SAN ANTONIO – With a week left in the school year, the San Antonio Independent School District said it’s continuing to address HVAC issues at its schools, a problem the district has been facing for months.
Superintendent Jaime Aquino wrote to parents and staff on Thursday, promising “contingency plans to move students to cooler spaces” as necessary, saying every school is “being proactive.”
Aquino noted, however, that not all schools are experiencing problems.
If a child’s school is affected, Aquino said the school’s principal “will keep the comfort of your child in mind by continuing instruction in spaces that are cooler.”
The letter speaks to a report addressing the HVAC issues, which the district released earlier this month.
The 38-page report addressed failures that caused the shutdown. SAISD also indicates a recovery plan to begin remedying the issues.
Toward the end of the letter, Aquino said another factor affecting HVAC improvement efforts is the “recent catastrophic weather in Houston,” which has affected supply chain and vendor availability.
“We are making progress on our district’s facilities. No obstacle is too large to overcome. We are committed to ensuring our facilities meet the necessary standards, because your child’s health and safety will always be our top priority,” Aquino said.
SAISD’s last day of school is Thursday, May 30.
Aquino’s full letter can be viewed below:
Dear families and staff:
As springtime temperatures rise closer to what we experience during summer, we want to update you on what we are doing to address the challenge – at your child’s school, and as a district. Please rest assured that during these last few days of the school year we are doing all that we can to make sure that our heating, air conditioning, and ventilation (HVAC) are working as they should, and that all students have a suitable place to learn.
First, every school is being proactive and has contingency plans to move students to cooler spaces, should it be affected by HVAC issues. Our principals will keep you informed when they have to put those plans into action.
Not all schools are experiencing problems. Still, we are committed to openness and we want every family to be aware of what we are doing as we work to resolve our HVAC challenges. If your child’s school has experienced some minor issues, affecting small areas of its facilities, the principal will keep the comfort of your child in mind by continuing instruction in spaces that are cooler.
Second, San Antonio ISD has been working diligently to address our HVAC challenges since the January freeze that led us to close schools following the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. During that crisis, we promised a thorough review of our heating challenges. On May 13, we published the Final Report of our four-part assessment along with a thorough recovery plan. It is available at www.saisd.net/HVACReport2024. The 2024 HVAC crisis developed over decades, necessitating a long-term solution.
The report acknowledges that our buildings themselves are part of the challenge. The District built 77 schools before air conditioning was standard, equipping them only with heating. In contrast, schools in surrounding districts, established in the 1950s, benefited from the advent of air conditioning. In 1985, those 77 early schools were retrofitted with air conditioning through the “Cool Schools Bond.” This retrofit used existing infrastructure to integrate chillers and other systems, deemed viable and economical at the time. A complete update of our facilities to industry standards will cost $353.065 million, with $250 million needed for HVAC improvements.
Due to funding limitations, full solutions may not occur as quickly as we would like. This spring, we are already seeing incremental improvements, along with greater openness and more communication directly from your school as well as from the district when we are experiencing problems.
Since January, we have contracted with industry vendors who, along with our own operations staff, have worked diligently to bring our HVAC systems back online. We assure you that bond money is being used to address our HVAC issues. Most bond-funded schools have had, or will have, HVAC work completed during this bond program. However, post-pandemic supply delays have significantly impacted materials and equipment. For example, we ordered new chillers over a year ago, and they are expected to arrive this summer.
Additionally, as you will read in the HVAC report, our Board of Trustees have approved additional resources to be put toward this work.
Finally, we want to make you aware of another factor affecting our HVAC improvement efforts. Recent catastrophic weather in Houston has disrupted the supply chain and limited the availability of HVAC vendors, causing delays in receiving parts and completing work.
We are making progress on our district’s facilities. No obstacle is too large to overcome. We are committed to ensuring our facilities meet the necessary standards, because your child’s health and safety will always be our top priority.
In service,
Jaime Aquino
Superintendent