LOCAL HISTORY
At Monday’s regular San Angelo Independent School District board meeting, trustees heard from two representatives of the community group seeking to preserve the historic George Washington Carver Elementary campus at 9th Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in San Angelo. No action was taken at the meeting.
This latest chapter of the school’s story began in April of 2026, when SAISD considered demolishing the school. Carver last served as the alternative learning campus for SAISD, but since that program moved to the former Central Freshman campus on Oakes Street, the building has been vacant. The cost to renovate and perform necessary asbestos abatement was calculated to be more than the cost to demolish the property.
Members of the Save Carver Coalition board made a brief presentation, with board president Dudra Butler requesting the school board to “give preservation a defined opportunity before an irreversible decision is made.”
Another member of the board, former San Angelo City SMD 6 Rep. Billie DeWitt, who attended Carver, discussed possible funding sources saying “we recognize that we will need a substantial amount of money… and one of the things that we have developed is a list of local state and national organizations where we feel like we may be able to get grants or donations to help fund the project.
“We believe that the Carver Center, and I am of Carver Elementary School alumni, we believe that’s historic, and something important to preserve. We’re serious about this.
“We don’t intend to give up, so we hope you will give us an opportunity. To continue to do what we can to try to preserve Carver.”
The Carver school was built around 1922, according to the coalition, and served as the dedicated black elementary school in San Angelo until school desegregation in 1955. After 1952, older students moved to the Blackshear campus, named for educator Edward L. Blackshear.
That school also has its own rich history, including a 1950 state football championship in the Prairie View Interscholastic League.
Those who attended Carver Elementary and grew up around it argue that the building’s history should be preserved and argue that a further delay in demolition should be granted so the group can handle the necessary non-profit organizational paperwork, and seek local, state, and federal grants for historic preservation.
They have suggested in the future the building could be used as a museum or community center for the Blackshear neighborhood.
In closing, the coalition requested that SAISD “Give Carver a measurable opportunity to be saved. Do not proceed with demolition while the coalition’s preservation proposal is being evaluated. Allow the coalition to complete a professional assessment of the building structural viability.
“Work with the coalition to establish the property information, ownership pathway, and conditions for transfer. Allow time to develop nonprofit status, preservation plans, cost estimates, and a phased fundraising strategy.”
SAISD School Board President Taylor Kingman asked of the board to decide if similar plans would be desired in the future for the Blackshear Campus, which sits across the divided highway from Carver, to which coalition members and those in attendance indicated “Yes.”
The Carver school, and the Dunbar Library across the street from the campus, were at one time the center of San Angelo’s Black community during segregation. You can read more about the Dunbar library here.
Future decisions on the fate of the campus are expected sometime in the next two months.
