SAN ANTONIO – The building is empty, but for the Gabrielson family, Lamar Elementary is filled with memories.
“It was everything,” said parent Neil Gabrielson. “It was a central part of our lives. The staff was extremely caring.”
Gabrielson’s daughters now attend a different school. Lamar Elementary is one of 15 schools shut down by San Antonio ISD at the end of the last school year as part of its rightsizing plan.
“We understand that the district is facing severe budget issues,” Gabrielson said. “And frankly, some management issues as well, probably.”
Rightsizing research trips to Denver, Cleveland
In a video shared by SAISD in November 2023, Superintendent Jaime Aquino explained how the decision to rightsize allows the district to take a closer look at its own resources.
“This inequity extended far beyond financial matters,” Aquino said.
KSAT reviewed hundreds of pages worth of airline receipts, hotel invoices, Uber receipts, emails and travel worksheets.
Records reveal Aquino visited districts across the country months before the announcement to research how those districts approached closing schools.
A schedule for a trip to Jeffco ISD in Denver shows a group from SAISD met with district leaders during a two-day site visit in April 2023.
The next month, records show Aquino visited Cleveland Metropolitan Public Schools for the same purpose.
22 trips in two years
The research visits are just two of 22 trips Aquino has taken since becoming SAISD’s superintendent in the fall of 2022, according to records.
Aquino submitted $22,447.89 worth of expenses to the district, according to a KSAT analysis of travel worksheets.
In total, he was out of town for 62.5 days attending trips and conferences on behalf of the district.
“How critical is it really for him to go to all of these conferences?” Gabrielson asked.
KSAT requested similar records from several area districts.
Northside ISD superintendent Dr. John Craft spent around $7,000 on travel between May 2022 through the end of July, according to records.
Judson ISD superintendent Dr. Milton Fields, III has spent just over $476 on travel expenses since becoming the head of the district in May 2023.
Melissa Vasquez, who lives in the San Antonio ISD district, is not happy with Aquino’s spending.
“It’s a load of crap,” she said. “It’s just not right.”
James Quintero, a policy director for the Texas Public Policy Foundation, is frustrated with the amount.
“As the old saying goes, a fish rots from the head down,” Quintero said. “And when you look at public school spending, it’s very clear that top administrators are leading the way when it comes to abuse of taxpayer practices.”
Quintero noted SAISD’s academic performance, which according to the 2024 STAAR test results, shows students are well below the state average for math, science, and reading.
“I would really question why the superintendent is gallivanting all around the nation when he’s got problems right in his own backyard,” Quintero said.
Travel included conferences in tropical destinations, celebrity speakers
Records show Aquino attended an education summit in Puerto Rico in 2022 for two days. In 2023, he flew from a retreat for Latino administrators and superintendents in Chicago to a two-day conference in New York City.
Month later, receipts show he traveled to San Diego for the Council of the Great City Schools 67th Fall Conference.
Among the speakers at the conference: politician Liz Cheney, actor John Leguizamo, and sports journalist Jemele Hill.
“I would want to know what he’s learned from it, and if he’s learned anything from it,” Vasquez said.
KSAT wants that answer, too, requesting to sit down with Aquino five times.
The district did not make him available.
“Well, and that’s unfortunately, what I’ve come to expect,” Gabrielson said.
Instead, the district provided a lengthy statement on behalf of Aquino, who defended the travel.
Aquino says most of the travel was part of being a member of the Holdsworth Center Superintendent Program, meant to help give first-year superintendents support, mentorship, and help to meet State Board for Educator Certification requirements.
In the records reviewed by KSAT, only three of the trips were tied to the Austin-based program: September 2022, October 2022, and in February 2023.
Aquino said some of the travel was paid for by organizations that invited him to be a panelist, judge or speaker.
The superintendent said he’s learned several things from his trips, included lessons on rightsizing, leadership, supporting multilingual learners, and supporting socio-emotional needs of students by reducing the number of out-of-school suspensions.
“It’s the overall idea that much money is being spent when we’re in these circumstances and without the accountability of knowing what the tangible benefit was for attendance to these conferences and these other trips,” Gabrielson said.
