Northeast Independent School District’s trustees voted Monday to shutter three schools as declining enrollment, lack of state funding and heightened expenses wreak havoc on the district’s bottom line.
The board, grappling with a decline of 12,000 students over the past decade, voted 7-0 to approve the closures of Driscoll Middle School, Wilshire Elementary School and Clear Springs Elementary School. All will shut down before the beginning of the 2025-2026 school year.
Students previously attending Clear Spring will be split between El Dorado, Serna and Royal Ride elementary schools. Driscoll will be consolidated with Garner and Harris middle schools, while Wilshire will be integrated with Northwood and East Terrell Hills elementary schools.
“This is not anything that anybody wants. I get it,” NEISD Superintendent Sean Maika said during the meeting. “All we can do is deal with what’s in front of us, with what we know to be certain.”
About 30 concerned citizens spoke prior to the vote, most voicing outrage or disappointment that NEISD is taking such a drastic move to shore up its finances.
“I am begging you to give this decision more time,” NEISD teacher Rose Stevens told the board. “We’ve been told the district is being transparent, but there are many factors that haven’t been discussed.”
NEISD is the sixth San Antonio public school district in two years to approve campus shutdowns. After NEISD shutters its three campuses, a total of 26 public schools will have closed in Bexar County since 2023.
NEISD’s closures will shave off $5 million of the district’s projected $39 million budget deficit, officials said.
The shortfall, according to Maika, is the result of NEISD passing one of the district’s largest employee pay raises in 2023 as well as a lack of new state funding as inflation increases costs.
Indeed, Texas only spends $10,387 per public school pupil, ranking it 41st in the nation on that metric. The current funding level amounts to a 12.9% decline when adjusted for inflation for the past decade, according to a study from the Texas American Federation for Teachers.
What’s more, observers warn that more school closures could be on the way if the Texas House passes Senate Bill 2, legislation that would allocate $10,000 in school vouchers to eligible families who opt to send their kids to private schools, as reported earlier by the Current.
“Our schools are struggling under the weight of underfunding, teacher shortages and rising costs,” NEISD Education Association President Selena Valdez said during the board meeting. “Yet, instead of addressing these urgent needs, lawmakers continue to push policies that divert money away from public schools.”
A protest against Texas’ voucher plan — a proposal championed by Gov. Greg Abbott and Republican state lawmakers — will take place in Austin at the State Capitol from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 22.
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This article appears in Feb 5-18, 2025.
