Dear SAISD Familia,

At tonight’s Board meeting, the Trustees brought forward and approved a resolution on facilities planning and development. The resolution calls for a study of school building capacity for the purpose of supporting thriving schools, classrooms, students, teachers, and school leaders.

It is important for you to know what this study means. This study will assess all of our schools, analyze the student enrollment at each school, evaluate if we are providing high-quality education as promised, consider whether the building is being used effectively, and determine whether resources are fairly distributed to support all students. The result of the study may lead to restructuring, or "rightsizing," school sites to better serve students. Rightsizing may involve closing school buildings, co-locating schools to the same campus, or consolidating multiple schools into one school.

Recommendations from the study, if approved by the Board, will go into effect for the 2024-2025 School Year. There will be no impact to schools in the 2023-2024 school year. Before any recommendation is made, we need to hear your voice! In August and into September, we will gather extensive feedback on a framework to guide our decision making. This will include multiple meetings in each comprehensive high school feeder pattern. You will hear from us again as soon as meetings are scheduled, closer to the start of the 2023 school year.

You may wonder why this resolution is needed, and we have created a website, that will continue to grow with information – to give you a full and transparent picture of the study and its progress. A basic overview is this: SAISD has been losing enrollment steadily for more than 20 years, and we have not closed school buildings at the rate our enrollment declined. As a result, many of our schools are under-enrolled and have very small student bodies. This means our parents and families have to live with financial and academic program inequities. Read more about the rationale.  

Fortunately, rightsizing, if done thoughtfully, can be an opportunity to build higher-quality schools. When the number of buildings and the buildings’ capacity is better matched to the proper student enrollment, schools can be more equitably and robustly resourced. 

Some of the advantages could include: smaller class sizes and campuses having greater access to extraordinary academics, special education services, fine arts, and athletics, among other essential services such as social emotional learning and mental health support. Teachers may no longer be at a campus where they are the only one teaching a certain grade level or subject, and now with peer educators, be able to collaborate on curriculum and feel more supported – further enhancing a child’s education and a teacher’s experience. Students also may experience a broader range of student peer interactions, and now with more educator and staff support, receive more enrichment or intervention services based on their individual needs. Additionally, with fewer school buildings, there may be an opportunity to staff each campus with a safety and security officer, further enhancing school safety. 

All of these advantages could lead to more thriving students and staff, and therefore, more thriving schools – and that is the ultimate goal of this study. We want, and we will, live up to our promise of an excellent education for all of our students!

In service,
Jaime