SAISD boss touts $1.25 billion bond
Martinez says it will focus on tech, security, air conditioning upgrades
By Alia Malik STAFF WRITER
Cadence Corbin is greeted by members of the Caballeros Distinguidos from Briscoe Elementary as she arrives for Superintendent Pedro Martinez’s speech.
J.R. Trevino, the mayor of Castle Hills, is greeted by members of Caballeros Distinguidos from Briscoe Elementary School at the annual State of the District speech given by SAISD Superintendent Pedro Martinez.
During his address at the Pearl Stable, Martinez said: “We are not having a low bar, so our goal is not just to graduate our kids. Our goal is not to just get to the minimum standard.”
Elected officials and local business leaders Wednesday praised the San Antonio Independent School District’s progress over the past five years — and in return, Superintendent Pedro Martinez asked them to support a planned $1.25 billion bond election.
“I want the classrooms to match the academics,” Martinez told a crowd of almost 300 people attending his State of the District speech at a breakfast co-hosted with the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce and the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
“Everything is going in the same direction, and it’s going up,” he said. “I’m seeing the instruction. I’m seeing the results. I’m seeing the aspirations being built. It doesn’t match up to the buildings.”
The school district has identified $2.5 billion in facilities and technology needs, Martinez said, and can fund half of that amount through a bond issue without raising its property tax rate due to increased development downtown.
A 24-member task force is putting together a proposal for the November ballot that would include technology and security upgrades and the replacement of air conditioning chillers.
Voters in SAISD approved a $450 million bond four years ago to upgrade 13 schools. Most of the academic spaces will be finished this calendar year, and all projects are on schedule and arriving at or under budget, Martinez said.
It would be the largest school or municipal bond ever for San Antonio. Voters in the Houston and Austin ISDs, both larger than SAISD, have approved bond issues that exceed $1billion. Houston ISD is considering another bond that likely would top $2 billion and Dallas ISD, about three times SAISD’s size, is pitching the largest school district bond in Texas history, at $3.7 billion.
Martinez highlighted the progress SAISD has made since he took the helm five years ago with a turnaround plan.
Under the current state accountability system, SAISD would have received an F in 2016, but today it has a B, like its wealthier neighbors, the Northside and North East ISDs.
The SAISD median household income is $33,000, with 56 percent of students coming from single-parent homes, Martinez said. About 90 percent are Hispanic.
Martinez repeated what Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath said in August, that among the state’s large districts, SAISD improved the most in student achievement measured by the accountability system
The superintendent briefly alluded to SAISD’s new 2025 goals, which foresee an A grade for the district and either A or B grades for 70 percent of its campuses. Last year, 27 percent of campuses earned those grades.
The goals also include an increase in the percentage of preschoolers deemed ready for kindergarten in reading and math, higher standardized test scores and increased graduation and college-going rates.
About 52 percent of SAISD graduates attend college now, but the new five-year goal is 80 percent.
“We are not having a low bar, so our goal is not just to graduate our kids,” Martinez said. “Our goal is not to just get to the minimum standard.”
The audience included students, City Council members, college presidents and U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio. Most were there at the invitation of sponsors who purchased tables, but about 80 people bought individual tickets for $50 each, organizers said.
Of the net proceeds, 70 percent will go to the SAISD Foundation, an event co-host, which funds student scholarships and grants to teachers for classroom projects. The two chambers of commerce will split the remaining 30 percent, said Judy Geelhoed, the foundation’s executive director.
Richard Perez, the San Antonio Chamber president and CEO, lauded SAISD’s accomplishments and asked about the relationships the district has developed with charter schools.
“How is that working out and is that a trend that you see continuing?” Perez asked.
Martinez said SAISD works with charters that share the district’s values, referencing a partnership with the KIPP network to help graduates navigate college life.
“We don’t see charters as the enemy,” Martinez said. “Hey, bring on the competition, right?”
Some in the audience applauded that answer.
Castro, who graduated from Jefferson High School in 1992 before attending Stanford University and Harvard Law School, said Martinez did a good job laying out the progress made and the challenges ahead.
Castro said he’d like to see each high school set target percentages of graduates who attend college, subdivided into percentages at four-year universities and top-tier higher education institutions.
“We have to be aggressive in setting high goals not only for the students, but for the administration and the schools,” he said. amalik@express-news.net