The San Antonio Independent School District has released the results of a survey asking the public how they would like to use the district’s empty school buildings.
The four most popular ideas among survey respondents are fine arts programs, mental health services, childcare for children 3 and under, and green space like parks or playgrounds.
SAISD spent four months collecting the survey responses online and at athletic events, and 9,360 people provided input, including 5,048 students.
“A majority of the responses came from students, and we value student voice, so we’re happy to see that a big chunk of our responses came directly from students,” said Ernest Gonzales, SAISD director of strategic initiatives at a virtual meeting Tuesday updating the public on the survey results. “We also have a big chunk that came from our staff and parents.”
The three choices that got the most votes from students were fine arts programs, green space and mental health services.
Those same three choices got the most votes from SAISD employees, but childcare got the most first choice votes, and they also ranked affordable housing for teachers and staff highly.
“Fine arts programs and early childhood education showed up for everyone. We did think it was interesting to note that for students and parents, specifically, green space kind of crept into their top three priorities,” Gonzales said.
SAISD has created a dashboard that shows the top votes for different populations, including people who live within walking distance of a closed school.
The next step in the process will be accepting proposals from organizations interested in using the buildings.
Gonzales said SAISD will be working with architecture firm PBK to manage the project.
“We have a good partnership with them,” Gonzales said. “They’ve done some work with the district, so they really know our facilities very well, and we’re happy to have them on board.”
During the Q&A portion of the meeting, Gonzales said he couldn’t give an exact timeline for when buildings will be occupied.
“We know that the community wants to see something happen quickly, so we’re very committed to doing that as quickly as we can,” he said. “Some facilities may be repurposed fairly quickly. Some may take a little longer.”
Another audience member asked how the survey results will influence the district’s choices.
“It will be an important aspect of the work,” Gonzales said. “We can’t guarantee that the number one choice is going to be the exact thing that happens in that neighborhood. We have to go and see what kind of proposals we get from organizations.”
However, he said that once SAISD has proposals for specific buildings, they’ll take those options back to the public for feedback.
