The San Antonio Independent School District has released a draft framework that could be used in the selection process for a list of schools to be closed or consolidated and a list of schools that will receive affected students in the 2024-25 school year.
The framework, which is posted on a website the district set up to share information about the reorganization process, is in draft form and will be edited based on community input, SAISD officials said. A survey is available on the website for stakeholders to give feedback.
The district proposal includes values to guide the process, as well as both primary and contextual criteria that will be used when selecting schools for closure.
The framework was one of the requirements detailed in a resolution passed by the district’s board of trustees on June 21.
In addition, the district is conducting a comprehensive study to use that will assess all schools, analyze the student enrollment at each school, evaluate if the district is providing high-quality education, consider whether buildings are being used effectively and determine whether resources are fairly distributed to support all students.
The full draft can be viewed on the district’s website, although district officials said the site will be down for planned maintenance over the July Fourth weekend.
Primary criteria
The district said it will consider three primary criteria to determine if a building is being underused, while also taking into account additional circumstances that may guide the decision-making process.
The primary criteria include data that would directly impact program quality at a school:
- Enrollment: The district will look at under-enrollment in “critical grades,” as well as which schools students make a choice to attend through the district’s school choice option, and schools that students opt to leave under that same option. Critical grades are not defined, however, and the district did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
- Facility usage: This will be determined by the ratio of the 2022-23 enrollment to the school’s functional capacity, which is about 85% of a school’s design capacity. An analysis by the San Antonio Report found that about one third of schools in the district are under 60% design capacity. You can find out where your San Antonio ISD school compares using a searchable table here.
- Facility cost per pupil: This will be calculated by combining the total operating and administrative cost divided by the enrollment.
Schools will be closed only when another school is identified to receive the affected students.
Additional criteria
When deciding which schools students will transfer to, the district plans to use eight categories of information and an “equity lens.”
The facility capacity will be considered at both the closing and receiving school.
School characteristics including the academic performance and programming also will be a factor.
Gates Elementary School, for example, was rated B by the state accountability system last year, but is using less than 25% of the functional capacity according to district data. Meanwhile, Poe Middle School has 87% utilization, but it did not get a letter grade in the last accountability rating — meaning it would have scored as either a D or an F.
Other factors will include grade-level configuration and/or enrollment, enrollment in the surrounding area, facility capacity, investment in the facility, the school’s partners, other regional factors and community considerations and legislative districts.
Draft values
The draft framework suggests the district will analyze the above criteria while also sticking to a set of six values and others adopted by the board known as “guard rails.”
The six proposed values include: creating thriving schools, serving families and students, standing by staff, driving toward equity, finding a suitable use for buildings that may be vacated and upgrading all remaining buildings and academic programs.
Equitable access to academics, facilities and programs will be key throughout the process, according to the draft framework.
The initial resolution, which trustees passed on a 5-2 vote, highlights that some schools with low enrollment lack certain programs like music class and other electives.
“We will begin reversing years of growing and systemic inequities, where some students and families benefit from higher spending, better buildings and greater access to academic opportunity compared to others,” the values draft reads. “In order to address this legacy, we will view all criteria — primary and contextual — through an equity lens.”
The equity lens will be defined with the help of district staff and community, according to the draft.
Several of the values align with demands made by a coalition of community leaders and teachers, including the San Antonio Alliance teacher and staff union, which held a press conference last week calling for the district to extend the process and protect workers.
The values also commit to “finding a use for the building or the grounds that is suitable to the neighborhood.”
Alejandra Lopez, the president of the San Antonio Alliance, and others have called for community members to have the final say both on whether schools close and what happens to the building.
The proposed criteria will be updated and refined through staff and community feedback, according to the district.
After a first phase of community engagement, the framework will be used to generate an initial recommendation of schools and present it during a Sept. 18 board meeting.
Another round of community engagement will follow, and could alter the initial proposal before a final recommendation and vote for approval at the Nov. 18 board meeting.
What questions do you have about the school closure process? What would be helpful as you navigate the process as a community member, teacher or parent?
Email me at isaac@sareport.org.
