SAN ANTONIO — San Antonio ISD will close 15 campuses, most of them elementary schools, after trustees voted 5-2 to approve a controversial plan created amid yearslong declining enrollment trends.
Trustees Sarah Sorensen and Stephanie Torres voted against the high-stakes proposal after two hours of passionate public comment, and after two failed attempts by Sorensen to remove Lamar and Storm elementary schools from the planned closures.
The proposal, which the district called a "rightsizing" plan, was created amid issues stemming from decreasing enrollment at San Antonio's third-biggest district and a simultaneous lack of facility reduction. An early version of the proposal called for shutting down 19 schools.
SAISD Superintendent Jaime Aquino was emotional in his post-vote comments, saying with a quivering voice that he was "grateful we had this public conversation."
"Every single day I lose sleep because in our classrooms, every single day, we are losing generations of students," he said. "This is, hopefully, a new beginning."
One parent speaking in the public comment section of Monday's meeting, which saw dozens at the podium, said the latest proposal amounts to "erasure."
Another parent, Jessica Torres, said she was in support of the plan, adding the board "should do whatever is necessary to save the school district."
"Why is it as adults we can’t embrace change? This is the hand that we are dealt," Torres said.
Others specifically criticized the timing of the latest proposal and its supplemental equity report. It was unveiled on Friday, just three days before the final vote was scheduled to take place.
“Schools are the backbone of the neighborhoods, and neighborhoods are the backbone of the city," said one parent, adding the process was rushed and imploring trustees to vote down the plan.
"As a parent, I don't feel heard," another told KENS 5.
The district's initial proposal was revealed in September and followed up by additional meetings to gather input from the community. It said that, from 2012 to 2022, the district's student population declined by 9,000 students, or about
An empty seat wasn't spotted Monday evening as frustrated community members on both sides of the debate made their voices heard. Much of the criticism was leveed at the district’s suggestion to include Lamar Elementary on the closures list; opponents of the rightsizing plan called a high-performing school.
Trustees themselves then set about discussing the merits of the proposal, its timing and the equity plan created as part of the "rightsizing" initiative. Trustee Ed Garza encouraged those in the room to consider the long-term effects of potentially shutting down campuses, saying it ignites future opportunity for SAISD.
“Even though we’re talking about closure tonight, it’s really about the opportunity to repurpose and reimagine," Garza said.
Sorensen, however, at one point said the board was having conversations and asking clarifying questions that should’ve been done long before Monday evening. As the meeting reached the five-hour mark, she attempted two separate motions to amend the proposal: First to remove Lamar and Storm from the list of schools the district would close, then to consider them in a separate vote.
Both motions failed, with only Torres joining Sorensen in support.
The following schools will be closed:
- Green Elementary
- Gates Elementary
- Miller Elementary
- Foster Elementary
- Baskin Elementary
- Highland Park Elementary
- Knox Early Childhood Center
- Nelson Early Childhood Center
- Tynan Early Childhood Center
- Carroll Early Childhood Center
- Douglass Elementary
- Forbes Elementary
- Huppertz Elementary
- Lamar Elementary
- Storm Elementary
The plan will also involve the mergers of some campuses: Beacon Hill with Cotton Academy, Kelly Elementary and Lowell Middle School, and Gonzales Early Childhood Center with Twain.
Garza, before the vote, said he trusted in Aquino's final recommendations, saying he was keeping in mind the future students who "aren't born yet."
“We’re making decisions that are going to last the next 10, 15, 20 years," he said.
Still some trustees said the process showed trust will need to be fortified or rebuilt altogether. That includes Torres, a relatively new trustee, and Leticia Ozuna, who cited a "really hostile environment" on SAISD campuses as a result of COVID, loss of school leadership and other issues plaguing education.
“We cannot maintain the status quo," Ozuna said. "If we want trust on our promise, we have to change.”
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