Sarah Sorensen SAISD District 1 Trustee

Whose schools? Our schools! Our public schools belong to the community and community members should have a say in shaping their future. Come out and share your thoughts on the proposed closures and consolidations of D1 schools.

We will hold four meetings on the district's rightsizing initial recommendations this week. Please join us and share your feedback. A light meal and child care will be provided at the meetings.

✅ RSVP | Confirme su asistencia: tinyurl.com/2023RightsizingRSVP

🗓 Complete Schedule | Calendario completo: https://www.saisd.net/page/study_sb_capacity_calendar

Tendremos cuatro reuniones comunitarias sobre las recomendaciones iniciales para la optimización de planteles del distrito esta semana. Acompáñenos y comparta su retroalimentación. Se proporcionará una comida ligera y cuidado de niños en las reuniones.

Your voice matters. Tonight was the first community meeting for the SAISD Rightsizing Framework. The next meeting is tomorrow at Burbank High School at 6pm. RSVP to share your input at any of the community meetings here: https://form.jotform.com/232186271530047

Public schools belong to all of us. Your voice matters. Please come out and help shape the school closure and consolidation process.

Please come to one or more meetings! We will begin holding meetings next week to explain the district’s draft rightsizing framework that could guide SAISD’s analysis of schools, and we want your feedback. This framework will be used to determine schools to be presented to the Board of Trustees for consideration for closure or consolidation, as well as the schools that would receive additional students and staff.

We need your input to develop the best framework possible for an outcome that elevates the educational experiences of our children and the teaching and working experiences of our employees. Please join us and share your feedback.

RSVP: tinyurl.com/2023RightsizingRSVP

¡Por favor venga a una o más reuniones! Comenzaremos a realizar reuniones la próxima semana para explicar el borrador del marco de reestructuración del distrito que podría guiar el análisis de las escuelas de SAISD, y queremos su retroalimentación. Este marco se utilizará para determinar las escuelas que se presentarán a la Junta Directiva para su consideración de cierre o consolidación, así como las escuelas que recibirían más estudiantes y personal.

Necesitamos su aportación para desarrollar el mejor marco posible para un resultado que eleve las experiencias educativas de nuestros estudiantes y las experiencias de enseñanza y trabajo de nuestros empleados. Acompáñenos y comparta su retroalimentación.

Confirme su asistencia en: tinyurl.com/2023RightsizingRSVP

SAISD is in the process of exploring school closures and consolidations. Read more about how state education policy has led to our district and others having to make this painful decision and how you can engage in the process.

SAISD school closures | LNF Weekly Important decisions that will greatly affect our community need to be made.

Do you have any questions about the draft agenda for the January 23 SAISD board meeting? If so, message me by Saturday, January 14.

Under our new board policies, board members have until Saturday, January 14 to submit questions to staff to be answered in the final agenda packet.

Public Meeting Agenda: January 23, 2023 at 5:30 PM - Board Business Meeting B - BoardBook Premier

Interested in what happened at Monday’s SAISD Board of Trustees meeting? Take a look at the latest Board Bytes. Our next meeting is Monday, January 23. The draft agenda is available here:

https://meetings.boardbook.org/Public/Organization/1982

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=i4WhDrpS_C8&feature=youtu.be

Board Bytes: Jan. 9, 2023, SAISD Board Meeting A

Have you checked out SAISD’s draft Always Learning Plan yet? This strategic management plan will serve as a roadmap for our community to create a strong public school system for all our students. We want to know what you think. Check out the plan and save the date of February 1 from 5:30-7:00pm to participate in our community feedback session. More details about this event and other ways to share you thoughts on the plan are coming soon.

SAISD Always Learning - SAISD Our primary purpose of improving lives through a quality education is driven by an unrelenting determination to graduate all of our students and prepare them for success in higher education. Our ideology is reflected in our fundamental beliefs, commitment

The next SAISD Board of Trustees meeting is Monday, January 9 at 5:30pm. Check out the latest Board Bytes video to see the exciting new changes to our meeting process. These changes are designed to increase transparency and provide greater opportunity for community members to provide feedback on our work.

