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San Antonio Report •

A-F grades for schools return next month after years of delay

The Texas Education Agency is expected to release A-F accountability letter grades for schools and districts for the first time since 2019, after pauses and partial releases due to the pandemic and a lawsuit that halted their release last year.  Advocates and analysts are cheering the planned Aug. 15 release, telling the San Antonio Report that valuable insights related to how districts and schools are performing are long overdue for parents, policymakers and taxpayers.  The simple grades provi...
San Antonio Report •

More parents are opting out of vaccines for their kids. Here's what you need to know.

Vaccine appointments are starting to fill up at clinics and pediatrician offices across San Antonio as parents round out preparations for sending their children to school, according to the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District. Miguel Cervantes, public health administrator for communicable disease for Metro Health, recommends getting an appointment set sooner rather than later. The local health authority provides free shots at “pop-up” clinics and by appointment at the district’s central off...
San Antonio Report •

Encuentre útiles escolares gratuitos en estos eventos

Isaac Windes is an award-winning reporter who has been covering education in Texas since 2019, starting at the Beaumont Enterprise and later at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. A graduate of the Walter Cronkite... More by Isaac Windes Isaac Windes is an award-winning reporter who has been covering education in Texas since 2019, starting at the Beaumont Enterprise and later at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. A graduate of the Walter Cronkite... More by Is...
San Antonio Report •

Find free school supplies at these San Antonio-area events

School supplies are stocked on store shelves and supply lists are out as the start to the school year inches closer. A national survey released Tuesday found that parents are set to spend slightly less in fall 2024 than they did last year on the supplies, but with dozens of back-to-school events planned in the coming weeks — many supplies are available at no cost at all. There are also opportunities for young ones to get vaccinations before summer comes to a close. This isn’t an exhaustive li...
San Antonio Report •

Gervin-Hawkins: It's time to 'come to the table' on school vouchers

After proponents of school vouchers picked up seats in this year’s Republican primaries, one local Democrat says it’s time for lawmakers to “come to the table” on an issue others in her party consider a non-starter. State House Rep. Barbara Gervin-Hawkins (D-San Antonio) serves on the Texas legislature’s select committee tasked with creating a school voucher program, which advanced such a bill for the first time in recent history last session. Now that many of the GOP members who helped Democr...
San Antonio Report •

How can San Antonians help with Hurricane Beryl recovery?

The Red Cross in San Antonio is seeking volunteers to relieve and support its volunteers who have been in Southeast Texas in the days since Hurricane Beryl walloped the coast with winds that knocked out power for millions along with damaging and fatal flood waters.  Those interested in volunteering are being asked to attend recruitment events Saturday and Sunday in San Antonio, where they can find a suitable role, including high-needs positions like mass care and disaster health or mental healt...
San Antonio Report •

Boerne ISD takes emergency action on fire, accident repairs

A fire and two accidents that set off sprinkler systems at three different schools at the end of June led the Boerne Independent School District Northwest of San Antonio to suspend their normal procurement process for large purchases in order to quickly start on repairs. The rare emergency action, which was voted on during a meeting Monday night, suspends strict requirements laid out in Texas law for purchases made by school districts using tax dollars: to solicit bids and consider products and...
San Antonio Report •

State program helps rural Texas schools provide summer meals

Children lined up excitedly outside Heritage Middle School on a recent Wednesday afternoon as two cheery child nutrition workers heaped mashed potatoes and gravy, chicken nuggets, fruit and bread into takeaway containers, handing them out the window of a food truck emblazoned with pictures of sandwiches, fresh fruit and vegetables. The food truck belongs to the East Central Independent School District and is used to quickly distribute meals to children during the summer at multiple locations ac...
San Antonio Report •

San Antonio districts slash summer programs, wrap budget plans

As San Antonio area school districts wrap up complex budget processes this summer, officials are having to slash programs and reduce positions to maintain operating costs and provide small raises to compete for a limited number of staff. Cratering student enrollment, low attendance and the end of federal pandemic relief funding have created a perfect storm, with inflation and stagnant state funding driving a nail into the coffin of some schools’ programs and initiatives. One program that is co
San Antonio Report •

Why SAISD is retraining leaders on a 2019 suspension law

Hundreds of district and campus leaders will attend a small group training session during the San Antonio Independent School District Leadership Summit later this month to learn about a law that bans the suspension of students experiencing homelessness in all but a few extreme cases. The training is the most concrete step taken by a district in response to a San Antonio Report investigation published in May that revealed hundreds of students had been illegally suspended since the 2019 law was p
San Antonio Report •

