Parents, Community Leaders Press for Answers on Charter Takeover at COPS/Metro Forum with District Officials
[Excerpt]
San Antonio ISD officials during a Tuesday night meeting struggled to answer basic questions from concerned parents about curricula, sports and transportation options for students at three campuses the district recently handed over to an out-of-state charter operator.
Hosted by the watchdog group COPS/Metro, the forum was arranged so SAISD could address parents’ concerns that the district is privatizing public campuses. However, some attending the gathering said they left with more questions than answers…
Read moreCOPS/Metro Demands Transparency and Community Safeguards in Proposed Charter Takeover
As the San Antonio ISD (SAISD) and Edgewood ISD Boards consider relinquishing four neighborhood campuses to Colorado-based charter operator Third Future Schools, COPS/Metro leaders and members showed up in force to testify at SAISD—uncovering the power dynamics at play, raising urgent concerns, and putting forward clear demands to protect families.
Read moreAmid School Closure, COPS/Metro Secures Commitment for New West Side K-8 School
SAISD voted unanimously to close Carvajal Elementary, a 76-year old West Side school serving families in one of San Antonio’s poorest zip codes. While the closure disrupts hundreds of families, COPS/Metro leveraged SAISD’s commitment of $28.6 million in bond funds to build a new, modern K–8 school on the West Side.
Read moreCOPS/Metro Calls on SAISD to Reimagine Carvajal Elementary
After 15 schools closed at the end of the 2023-2024 school year, COPS/Metro leaders participated in a heated public meeting on the potential closure of Carvajal Elementary School. Parents voiced concerns about losing their community and native tongue fostered through the school’s dual language program.
Read moreCOPS / Metro Calls for Hospitable Response to Migrant Children
Clergy and leadership from Methodist, Presbyterian, Episcopal, Lutheran, Catholic and Muslim congregations of COPS / Metro delivered a joint statement calling on the President and Congress to demonstrate hospitality to children arriving on the border from Central America.
"Don't send them back as if they were animals," argued Fr. Walter D'Heedene of Sacred Heart Catholic Church. Speakers underscored that each child should have an attorney, get thorough processing (accorded in the 2008 Wilberforce Act) and have more exposure to vetted religious and social service organizations so that they do not become isolated.
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