Board Bytes (Special Edition): New Board Meeting Procedures, 2023

Check out this summary of the 9/12 SAISD board meeting. I’m very proud of our board for listening to the community and finding creative ways to share information with everyone. Let us know if you find this useful and if you have other ideas to help get information to the community.

Our next board meeting is Monday, September 19.

Board Bytes The first of a new series from the San Antonio Independent School District Board of Trustees. This week, board president Christina Martinez updates us on enr...

Public schools are the bedrock of democracy. We must create schools that embrace the full humanity of our students and school workers and provide space for all of us to come together to work for a better world.

A different type of school | LNF Weekly We have a roadmap for how our schools can better fulfill our promise to our students

Robb Elementary Memorial Fund

An official account with First State Bank has been set up for donations through UCISD to assist the families of this tragedy especially those dealing with funeral and medical expenses.

Please know that the FSB account, the information below, is the only verified location to make any monetary donations. No other source is currently recognized.

Make all checks payable to the "Robb School Memorial Fund"

Please mail checks to: 200 E Nopal St. Uvalde, TX 78801

For Zelle Donations: [email protected]

Public schools belong to the public. I’m loving spending time with and learning from fellow public education advocates in Philly at the Network For Public Education conference. We shared our experiences with corporate education reform- specifically City Fund’s efforts to dismantle public education in San Antonio. While it’s disheartening to see how a handful of billionaires (Reed Hastings, Bill Gates, John Arnold and others) have implemented a playbook to distroy democratic control of public schools across the country, it’s inspiring to see so many incredible people organizing to fight back.

It was a packed house at our first ESSER Stakeholder Committee meeting. I’m so excited to be working with the students, parents and workers to create a robust and inclusive community engagement process to make sure district ESSER funding meets our community’s needs.

Creating the schools are students deserve is a community effort.

Thanks to Judge Peter Sakai for Bexar County Judge Councilwoman Teri Castillo Trustee Sarah Sorensen SAISD District 1 Trustee and Jessica Cisneros for your commitment to our school workers, students, and families.

Together we can win the schools our students deserve.

https://www.lnfweekly.info/stories/are-standardized-tests-for-students-a-good-thing-220412

Are standardized tests for students a good thing? | LNF Weekly The pressure of standardized tests infiltrates almost every aspect of the school year and impacts our student’s educational experiences.

On Monday, April 11, the SAISD Board of Trustees selected Dr. Jaime Aquino as the lone finalist for superintendent. Jaime started his career as a bilingual teacher and has served in a variety of leadership roles in districts across the country. You can learn more about Jaime in his own words in this recording of his interview with the San Antonio Express News Editorial Board.

Live: Meet Jaime Aquino, SAISD's sole finalist for superintendent Meet Jaime Aquino, SAISD's sole finalist for superintendent. The district's search...

Are you interested in serving on the ESSER Stakeholder Committee? There are open positions for students, parents/caregivers and community members. The application can be accessed here: https://forms.gle/7excjpiPg7o3uZht7

Have you ever wondered how SAISD revenue is allocated? At the special board meeting on February 26, the SAISD Finance Department shared this slide showing how funds are distributed across departments. I am looking forward to future board discussions where we can take a closer look at how funds are allocated to campuses with an eye toward equitably distributing funds across our district.

The budget planning process for the 2022-2023 school year has started in SAISD. In the next few months, the Board of Trustees will identify our budget priorities and work with staff to ensure our budget supports the needs of our students and workers. We are projecting revenues of $458,725,531 for next year. This is $28.8 million less than our budget for 2021-2022. Staff developed this projection based on our anticipated enrollment and average daily attendance for next year (enrollment and attendance determine state funding for public schools). These slides show our trend in enrollment for the past 8 years and how COVID-19 has impacted attendance rates at our schools.

This Saturday, February 26 at 9 am, the SAISD Board of Trustees is holding a special board meeting to discuss the budget for the 2022-2023 school year.

We will be discussing projected enrollment and revenue, identifying budget priorities, reviewing the status of ESSER funding and planning for budget sustainability.