After STAAR results, SAISD is standardizing its curriculum

San Antonio Independent School District Board of Trustees held a long, frank discussion with administrators about the circumstances that led to “widespread underperformance” on the state’s standardized tests this year, ending with promises to increase rigor and use data to inform classroom teaching. Only 33% of SAISD’s students in grades three through eight met grade-level standards for reading, and only 10% of fifth graders met or exceeded science standards. Meanwhile, 19% of eighth graders me
San Antonio Report •

SAISD returns for second year at Pride parade

Students and staffers from San Antonio Independent School District wore white T-shirts with the word “familia” in rainbow colors across the front. In rainbow socks, they marched as part of San Antonio’s biggest Pride celebration, waving at the crowd while holding flags and banners. Their T-shirts featured a quote by the first openly gay elected official in California, Harvey Milk: “Hope will never be silent.” The group from SAISD has a distinctive role in the annual San Antonio Pride Parade as
San Antonio Report •

Judson ISD activates 'disaster pennies,' approves surprise 1% raise

The Judson Independent School District board of trustees voted late Tuesday night to approve a 1% raise for teachers, librarians, counselors and nurses. The board also moved to reclassify several employee positions and reinstate programs previously stripped out of next year’s budget. At the same time, they made an unusual move to approve “disaster pennies,” or the levying of extra tax dollars allowed by the state under extreme circumstances. With the raise and other moves, board members acted
San Antonio Report •

Southside schools celebrate STAAR achievements

School districts on the South Side of San Antonio are celebrating continued academic growth, separating them from other districts in the state and challenging stereotypes of poor academic achievement. Southside Independent School District Superintendent Rolando Ramirez said this is a moment of celebration and added that he is excited to meet the challenge of the work yet to come. “If we go back 10 years on the science scores, the district at that time was lagging 30 points or more compared to
San Antonio Report •

South San ISD passes 2% raise as state takeover deadline looms

Just months from a deadline to adopt a balanced budget and avoid a state takeover, the South San Antonio Independent School District board of trustees passed a 2% raise for teachers. The board also approved larger raises for bus drivers and child nutrition specialists, pushing its projected deficit to $6.2 million. District officials presented the plan Wednesday, saying the raises were necessary to remain competitive with area districts and echoing arguments made by other districts that approve
San Antonio Report •

Alamo Colleges District's tuition-free program keeps growing

An estimated 12,645 students will be attending community college tuition-free in San Antonio this fall, a record number participating in the Alamo Promise program, which expanded last year to include all high school graduates in the region. Over 9,500 students participated across the Alamo Colleges last fall, including the largest incoming class of 6,500 new students. For the first time, graduates from charter schools, home schools and private schools are eligible for the program, which provid
San Antonio Report •

San Antonio science, math scores show 'very concerning' drop

Students in the San Antonio region and across the state are struggling with math and science, despite making some gains last year, according to state data released last week. State leaders chalked up the drop, which was substantial, to the lingering impacts of the pandemic, while some local district leaders pointed to changes to the test and how it is scored. The State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, which has undergone several iterations over the years, measures state standards in
San Antonio Report •

SAISD reverses course, approves raises for faculty and staff

The San Antonio Independent School District board of trustees passed a 2% general pay increase for teachers and staff this week, a reversal from an initial recommendation by the district to forgo raises due to financial challenges. That initial recommendation came with a prediction by district leaders that other area school systems would forgo raises as well due to the expiration of federal pandemic relief dollars and the lack of increased state funding since 2019, but the largest district in t
San Antonio Report •

Advocacy group questions UTSA over free speech allegations

A nonprofit advocacy organization focused on free speech rights has sent several letters to UTSA in the wake of student protests in recent months, during which students alleged that administrators forbade them from chanting in Arabic or using certain phrases — allegations the university has previously denied. The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expressions (FIRE) sent one letter on April 29 and another May 14 to UTSA President Taylor Eighmy, citing statements students made to the San Anton
San Antonio Report •

NEISD trustees considering 1% retention bonus, no raise

One year after the North East Independent School District joined others in the region providing historic pay increases, a new board of trustees is grappling with how to retain employees while also managing a ballooning $38 million budget deficit due in part to those raises. They are mulling a district proposal that would provide a one-time, 1% retention bonus in lieu of a raise. The proposal would cost less than a raise, but would not contribute to employee retirement accounts, rankling some tr
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