San Antonio ISD voting Monday night whether to close 15 schools

Parents with students enrolled in the San Antonio Independent School District will learn the fate of their kids’ campuses during a highly anticipated Monday night board meeting.

On Friday, SAISD officials revealed that four elementary schools — Collins, Garden, Pershing and Ogden — had been removed from a list of potential closures, bringing the total number of campuses potentially on the chopping block to 15 from 19. District officials argue that the consolidations are necessary due to years of dwindling enrollment.

The SAISD board will vote whether to close the remaining 15 during a meeting at the district’s headquarters, 514 W. Quincy St. The gathering will get underway at 5:30 p.m.

In June, board members agreed to move forward with a “rightsizing” plan on a 5-2 vote. At the time, district trustees Sarah Sorensen and Stephanie Torres voted against the closures, arguing that the process was moving too fast, the Express-News reported.

The concerns of the two holdouts echo those of many parents, who argue there should be more time to deliberate.

However, second-year SAISD Superintendent Jaime Aquino insists that the district’s plan must move ahead to improve class sizes and reduce the waste of resources.

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This article appears in Nov 1-14, 2023.