Teachers, students, parents and community members got one last chance Tuesday to provide feedback on how the San Antonio Independent School District will decide which schools will close and what consolidation could look like in the 2024-25 school year.
One middle school student shared their idea of a thriving school, which Superintendent Jaime Aquino read as he concluded the final of 14 meetings that occurred in recent weeks.
“In a thriving school, all students wear Crocs,” the student wrote. “[There is] no assigned seating [and] more teachers like Ms. Bella. Please, do not close my school.”
About 100 people at Longfellow Middle School in Northwest San Antonio met the light-hearted reflection with laughter, but Aquino’s face was serious as he thanked the crowd for providing feedback that the district will use over the next six days to finalize a recommendation of schools for closure.
The district will spend the rest of the week compiling a draft recommendation, which will be presented to the school board Monday at the September meeting. After that, another round of meetings focused on the impacted areas will begin, leading to a final vote in November.
Process reflects ’08 closures
State Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer (D-San Antonio) was also at Tuesday’s meeting at Longfellow Middle School in Northwest San Antonio. He highlighted his fight for public education in Austin, noting that others there “don’t really care too much about public education,” a reference to the pending fight over school choice in an upcoming special session.
“You need to embrace it, you need to cherish it, you need to hold onto this district not just for the graduating class right now, but for the next 50 years,” he said. “That’s what the mission is.”
Trustee Ed Garza, who broached the process of downsizing months before the board took up the issue for a vote, reminisced on a similar situation the district found itself in in 2008, when Horace Mann Junior High and other schools were closed due to declining enrollment.
“If we don’t make these changes now and … if they didn’t make those changes at that time, there was going to be some very big challenges for the district financially, as well as offering programs for future students,” Garza said.
He also talked about the unique challenges each region will face.
“Every school has a unique story, every school in our neighborhood has a rich history and every school in our neighborhood has competition,” he said.
Those neighborhoods are becoming more expensive and untenable for young families; however, he said, driving them out of the urban core served by SAISD. As a result, changes need to be made, he said.
According to the district, enrollment is worse now than the “worst case scenario” projected in 2008.
Impact of feedback revealed Monday
While feedback from each meeting — handwritten on sticky notes — has been transcribed and posted on SAISD’s website, the district has yet to share how the thousands of observations and conversations will influence the closure recommendations.
That has frustrated some community members, who wanted more answers before a draft is released.
Aquino told the Report Tuesday that an analysis of the feedback from all 14 meetings will drive changes to the framework, which will be presented alongside a draft of recommended closures next week. Each school will have a profile, where the criteria that led to the decision to close, consolidate or otherwise change will be shared.
Some community members have proposed plans already in anticipation of a closure.
George Cisneros, the co-founder of the arts organization Urban 15, said he was concerned about the possibility of Robert B. Green Elementary closing, citing the close partnership between his organization and the school.
“For the last 20 years or so, our organization has worked very closely with Green Elementary,” he said at an Aug. 28 meeting.
Cisneros proposed a pre-K through third-grade campus at Green Elementary, with fourth grade on up at Bonham Academy.
Others at the same meeting suggested merging Green with nearby Bonham entirely.
Cisneros also said he would have liked to see a forum where community members could simultaneously listen to one another and share concerns with the district.
“I find it ironic that there is not a citizen-to-be-heard, or a microphone anywhere in the process,” he said. “It would be nice if there was a microphone in some place in case somebody needs to say something.”
Building use, equity top concerns
Feedback from many meetings focused on ensuring no building was left empty, providing continuity of educational programming for all students and considerations of transportation needs. Ensuring equity throughout the process and as an end result was also a common theme.
In an FAQ document, the district shared that schools marked for closure could end up being converted into a variety of alternate buildings including low-cost housing for staff, fine arts or mental health centers and green space for the community.
Transportation has also been a regular concern.
Susan and Ray Simpson take their grandson just down the street to Baskin Elementary School every day.
“If our school was combined with another school, we would have to take a vehicle further down,” Susan Simpson said Tuesday.
With more young people moving into the area, Simpson said there is a chance the enrollment trend will turn around at Baskin. But as of now, enrollment is at only 57% of capacity. While the building could optimally hold 534 students, only 306 are enrolled.
“The time is now to do something,” Susan Simpson said. “I wish they had done more 18 years ago.”
