SAN ANTONIO — Northside ISD (NISD) leaders added a new student holiday on what's usually a busier than normal school day -- Election Day. It was a decision that simply made sense to Melina Espiritu-Azocar, Chief of Staff for the Northside American Federation of Teachers (Northside AFT).
"Many of our schools are used as election voting sites and they should be...it also makes sense so there's not meetings in the afternoon and our staff can go and vote," Espiritu-Azocar said.
Bexar County Elections Supervisor Jacque Callanen proudly supported the decision at Tuesday's Commissioners Court meeting.
"If we are a school and they are still open, the school may move us to another location because in many instances we’re in the libraries, we’re in the front halls, and of course that is problematic for the schools," Callanen told commissioners.
School staff could move polling sites further towards the back of the school, but Callanen said that usually becomes an ADA compliance issue, depending on how far voters have to walk.
Espiritu-Azocar believes school buildings should be seen as community centers and polling sites at schools makes voting accessible to more people.
An NISD spokesperson said the board of trustees made the decision to make November 8th a holiday back in August of 2021 and the calendar was approved in May of 2022.
Following the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Espiritu-Azocar said members of Northside AFT expressed safety concerns.
"They did bring up that there were different folks on their campuses because of elections, their buildings were opened," she said. "Not having students in the building, it eliminates some of those safety concerns."
At Tuesday's commissioners court meeting, Precinct 1 Commissioner Rebeca Clay-Flores told Callanen "My office has gotten lots of calls and I have lots of friends who are teachers, because of the Uvalde shooting and other concerns, they don’t want to be in the schools."
So far, NISD is the only area school district to make election day a student holiday. A spokesperson for Northeast ISD told KENS 5 "North East ISD may consider a change to our calendar, it’s something we will take a look at.
If a change is recommended, it will then need approval by the Board of Trustees."
San Antonio ISD says November 8th remains a regular school day and they do not anticipate revisions to their calendar.