SAN ANTONIO – UPDATE (Thursday, Dec. 12, 8 p.m.): The South San Antonio Independent School District announced that 48 people have volunteered to serve as district board president. The application deadline was Tuesday.
According to TEA, 19 of these 48 people reside in the district. TEA released the following data regarding applicants.
Current SSAISD Parents: 9
Former SSAISD Parents: 7
Number of SSAISD participants: 24 people
Number of SSAISD graduates: 21
Former SSAISD employees: 13
Current SSAISD employees: 2
Former superintendent of education: 2 people
The TEA Director will not make a final decision on replacing SSAISD elected directors until he meets with SSAISD elected directors in mid-January.
Original (Monday, Dec. 9, 11:04 p.m.): The Texas Education Agency is considering whether to replace South Sun ISD’s board of directors with an appointed board manager.
“What will happen to the old boards? Will they be affected in any way?” asked a woman who attended the TEA and South Sun ISD meeting.
People living in the South Sun ISD area and district employees attended a community meeting regarding the possibility of replacing the district’s current board of directors with TEA-appointed members.
Of the more than 12,000 school districts in Texas, only four currently have appointed governing boards. South Sun ISD could soon have a fifth.
“Such board appointments are only made in the most extreme circumstances,” said Steve Recholop, TEA’s deputy secretary for governance.
Lecholop explained that a guardian was appointed to oversee South Sun ISD and recommended that the elected trustees be replaced.
“The board micromanaged the school in a way that was not in accordance with the (educational code). There were several other actions by the board members that violated the (educational code),” Lecholop said.
The TEA Commissioner will ultimately decide whether appointing a management committee is the right decision. But officials are already looking to see if there is enough interest from the community to fill these potential roles.
South Sun ISD Superintendent Henry Izaguirre believes the district has already made some needed changes.
“For the record, our academic performance has improved over the past year or so, so we don’t know what’s going to happen here in the next few months. We will assist in whatever is needed,” Izaguirre said.
The deadline to apply for the Board Manager position is by the end of Wednesday, December 11th.
If you would like more information about this position, TEA will be holding a community meeting on Tuesdays at 6:30 pm in the South San Antonio High School auditorium.
TEA commissioners will not make a final decision on board replacement until they meet with South Sun ISD’s elected board members in mid-January.
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