San Antonio ISD experiences ‘minor’ AC issues on first day of school

SAN ANTONIO — The first day of school at San Antonio ISD was met with air conditioning problems, which for the most part, were resolved by mid-morning.

District officials stressed the majority of the AC issues were minor and involved single classrooms or non-learning spaces. As of mid-morning Tuesday, a few faulty chillers were back up and running.  

Officials could not specify which schools were impacted.

“We remain prepared to take immediate action to ensure the safety and comfort of our students and staff. Our goal is to keep our schools open so that our students continue their learning,” the district said in a statement.

Leading up to the first day of school, Alejandra Lopez, president of the San Antonio Alliance, says the union has heard from concerned community members about AC problems impacting some campuses. She says she is grateful for the work done by the district’s maintenance crews.

“There’s really no excuse for the first day of school leading to less than perfect conditions for staff and for students,” Lopez said. “It’s really incumbent upon the district to ensure that we have comfortable, working and learning conditions and I do know that they’ve been working to address the concerns that have sprung up throughout the district.” 

In May, two schools within San Antonio ISD closed down for a day so district crews could repair the AC systems.

San Antonio ISD released a report about the January heating system crisis that led to schools closing across the district amid freezing temperatures.

In a report, the district detailed 20 years of mismanagement in terms of budgeting and ill-fitted facilities to accommodate maintained heating and cooling systems. The report also blamed underfunding of Texas public schools from the Texas State Legislature.

“I think district leadership has learned and I know on our end, alongside our coalition partners, we have really pushed the district to be transparent and be communicative,” Lopez said. “I am encouraged to see that they have plans in place and I think we’re all invested in working on long term solutions so that we don’t keep having to have these conversations at the start of every school year.”