A summary of the budget update from the Feb 15 meeting can be found here: bit.ly/3ta98pA

Child Nutrition will be open for curbside meal distribution today, Friday, Feb. 4, from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., or while supplies last, at the following locations. A lunch and breakfast meal bundle will be distributed to ALL children 18 years of age and younger. Children do not have to be enrolled in SAISD to participate. See meal pick-up instructions: https://www.saisd.net/page/article/1095

Los Servicios de Nutrición Infantil estarán abiertos para distribuir comidas para llevar hoy, viernes 4 de feb. de 1 p.m. a 2:30 p.m., o hasta agotar existencias, en las siguientes ubicaciones. Se repartirán paquetes que incluyen almuerzo y desayuno a TODOS los niños de 18 años y menores. Los niños no tienen que estar inscritos en SAISD para participar. Ver instrucciones para recoger comidas: https://www.saisd.net/page/article/1095

Jefferson HS, 723 Donaldson Ave, 78201
Lanier HS, 1514 W. Cesar E. Chavez Blvd, 78207
Edison HS, 701 Santa Monica Drive, 78212
Sam Houston HS, 4635 E. Houston St, 78220
Highlands HS, 3118 Elgin Ave, 78210
Rhodes MS, 3000 Tampico St, 78207
Poe MS, 814 Aransas Ave, 78210
Beacon Hill ES, 1411 W. Ashby Place, 78201
Washington ES, 1823 Nolan St, 78202
Graebner ES, 530 Graebner Ave, 78225
Schenck ES, 101 Kate Schenck Ave, 78223
Japhet Academy, 314 Astor St, 78210
ML King Academy, 3501 M.L. King Drive, 78220

Your voice is needed. The SAISD Board of Trustees needs your help in developing the profile of our next superintendent. Come to a town hall (in-person or online) and complete the survey. The first town hall is Monday, Jan 24 at 6pm at Brackenridge High School. The event is in Spanish and English. More information can be found at www.SAISD.net/suptsearch

The City of San Antonio is opening up three more walk-up testing sites. No appointment necessary. Locations and hours of operation are listed below.

As we again return to school amid high COVID numbers in our community SAISD is offering the following testing and vaccine opportunities for students, workers and families:

COVID-19 Testing
• Friday, Jan. 7, from 8:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m., at Burnet Learning Center, 406 Barrera Street, 78210
• Monday, Jan. 10, from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., Burnet Learning Center, 406 Barrera Street, 78210

COVID-19 Vaccinations and Boosters (Pfizer)
Monday, Jan. 10, from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., at Burnet Learning Center, 406 Barrera Street, 78210
Registration link: https://saisd.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3wIO1D1i1fWiMAK
• Pediatric vaccines (5-11 years old)
• First and second doses (all eligible)
• Boosters (all eligible)

Qualtrics Survey | Qualtrics Experience Management The most powerful, simple and trusted way to gather experience data. Start your journey to experience management and try a free account today.

A Texas policymaker issued a list of 800+ books he thinks shouldn’t be in schools. There are some really good books on that list. IDRA made a reading list of 20 for your shopping list. Check it out! And if you decide to buy some of these books on Amazon, we invite you to use Amazon Smile to send Amazon’s donations our way.
https://idra.news/BooksCC

Our children deserve a fully funded IDEA program. Click on the link below to learn how you can take action with the coalition.

Fulfilling the Promise: The Need to Fully Fund IDEA Confirmation - Fulfill The Promise A national Civil Rights campaign for Special Education

Check out the Lavaca and Friends Weekly publication for my piece describing the basics of public school funding in Texas. Let me know if there are other issues related to public education that you would like me to cover in future editions.
https://www.lnfweekly.info/stories/abcs-of-school-funding-211116

Where are my tax dollars going? The ABC's of school funding | LNF Weekly Property taxes keep rising, but the schools are still underfunded. What's going on?

Wearing my “The Schools Our Students Deserve" button in solidarity with the San Antonio Alliance in support of:

- attracting and retaining high-quality staff
- reducing class sizes
- prioritizing health and safety for staff and students

I am committed to working with our community to make the vision of platform a reality.

Spending this gorgeous fall afternoon at the Lamar Elementary Resource Fair talking to families about upcoming vaccine clinics, family and community engagement events and food distribution events.