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Trustees at San Antonio Independent School District delayed a vote last night on a proposal to close Carvajal Elementary at the end of this school year.
SAISD officials first discussed last month the proposal to shutter the West Side elementary school amid unsatisfactory academic outcomes, continuous low enrollment, and an unsustainable bilingual program.
From 2020 to 2026, the school has lost 185 students and has received three consecutive F ratings from the Texas Education Agency. The TEA takes over a school district after five years of failed scores, but has discretion to intervene at four.
Carvajal was one of over a dozen schools the district placed on a watchlist for targeted intervention.
Deputy Superintendent Shawn Bird told community members Monday that another failing school could put the district at risk of TEA intervention.
“All of our data that we have and all of our projections that we're making is that Carvajal is on track to be an F-rated school at the end of this school year,” he said.
If the recommendation to close Carvajal gets approved, the district proposes that monolingual students get sent to Barkley-Ruiz Elementary, while bilingual students attend DeZavala Elementary.
Several speakers criticized the district’s proposal during public comment, saying the recommendation felt rushed. Others acknowledged the elementary’s ongoing struggles and the difficult decisions ahead.
“I hope that we can all recognize that Carvajal should not be in this position to begin with,” said Alejandra Lopez, the president of SAISD’s teachers union. “Many are asking where was the support that Carvajal needed one, two, even three years ago?”
Bird said the district does not take the possibility of school closures lightly.
“We understand that it's difficult for our communities to have to close the school, but we do believe that students will have better options if we close the school and move them to a higher rated campus,” said Bird.
A community meeting held last week on the proposed closure gathered community feedback on possible steps moving forward. Several community members have proposed either renovating or rebuilding at the Carvajal location.
Deputy Superintendent Patti Salzmann said if Carvajal closes, there are about $70 million in construction bonds available for a newly imagined school.
"We have an opportunity to co-create something with the community here that can serve the best interest of the students. That could be an elementary. That could be an academy."
The board ultimately took no action on the closure. It will take up the matter again at the next scheduled board meeting on Jan. 20.
SAISD Superintendent Jaime Aquino will not be present at the meeting due to prior commitments.
