SAN ANTONIO – San Antonio Independent School District (SAISD) Superintendent Jaime Aquino will retire early next year after 40 years in public education, he announced Friday.
In a news release, the district said that Aquino will officially leave the post in January 2027.
“This was not an easy decision,” Aquino said in the release. “I look forward to spending more time with my family, whom I have, for many years, unintentionally placed second to the demands of this work.”
Aquino became the district’s superintendent in May 2022.
According to Aquino’s online SAISD bio, he developed a six-year sustainability plan that the district anticipates will eliminate the multimillion-dollar budget deficit accumulated over decades.
“This is not goodbye,” Aquino said in the release. “Between now and January, I will continue to work tirelessly to ensure that we keep building schools where our students can dream boldly and pursue those dreams without limits.”
In a Facebook post, Aquino said he was “eternally thankful” for the opportunity to serve as a mentor to thousands of students.
“While I never had children of my own, I will be eternally thankful to the (SAISD) Board of Trustees for giving me the extraordinary gift of fatherhood — allowing me to be a father and grandfather to more than 40,000 students,” Aquino said.
Aquino has been the subject of multiple KSAT Investigates stories in recent years.
A January 2024 KSAT investigation revealed, under Aquino’s watch, the district spent more than $9 million from its 2020 bond at campuses that were scheduled to shut down.
Two months later, KSAT Investigates learned how misinformation from the district and inadequate heating during winter weather in January 2024 contributed to dozens of schools to close down for multiple days.
Records previously obtained showed that he took 22 trips in less than two years. Total cost: $21,000.
The district also spent nearly $500,000 on a single expense: a consultant. Tens of thousands were also spent on attorneys to review media records requests while SAISD was strapped for cash.
The SAISD’s Board of Trustees will announce the next steps in the search for its next superintendent in the coming weeks, according to a district news release.
More recent SAISD coverage on KSAT:
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