Immigration fears lead to decreased Texas school enrollment

SAN ANTONIO — This school year, students at South San Antonio Independent School District are missing some of their classmates.

Superintendent Saul Hinojosa says the district lost 400 students from last school year to the new one — four times what he says the average would be.

School districts can’t track exactly why families unenroll their students, but Hinojosa says some families have been open with staff.

“I’m not going to say it’s all due to immigration,” Hinojosa said. “But we do have some data that some parents have informed us that they’ve gone back to their native country.”

Hinojosa said current immigration enforcement policies are impacting their district community emotionally and financially, saying a decrease of 400 students equates to about $3 million lost.

To help district families, South San Antonio ISD hosts frequent community meetings.

“We have what we call ‘cafecitos’ which are town hall meetings on a monthly basis,” Hinojosa said. “We try to offer our support to our families.”