SAN ANTONIO – Nearly 40 teachers will not return to the South San Independent School District in the fall of 2025.
The instructors fall into two categories: 16 who were “underperforming,” according to superintendent Dr. Saul Hinojosa, and another 22 teachers who were not certified.
KSAT spoke with Hinojosa on Wednesday afternoon. During the conversation, he said the 16 teachers were under contract but “weren’t performing well” or “meeting expectations.”
Hinojosa says the 16 teachers were chosen after being evaluated and observed in classrooms with students.
“Throughout the district and all our campuses...we have a few teachers at every campus that have not met those standards,” Hinojosa said.
“These are some things that you need to improve that they have not seen,” Hinojosa continued. “At this point, the decisions [are] made to not renew these individuals."
Additionally, South San ISD has 22 full-time “temp teachers” not certified by the Texas Education Agency (TEA). While some of those teachers were “doing well,” Hinojosa said every teacher in the district should be certified. He told KSAT that he hoped those teachers would get the necessary credentials so they could eventually return to the district.
“The district could not find certified teachers last year, so you have people without degrees that were in front of students. Our goal is to have 100% certified teachers,” Hinojosa said.
The superintendent said a complete teaching staff with certified teachers will help him achieve his goal of getting South San ISD to be an A-rated district. The last time the district was rated, it was a C-grade.
“That’s why we’re addressing it early and recruiting the best qualified staff in order to put in front of kids,” Hinojosa said.
South San ISD has about 500 teachers.
In the state of Texas, teachers must meet five qualifications to become certified.
The TEA took over the South San Antonio ISD Board of Trustees and appointed Hinojosa as the new superintendent in February.
South San ISD is hiring certified science, math and special education teachers. Hinojosa says he is confident the district will be staffed with certified teachers next school year.
“In order for kids to achieve, they have to have quality teachers in front of them,” Hinojosa said. “When teachers are not performing, then it’s our job to go find quality personnel to play a big difference [for] our kids.”
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