{"id":699285,"date":"2026-04-02T09:23:24","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T09:23:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/699285\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T09:23:24","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T09:23:24","slug":"san-antonio-isd-officials-struggle-to-answer-basic-questions-about-charter-school-takeover","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/699285\/","title":{"rendered":"San Antonio ISD officials struggle to answer basic questions about charter school takeover"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"SAISD Deputy Superintendent Shawn Bird, left, speaks about Third Future Schools\u2019 planned curriculum during a public forum hosted by COPS\/Metro. Credit: Michael Karlis<\/p>\n

San Antonio ISD officials during a Tuesday night meeting struggled to answer basic questions from concerned parents about curricula, sports and transportation options for students at three campuses the district recently handed over to an out-of-state charter operator. <\/p>\n

Hosted by the watchdog group COPS\/Metro, the forum was arranged so SAISD could address parents\u2019 concerns that the district is privatizing public campuses. However, some attending the gathering said they left with more questions than answers. <\/p>\n

Faced with rising costs and declining enrollment, SAISD\u2019s board last month voted to transfer the troubled schools to Colorado-based charter operator Third Future Schools. <\/p>\n

Shawn Bird, SAISD\u2019s deputy superintendent of school leadership and partnership services, told parents that Third Future had a strong record of correcting problems at former public campuses. However, he couldn\u2019t answer parents\u2019 basic questions about curriculum changes coming to the SAISD campuses Third Future will now be running.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know the specifics of this program, but they do have a track record of turning schools around,\u201d Bird said.<\/p>\n

That answer didn\u2019t sit well with public-education activist Melody Herrera, who was in attendance.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow do you not know when y\u2019all are the ones that recommended them?\u201d Herrera fired back. \u201cThat\u2019s very concerning to me as a parent that you don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t work for Third Future, so I don\u2019t know the intricacies of their program design,\u201d Bird responded.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo what did y\u2019all base your decision on?\u201d Herrera asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cTheir track record of turning around schools,\u201d Bird said, appearing to backtrack to square one.<\/p>\n

Indeed, the three schools that the SAISD school board voted 9-2 late last month to hand off toThird Future were among the district\u2019s worst-performing academically. By relinquishing them, SAISD may stave off a takeover by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) \u2014 that is, if Third Future can change the course of those campuses\u2019 academic outcomes over the next three years.<\/p>\n

Lone Star State public school districts are allowed to outsource some of their failing campuses under Texas Senate Bill 1882, passed in 2017. However, that comes at a cost.<\/p>\n

In the case of Third Future\u2019s takeover of Wichita Falls\u2019 Hirschi Middle School, the school day and academic year were extended. Meanwhile, extracurricular activities, such as athletics and band, were barred from taking place during regular school hours.<\/p>\n

Students at Hirschi also were forbidden from speaking to one another between classes and were forced to answer multiplication questions while waiting for lunch. A wrong answer sent students to the back line, as WFAA reported earlier this year<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Extracurricular activities were a sore point for the SAISD parents gathered at the COPS\/Metro forum.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re gonna take sports out of there too, aren\u2019t they?\u201d concerned parent Priscilla Torres pressed SAISD officials.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, it depends,\u201d said Patti Salzmann, SAISD\u2019s deputy superintendent of operations, human capital management and strategy. \u201cThey\u2019re going to have extracurriculars and sports.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHow can you say that if y\u2019all don\u2019t even have the curriculum?\u201d Torres continued. <\/p>\n

If Third Future doesn\u2019t allow sports, students would likely have to participate in those programs after school at different campuses. But in a low-income area where parents may work off-hours jobs, parents wondered whether SAISD would provide transportation.<\/p>\n

SAISD personnel said they weren\u2019t prepared to answer that question.<\/p>\n

Father Mike DeGerolami, who co- chairs COPS\/Metro\u2019s public education action team, said Tuesday\u2019s forum was a \u201cgood start.\u201d More are planned in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n

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