a new superintendent.
SAISD deputy superintendent Shawn Bird said poor academic outcomes stem in part from Carvajal’s low enrollment. Carvajal is a dual-language campus, but bilingual enrollment is so low that students in the program don’t have separate classrooms. Instead, classes are split between English-only students and bilingual students, making it harder to retain and recruit teachers willing to do double duty.
“There’s no way the administration can justify keeping the campus open… it’s not financially responsible,” Aquino said.
If the board approves the closure, Carvajal would close its doors at the end of the school year with many students recommended to transfer to Barkley-Ruiz Elementary School nearly two miles away while bilingual students are recommended to move to DeZavala Elementary, also about two miles away.
Barkley-Ruiz is a B-rated campus and DeZavala is a C-rated campus. Both campuses are also under-enrolled, meaning Carvajal’s closure could give Barkley-Ruiz and DeZavala healthier student counts and budgets, since school funding is based on enrollment and attendance.
Bird said no other failing campuses are currently being considered for closure this year.
If families choose not to attend the newly assigned schools, they could also apply for SAISD’s “Choice School” or magnet program, but applications close on Jan. 30.
Current Carvajal employees would need to fill out a reassignment preference form, and the district would reassign staff based on preferences and openings. The district would also facilitate extra time during its job transfer fair for transition employees, no resume or interviews required.
Several board members expressed concerns and hesitation at the district’s recommendation to close Carvajal, especially given its location.
Board President Alicia Sebastian, who’s served on the board since 2019 and stepped into chairing the board this year, said she was concerned about “disinvesting” from the West Side.
Carvajal sits near a few affordable housing complexes and more than 97% of its students are considered economically disadvantaged. The school also has one of the highest chronic absentee rates, with 45% of its students missing at least 10% of the school year.
The school was also set for $28.6 million worth of project renovations from a 2020 bond package, delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic and inflation.
During an April bond project update to the community, district staff suggested “transitioning” Carvajal to a “nearby elementary with better facility conditions providing an opportunity to fully rebuild” Rhodes Middle School, which is right next to Carvajal on Tampico Street.
“This feels very isolated, whereas past rightsizing efforts were presented as a package… I’m not comfortable with disinvesting from the West Side,” Sebastian said.
SAISD’s board will consider closing Carvajal during its next meeting on Jan. 12. The district is hosting a community meeting at Carvajal’s cafeteria at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 8 for “continuing input” on the school’s future.
