In response to San Antonio’s first true cold snap of the season, the superintendent of the San Antonio Independent School District sent a letter to parents Wednesday evening outlining the district’s efforts to improve their schools’ HVAC systems in the year since widespread heater failures forced SAISD to cancel class for two days last January.
Jaime Aquino used the letter to explain why SAISD planned to follow the lead of other area school districts and remain open Thursday. Most school districts close when snow and ice make roads unsafe, and temperatures hovered in the upper 30s most of the day, despite hours of chilly rainfall.
At least one SAISD school encountered a problem with its heaters Tuesday morning as students returned from winter break. District officials said Highlands High School had a mechanical issue that left some classrooms cold as the school day got underway.
Community members on social media reported rooms below 50 degrees at Highlands Tuesday morning. SAISD officials said the high school’s HVAC system was quickly repaired, but due to the size of the building it took time for some classrooms to warm. Administrators followed the school’s mitigation plan and moved students to other, warmer, parts of the school.
In his letter to parents Wednesday, Aquino said the district had spent more than $75 million to upgrade HVAC systems over the past year, replacing more than 300 mechanical components, including 15 boilers and 34 chillers.
However, Aquino said challenges remain due to the age of SAISD’s schools, and the district’s limited funds.
“The age and condition of our buildings makes our systems work harder and makes it more difficult to evenly cool and heat the buildings,” he wrote. “Seventy-seven of our schools were built prior to air conditioning being a standard school building amenity. These factors can lead to variable temperatures across the building, and over time will shorten the lifespan of the HVAC system.”
The district now estimates it would cost more than $584 million to bring heating, ventilation, and air conditioning up to industry standards. All told, SAISD’s schools have 195 boilers.
“It is not possible to replace entire HVAC systems at every school,” Aquino said. “The replacement of parts can stress older downstream components causing multiple failures. For example, we had a school that was functioning properly at 7 a.m. Within an hour, it had a component failure. The replacement of this part led to another part failure further down the line. While we were able to bring the system online, our technicians spent multiple hours troubleshooting.”
To offset the likelihood of mechanical breakdowns and variable temperatures, SAISD has purchased 750 portable climate control units, and each school has plans in place to move students to warmer areas as needed.
Aquino also recommended parents dress their children in layers.
“Please know that we remain committed to transparency and proactive communication,” Aquino wrote. “Our team is working tirelessly to address immediate needs and plan for long-term improvements to ensure the reliability of our systems.”
Last January Aquino said 70% of the district's schools had heaters fail. At the time, he said the cause of the failure was a combination of human error and aging infrastructure. A report released in May found that insufficient maintenance and inadequate leadership also played a role.
