Colleagues:
 
We are about to enter into an important conversation as a school district familia about the future of the San Antonio Independent School District.  
 
At their June 20 meeting, our Board of Trustees will consider a resolution requesting that our administration begin a study of school building capacity to determine whether schools should be reorganized by the fall of 2024 so that the district can improve academic services to students.
 
Their call to action should not come as a surprise to you. In our faculty and team meetings over the past 12 months, we have not shied away from discussing how our district enrollment has been declining for more than two decades, and that, because we have not closed schools at the same rate, we have a large and costly amount of unused school space.
 
As a result of declining enrollments, our shared concern is that we have spread our resources too thin, creating inequities across our system – inequities experienced by students, their families and the staff that serve them. These inequities come from spending more per student at our smallest schools than we do in more fully enrolled ones. On the one hand, schools with low enrollments are more expensive to operate, and on the other, more likely to provide fewer services. 
 
The time has come. We cannot put off this important conversation any longer.  
 
Should the Board decide to advance the study, no school will close in the 2023-2024 school year. Furthermore, we will make sure that any decision will take place only after a full, thoughtful conversation where we consider the district data and the options available to students, families and staff. 
 
Rightsizing, or the reorganization of our campuses to best use our buildings, might involve school mergers, or co-locating schools at the same campus, not just school closings.
 
We will make the study as transparent as possible. This means your voice will be heard. So will the voices of our students and their families, as well as any community members who contribute to the conversation. Work this significant calls for listening and working with our entire community, beginning with you.
 
To learn more, please watch my video address to you and read this San Antonio Express-News article. We will soon launch a website that will continue to grow with details as we have them to share.
 
Rest assured. We are a familia of students, family and staff. We will stand by each other through the process. Together we will consider the data. We will listen to each other. We will learn together. And our decisions will reflect our shared commitment to thrive. 
  
In commitment to you, our students, our families and our staff,
Jaime