A failing public elementary school of San Antonio Independent School District will transition to a charter school next fall. On Monday night, SAISD Board Members voted to approve a contract to have a New York-based program take over Stewart Elementary. However, not everyone is pleased with the outcome.
Community advocates, teachers, and parents felt the district was not transparent during this process and say the fight has only just started.
SAISD Superintendent Pedro Martinez said Democracy Prep is the best fit to save Stewart Elementary, which he said has been failing for the past five years. By state law, the TEA Commissioner is required either to close the school down, or appoint a board of managers to take it over.
There is another option, which is legislation that allows the school to find a partner with a proven track record. Martinez believes Democracy Prep will help turn around the school and get it back on track. Despite a ten-year contract, the charter school has two years to get Stewart Elementary meeting state standards. If it doesn't, then the contract can be canceled.
"People aren't always going to agree with what we do, but I hope what they saw tonight (Monday) was that everything that we do is in the best interest of our children," Martinez said. "I've said it before, the irony of all of this that we are trying to keep this open as a neighborhood school."
The San Antonio Alliance of Teachers and Support Personnel feels the district was not transparent, and believes the approval of this contract is a betrayal of the public trust. President of the Alliance Shelly Potter said the fighter is not over.
"Today, the superintendent said they haven't engaged the community because this was an intervention," she said. "So, in a situation where you intervene in a school you don't even include the parent voice? You don't even include the community voice? That's just unacceptable. So we will continue to fight."
When Democracy Prep takes over Stewart Elementary, teachers at that school will give up their status as SAISD employees and become at-will workers of Democracy Prep.
Martinez said Democracy Prep will begin meeting with parents about this transition as early as this Wednesday. The San Antonio Alliance of Teachers and Support Personnel has also filed a grievance with SAISD's school board.