Editor’s note: This story was updated to include a statement from an SAISD spokesperson.
Students returning to San Antonio ISD’s Highlands High School got a chilly surprise Tuesday when temperatures in some classrooms hovered just above 50 degrees due to problems with the campus’ heating system.
The issue followed less than 24 hours after SAISD Superintendent Jamie Aquino assured families in a Monday email that the district’s HVAC systems were ready to handle this week’s cold snap.
The failure at the Southeast San Antonio campus also come after the district was forced to close all of its campuses for two days last January due to what Aquino described as “significant heating system failures.”
SAISD spokeswoman Lorraine Pulido told the Current the issues at Highlands were due to a faulty boiler that’s since been repaired.
“The issue was resolved by late [Tuesday] afternoon, and the temperatures were within the setpoints of 69-72 degrees for instructional areas,” she said in an emailed statement.
The problems with Highland’s heating system were first reported on Facebook by San Antonio resident Ashley Valeria O’Brien, who shared images of a classroom thermostat showing temperatures between 52 and 54 degrees.
Highs in San Antonio on Tuesday, the first day of class for SAISD students following winter break, were in the upper 40s.
“SAISD says the same thing every year that the schools are prepared for cold temps, etc., and every year we see temps like this,” O’Brien wrote.
O’Brien’s social media post garnered nearly 700 reactions and 250 comments directed at SAISD officials — most of them negative.
In his Monday email, SAISD Superintendent Aquino told parents that the district’s heating systems were ready for the cold front.
“The operations team has been working since the summer to ensure we are ready for cold weather,” Aquino wrote. “All boilers have been serviced, and staff have been working over the break to ensure we are positioned well for the upcoming winter weather.”
Last year’s SAISD campus closures due to HVAC problems led to the resignation of district Deputy Superintendent Ken Thompson and Chief of Operations Mike Eaton. A 38-page report released in May revealed that SAISD’s heating-system failure was the result of 20 years of mismanagement and inadequate upkeep. Subscribe to SA Current newsletters.
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This article appears in Jan 8-21, 2025.
