SAN ANTONIO – After KSAT Investigates uncovered San Antonio ISD spending thousands of dollars in legal fees on public records requests made by news agencies, the district released information about what they asked for.
In December, KSAT Investigates found that the San Antonio Independent School District spent nearly a teacher’s salary’s worth on attorneys to review records requests made by news agencies.
Between November 2023 and November 2024, records show the district had an outside law firm, Escamilla and Poneck, review 19 requests made by media outlets, including KSAT. Invoices show the firm charged the district $55,149.50 for their work.
That’s just over $3,000 more than SAISD pays first-time teachers with a bachelor’s degree, according to SAISD’s pay schedule for this school year.
To get answers about what request each expense was tied to, the district had KSAT file another request for records.
The district spent $13,945 on attorney’s fees for KSAT Investigates' request for emails, texts, receipts, and the contract for the superintendent Jaime Aquino’s professional development coach -- the largest amount for any media request.
For a request to review Aquino’s performance evaluations, records show SAISD paid attorneys $4,985.
KSAT Investigates found San Antonio ISD spent millions of bond dollars on schools that the district closed this year. The district spent $1,527.50 on legal fees when we asked for a list of the bond projects and how much of the money was allocated to the now-shuttered schools.
After KSAT Investigates requested copies of communications between SAISD and AT&T over unpaid bills and a settlement amount, the district spent $2,567.50 on legal fees.
Earlier this month, transparency advocates raised questions about the district’s expenses.
“You would not think that there would be a ton of records that need to be sent to an outside hired attorney to look over and then send up to the attorney general’s office to rule on,” said Kelley Shannon, executive director of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas. “... it does raise a red flag when you see a lot of requests having to go to an outside attorney for review. It really defeats the point of the Public Information Act of getting information that is presumed open out to the public promptly."
Read more reporting on the KSAT Investigates page.
