A recent change in teacher and staff parking at the downtown campus that houses three separate high school programs in the San Antonio Independent School District has left many teachers feeling disrespected and unsafe and officials looking for a solution.
Teachers and staff have been compromising on the parking situation for the last several years, according to one employee who spoke on the condition of anonymity. It began several years ago, when part of a staff lot was taken up by a sports field, forcing them to park in a dirt lot.
“We figured out well, we’ll give [up] a parking lot, we will suffer for a couple of years, and then we get a parking garage,” the employee said. “That was something that they were telling us to convince us to go with that plan.”
Sure enough, when the Quincy Street garage was completed in 2021, campus employees were among the 600 or so district staff permitted to park in it.
When that same employee returned early to check on classrooms this summer, they were unable to access the garage with their badge, something they first chalked up to a mistake. The principal was also unaware of the change during the summer, and said it was probably a glitch.
A week before school began, the principal confirmed that employees would not have access to the garage for this school year, although the reasons why weren’t clear according to multiple teachers who spoke to the San Antonio Report.
Some were told that Bexar County, which funded the construction of the garage and leases the spots to the district, was responsible for limiting the spaces teachers used to park in. Fox Tech, CAST Tech and Advance Learning Academy are all housed on the same campus.
A spokesperson for Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai said that the district was responsible for deciding who could park in the garage and not the county, but declined to comment further on the matter.
With entry to the garage denied, staffers had to return to the unpaved lot they were parking in during construction of the facility. As a result, vehicles have been coated in dust and chipped by gravel, according to emails and interviews with staff. The tires on one vehicle reportedly were damaged after driving through pot holes. Both the lot and the garage are just minutes walking distance from the campuses.
According to a contract signed between the county and the school district in November 2019, the district has exclusive use of 600 parking spaces during weekdays from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. and up to 10 days or partial days for official special events. A contractor’s description of the garage shows that there are 623 spaces in total.
But Laura Short, an SAISD spokeswoman, said the district was using all the spots allotted to them under the contract following the recent relocation of several departments to the central office building, which is also on Quincy Street.
“We are aware of the concerns, and we are working closely with the county, who owns the parking garage, to come to a solution this week,” Short said on Aug. 28. “We are working within the terms of the contract for access to parking spaces, and we currently have access to the maximum number of slots allotted in the contract.”
Departments that were moved into the central office include the family and community engagement department, access and enrollment services, data operations and services and procurement services.
The week before Labor Day, staff at the three schools were told that the district was considering allowing some teachers to access the garage but did not receive specifics. Short said Wednesday that the district has “identified some solutions for additional parking availability and are continuing to seek additional options for a full resolution.”
In the meantime, teachers said they have seen dozens of spots left empty during work hours, confusing the situation. Photos of the empty spots, including a nearly entire empty fourth floor, were shared with The Report.
The district recently underwent two rounds of reductions to the central office, in which they froze open positions and consolidated others.
Laura Dow, who is friends with several teachers at the impacted campuses, detailed concerns she heard from them in a letter to the Bexar County Commissioners Court in mid-August.
In the letter, which she also sent to the Report, she cited a 2019 San Antonio Report article, that reported that the garage was to be a partnership between Bexar County and SAISD, noting the times it was reserved for staff.
“In August of this year, that promise was reneged, and with it, any idea that the teachers of the Tech schools (Fox Tech, CAST Tech, ALA) were respected or cared for in any way,” she said.
Dow called the move a “slap in the face.”
She also cited safety concerns, including a lack of security patrols and unhoused people staying on or near the lot.
Teachers who spoke to the San Antonio Report only agreed to do so without sharing their names for fear of retaliation for speaking out against the district. According to three staffers, that fear has been heightened by the looming release of a list of schools recommended for closure or consolidation following a three-month study.
District officials have stressed that that list will be based on a rigorous framework vetted by community members over 14 meetings and will face further scrutiny after a preliminary draft is shared with the board.
Dow said she hopes the district will find a solution that returns teachers to the garage.
“As a taxpayer for Bexar County as well as SAISD, I find this appalling,” she said. “At what point did the wording of contracts become more important than treating the servants of SAISD with respect and dignity? Surely someone can make this contract make better sense, and fulfill the promises that were made by the county and school district.”
The campus employee said staffers want to know the reasons why they aren’t able to park in the empty spots, and seek a more suitable alternative.
“Our preference would be to be allowed back into the garage, even if we were sequestered to that fourth floor, which is exposed to the elements,” they said. “If at the end, we’re stuck [in the lot], we want it to be paved properly.”
