SAN ANTONIO – Over the past year, San Antonio Independent School District has seen multiple heating issues at various campuses across the district — and those issues have continued into 2025.
During this week’s cold snap in San Antonio and South Central Texas, SAISD was the sole district in Bexar County that stayed closed on Wednesday, following a day when nearly all other school districts had already canceled classes.
Recommended Videos
>> SAISD shutters schools Wednesday citing cold, infrastructure challenges
Here is a timeline of KSAT’s reporting on the HVAC issues affecting the district.
TIMELINE OF HVAC ISSUES:
- Jan. 17, 2024: SAISD campuses closed through Friday; superintendent explains ‘system failures’ that led to cold classrooms:
- A lack of heating at all 98 SAISD schools led to district-wide closures lasting several days.
- The district faced extensive heating system breakdowns, resulting in classroom conditions too chilly for teaching and learning.
- Jan. 18, 2024: Superintendent sends transparency letter:
- Superintendent Jaime Aquino wrote he would continue to follow through with a promise to lead with transparency and honesty. He said human error and faulty equipment caused many of the district’s heating systems to break down.
- Jan. 19, 2024: Two SAISD district leaders resign following ‘system failures’ that led to school closures:
- Ken Thompson, deputy superintendent of operations, and Mike Eaton, chief of operations, resigned from the district.
- Jan. 22, 2024: SAISD to reopen schools Monday after widespread heating system failures prompted district-wide closures:
- Classes resumed following a two-day, district-wide closure due to heating issues.
- All student absences from Jan. 16-19, 2024, were counted as excused absences.
- Feb. 1, 2024: Transparency? SAISD wants $2,300 from KSAT for public records they may withhold anyway:
- KSAT requested a copy of emails and text messages between Aquino, the district’s maintenance and facilities department, board members and district administrators.
- On Feb. 1, 2024, SAISD’s director of public information informed KSAT via email that the district would require a full payment of $2,319.40 to begin processing the request.
- May 13, 2024: SAISD releases report about January HVAC challenges which prompted district-wide school closures:
- SAISD released a 38-page report detailing findings from an ad-hoc committee charged with reviewing the HVAC incidents and making recommendations.
- With one week left of the 2024 school year, Aquino sent a letter to staff and parents promising “contingency plans to move students to cooler spaces” as necessary, saying every school is “being proactive.”
- SAISD Board of Trustees voted to approve the 2024-2025 school year budget.
- Aquino releases a new statement to SAISD parents announcing new protocols for extreme weather cases
- The procedures included:
- Using portable air-conditioning units.
- Relocating students to other areas of the campus if portable air-conditioning units are unavailable or insufficient. These areas may include the library or other classrooms.
- Moving students to another campus “as a last resort,” Aquino said. Parents and guardians will be notified in this case, he said. They will have the option to pick up their child, and children waiting to be picked up will be placed in a cooled bus with Wi-Fi. Bus routes and pickup will continue as normal from the home campus. Students will still receive meals.
- The district stated they were prepared for winter weather incidents as students returned from winter break.
“Over the weekend, staff walked all campuses to ensure our buildings were ready to receive staff and students this week when cold weather is expected. We have not experienced any major issues today; however, we are working with a few schools on single classroom issues,” the district said in a statement.
- The same day the district said they were prepared for cold temperatures, students at Highlands High School were met with frigid classrooms.
- An SAISD spokesperson issued a written statement explaining there was a mechanical issue with the building’s HVAC system, but it had been repaired by 7 a.m. The statement stated that due to the size of the building, it would take a while to warm up
- At least six schools reported heating issues just one day after the district said they were ready for the cold weather.
- District reports Brackenridge High School experienced heating issues in parts of the school
- SAISD remained the only major school district within San Antonio to stay closed on Wednesday.
“For the safety of students, especially those walking or waiting at bus stops early in the morning, SAISD will keep its schools closed on Wednesday, Jan. 22,” a statement from the district reads. “... We have worked diligently to prepare SAISD’s facilities for the cold temperatures; however, we recognize that the age of some buildings presents unique challenges.”
SAISD 2024 Crisis After Action Report by Mason on Scribd