SAISD racing to repair damaged heating systems

SAN ANTONIO — The race to repair cold weather damage is on across San Antonio ISD.

Superintendent Dr. Jaime Aquino said it is a two-step process to re-open 90-plus campus locations the district decided to close down Wednesday because many classrooms and facilities were just too cold.  

First, professionals have to evaluate damage to a wide variety of heating systems and then maintenance workers will have to fix what is wrong after problems caused by the brutal deep freeze of the last few days.

Aquino has promised that students will be able to return to class, safe and warm, on Monday..

To make that happen, the district’s HVAC Director, Sean McKnight, has been a busy man.

While cleaning and checking the boiler room at Jefferson High School, McKnight said “We’re going through one by one, painstakingly just making sure they are all going to fire up. We were here all day on Monday getting everything prepared and we’re just going to continue working on it.”

Meanwhile, other district personnel have been doing what they can to comfort families.

Elida Jimenez pulled up to the curbside meal service at Sam Houston High School and said she was happy she could get what she needed for her family and several of her neighbors. Jimenez said she was relieved that her kids are being cared for, even when they can’t attend class and she added she is satisfied that even though mistakes were made, the district is promising a prompt course of action.

“I am glad he took ownership of the fact that he did make a mistake. We all make mistakes because we are only human but he did apologize and he is taking precautions and doing everything he can to protect our children,” Jimenez said.

With a population of about 47,000 students spread across schools that vary in age and levels of need for repair, identifying what is wrong and fixing the damage is complex, according to the superintendent.

With regard to the cost, one board member said the superintendent has the authority to authorize emergency expenses and hire contractors if need be.

They’ve said it’s too soon to say what the price tag will be.

“This is not about money and dollars,” apologizing for the mistakes, Aquino said. “In terms of the damage, it is to our community, our staff, our students. We did not deliver. That’s my main concern.”

Beyond today, Aquino promises systemic changes to make sure this never happens again.

“We have made adjustments to the response team to ensure we receive on the ground, real-time information so we can ensure our buildings are fully operational and provide a safe environment for all our students and our staff,” Aquino said.

While the closure continues, Aquino said teachers will be reaching out to families to make sure their students are doing well and he said his team will work with parents to develop a plan to make up for the instructional time being lost to the closure. 

Aquino said rather than adding additional days to the school calendar, they may work to come up with a plan that would add minutes to each day, so as not to disrupt family schedules during the next break.

The district’s public information staff promised to keep families updated on social media about the status of repair work and schedule changes.

In an open letter parents posted on social media, Aquino wrote the following:

“Rest assured, we will identify and address the root causes of this crisis. We will work with an external investigative team to examine the event and publish a full report summarizing the reasons for this breakdown. We will do everything possible to regain your trust.”