For most of San Angelo’s history school closures was not a topic of discussion.
Typical complaints were overcrowding and that schools were busting at the seams.
But that was not to last.
Busting at the Seams
In 1996 SAISD reached a peak of 17,380 students. SAISD had 30 buildings and every school was using portables to deal with overcrowding.
The talk at that time was about expansion and the building of a new elementary school in the Southwest part of town. This would ultimately become Lamar Elementary, the 22nd elementary school in the District.
The Decline Begins
By 1998 Levi Strauss had shut down its factory in San Angelo with the loss of 515 jobs in San Angelo and a payroll of $10.6 million.
That year Superintendent Joe Gonzales said that, due to changing patterns of enrollment, the District will probably have to close at least two elementary schools in town.
As it would turn out, he greatly underestimated how many schools would need to close.
Lamar vs. Sam Houston
The Board of Trustees approved building a new elementary school in the southwest part of town which would be the first 600 size elementary school in the District that year. Previously all elementary schools were smaller neighborhood schools.
This new elementary school would eventually be named for Mirabeau B. Lamar, a hero of the Texas Revolution.
That same year closing Sam Houston Elementary was proposed because it was the smallest elementary in town. Despite tremendous opposition from parents the school was closed.
There was great historical irony in shutting down Sam Houston to build Lamar.
Mirabeau B. Lamar and Sam Houston were great political rivals and enemies in the days of the Republic of Texas. This would not have pleased Sam Houston.
District Faces Budget Deficit
By 2002, SAISD was facing a projected budget shortfall of $5 Million.
A variety of plans to shuffle attendance districts are proposed to address the problem. This is when Blackshear, Day, McGill, and Travis elementaries were identified as candidates for closure.
In March of that year school officials announced they will close Day Elementary in the fall. Closure of the school, with a capacity of 375, would save the District more than $300,000. The students at Day were split between Bradford and Goliad elementaries.
In 2004 Trustees considered plans for big changes in the district, including one plan that would close nine elementary schools, and one junior high.
In six short years the District went from busting at the seams to talking about closing half of its elementary schools.
Closing Schools Becomes Easier
That year (2004) the SAISD school board voted to close Blackshear, Rio Vista and Travis Elementary Schools the following year.
Blackshear’s students were to attend Fannin Elementary and Rio Vista students would be split between the new Lamar and Crockett Elementary.
Closures Stop Temporarily
After the large round of closures, the District slowed down and did everything it could to maintain elementary schools, but an aging population and declining enrollment continued to take their toll,
The writing appeared on the wall, and in the early 2020s, the Board of Trustees had to face reality.
Starting in 2022 the District began creating its Sustainability Plan. That plan called for eventually having fewer elementary schools with larger enrollment. Like Lamar, the future would be with elementary campuses of 500-600 students.
The first recommendation as a part of that plan was to combine San Jacinto with Reagan Elementary and Alta Loma with Fannin Elementary. The goal of these combinations was to reduce the number of elementary campuses to 15.
Phase 2 of the plan called for combining Austin with McGill Elementary and expanding McGill Elementary.
Seven town hall meetings were held to discuss these plan from November of 2022 through January 2023.
In February 2023 the District voted to proceed with the combination of Alta Loma and Fannin. The San Jacinto/Reagan merger was defeated at that time.
But San Jacinto’s reprieve was short lived.
In July of 2024, seismic activity caused structural damage to the main building at San Jacinto and the Board voted to close San Jacinto in January of 2025. San Jacinto students were moved to Reagan Elementary at that time.
Cheaper by the Dozen?
On January 6, the Board voted 6-1 to close Reagan and Bowie Elementary Schools effective with the 2027-2028 school year. Once this was completed, San Angelo ISD would have twelve elementary schools.
The question remains whether we are at long last reaching the end. Superintendent Dr. Christopher Moran has indicated the District might need two more closures. Santa Rita and Glenmore could be next on the list.
The Board also announced it would create a Committee for Academic Progress, Stewardship and Efficiency (CASE). The Committee is to begin work this spring to develop a recommendation to redraw attendance boundaries across the District. The Committee will issue a report and recommendations to the Board of Trustees later this year.
