San Antonio ISD to hold first community input meeting regarding school closures on Saturday

The San Antonio Independent School District will host the first of nearly two dozen community meetings regarding the district’s proposed closure of 19 schools this Saturday.

SAISD’s first meeting will take place at Lowell Middle School, which is set to close next school year and merge with Kelly Elementary School. The meeting will kick off at 919 Thompson Place at 10 a.m. on Sept. 23.

A total of 22 meetings are scheduled so far. A full list of meetings can be found on SAISD’s website here.

The meetings aim to garner community input from those affected by the controversial school closings announced during SAISD’s board meeting earlier this week. SAISD Superintendent Jaime Aquino said that the district’s so-called “rightsizing” plan is necessary to allocate resources more equitably.

However, critics — including District 5 City Councilwoman Teri Castillo, whose district includes a bulk of the schools being closed — told the Express-News that the schools’ closures could cause further damage to an area that’s already economically disadvantaged.

“Our concern from the outset of this rightsizing plan has focused primarily on the unique challenges that exist for a district like ours located in San Antonio’s inner West and South Side,” Castillo told the daily. “On our end, we must continue to push for deeply affordable housing to boost enrollment numbers, housing that is in line with our Strategic Housing Implementation Plan so working families in our communities systematically denied opportunities can afford to thrive and attend community schools that can address their needs inside and outside the classroom.”

SAISD has blamed families fleeing the supposed rising cost of living within Loop 410 for the district’s decline in enrollment, which has dwindled from more than 61,000 in 1998 to around 45,000 today.

The district is set to decide on which schools will be closed during a board meeting on Nov. 13.

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This article appears in Sep 20 – Oct 3, 2023.