Alejandro Guerrero Jr., a 16-year-old high school junior, remembers attending Carroll Bell Elementary before it closed.<\/p>\n
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\u201cNow that I\u2019m back here, it brings back a lot of memories,\u201d he said. \u201cSeeing these classrooms, and everything, walking the halls.\u201d<\/p>\n
Three years ago, the Harlandale Independent School District board voted to close Guerrero\u2019s former elementary school.<\/a> But now, the campus that once taught\u00a0Guerrero as a young student welcomes him back as a high schooler.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Under a new vision and name, the Carroll Bell Education Center operates as a hands-on training campus that prepares students interested in trade or technical careers. In Guerrero\u2019s case, that means taking courses in his former elementary classroom-turned-computer lab to get certified in information technology.<\/p>\n The Express-News\u2019 coverage of innovation in schools receives financial support from City Education Partners, a nonprofit that works to improve educational opportunities and student outcomes across San Antonio. The Express-News retains complete editorial control over articles produced through this partnership.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s something I never thought would happen,\u201d Guerrero said. \u201cEveryone\u2019s grown in this little school.\u201d<\/p>\n Across San Antonio, school boards have voted to close 37 campuses since 2023 as districts face budget deficits<\/a> driven by declining enrollment<\/a> and largely stagnant state funding<\/a> that has not kept pace with inflation. Unlike Carroll Bell, many of the shuttered schools still sit vacant.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Districts have either partnered with outside organizations or internally repurposed about a dozen schools for new educational uses. Others sit in limbo<\/a> as school systems try to find takers for large spaces that often come with a long list of deferred maintenance tasks. Usually, districts bank on the savings of no longer having to operate a school<\/a>, rather than on profits from selling or leasing them, two tasks that have proven difficult across the city.<\/p>\n Public schools\u2019 financial woes and the broader effect of school closures on surrounding neighborhoods have prompted local leaders to ask whether they can help school systems and what that support might look like.<\/p>\n \u201cI certainly don\u2019t want to see another school close,\u201d Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones said. \u201cI also, of course, recognize the very difficult fiscal challenges of the school district and the community.\u201d<\/p>\n The mayor believes some districts could partner with the city to repurpose former schools as affordable housing or early education spaces. Jones believes investing in preschool and early childhood learning could bolster the local economy<\/a> by giving families a place to send their kids while they work and providing children access to quality learning at a young age<\/a>.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cI think this has to be a top priority for city leaders,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Junior Joshua Vazquez welds pieces together to make a shelf at Harlandale ISD’s Carroll Bell Education Center on May 22, 2026.<\/p>\n Blaine Young\/Contributor Junior Eloy Pe\u00f1a cuts hair during barbering class at Harlandale ISD’s Carroll Bell Education Center on May 22, 2026.<\/p>\n Blaine Young\/Contributor (From left) Juniors Joshua Vazquez and Yaretzi Quintero and sophomore Carlos Quiroz discuss the shelf they’re welding at Harlandale ISD’s Carroll Bell Education Center on May 22, 2026.<\/p>\n Blaine Young\/Contributor<\/p>\n Intertwined futures<\/p>\n San Antonio ISD, the area\u2019s oldest district, encompasses the city\u2019s urban core and serves just over 40,000 students\u00a0\u2014 a number that has\u00a0declined for the past two decades.<\/a><\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cOne of our challenges is our small footprint,\u201d said Patti Salzmann, San Antonio ISD\u2019s deputy superintendent, who spearheaded the district\u2019s rightsizing plan to shutter 15 schools in 2023.<\/a><\/p>\n Alumni and community members attend a \u201cLast Look\u201d celebration at Esther Perez Carvajal Elementary on May 13, 2026. The SAISD school is closing its doors after 77 years.<\/p>\n Isaiah Moseley\/Contributor<\/p>\n Some campuses are more than 100 years old, and many SAISD schools are in disrepair or too small to house the ideal number of students<\/a>. Operating older facilities can be costly.\u00a0<\/p>\n Since closing 15 schools in the past three years, district leaders have repurposed four shuttered campuses to house smaller academic programs. The remaining closed campuses remain in limbo\u00a0\u2014 not sold or actively leased.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n SAISD has sorted its vacant properties into several categories based on each one\u2019s expected future use. The district has kept some schools as temporary swing spaces to educate students while their home campuses undergo renovations. It has given a special designation to three other buildings\u00a0for their historical significance and is hoping to find partners that will find a new use for them that honors that history.<\/p>\n In some cases, SAISD has listed properties for sale because district leaders believe they are unlikely to become school sites again. Other sites are available through a bidding process that allows outside organizations to submit plans to lease or purchase buildings.<\/p>\n District leaders consider several factors before closing a school, including how many nearby campuses can take on those students, academic proficiency, enrollment and whether specific programs are offered elsewhere across the city, Salzmann said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n She\u2019s hoping for more collaboration with local leaders around the closed and vacant schools, noting that the San Antonio Housing Trust is taking a preliminary look at several campuses that could be potentially be repurposed for residential use.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the things that we talked to the city and county about is our desire to be more collaborative with them around the livelihood of the district,\u201d Salzmann said. \u201cWe see our futures as intertwined.\u201d<\/p>\n Prior to closing more than a dozen campuses in 2023, SAISD held town halls for community members to gather feedback and present updates on the process. Before voters elected her to City Council, West Side representative\u00a0Teri Castillo attended some of those meetings.<\/p>\n \u201cThrough school closures, we\u2019re seeing so much divestment in our community,\u201d Castillo said. \u201cWhen someone\u2019s looking to buy and or sell a house, folks are looking for a school, so the closures impact so much more, and it\u2019s just very infuriating.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The SAISD board voted<\/a>\u00a0to close two more schools<\/a> in her district ahead of the coming school year. She hopes the board will take action soon in finding suitors for the shuttered schools.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m eager for there to be action, but I am understanding of the financial situation in which the ISD is in,\u201d Castillo said noting the district\u2019s budget deficit<\/a>, difficulty of selling a school and the limited architectural uses a school presents. \u201cI\u2019m hopeful that they will continue to be willing partners with\u00a0nonprofits to conduct more community hubs, resiliency centers, and or accessible housing.\u201d<\/p>\n Alumni of Carvajal Elementary flip through old yearbooks on May 13, 2026, in San Antonio. The SAISD school closed at the end of the school year, leaving many community members devastated.<\/p>\n Isaiah Moseley\/Contributor<\/p>\n A national issue<\/p>\n Campuses often sit idle for several years after they close as schools.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Ray Hart, the Council of Great City Schools’ executive director, noted that San Antonio is not alone in dealing with the challenge. His organization is a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that partners with urban districts across the country to offer resources and consulting advice.<\/p>\n \u201cThe need to right-size the footprint of the district, as well as understanding staffing changes needed to occur, is something that\u2019s happening to all of our districts,\u201d Hart said.<\/p>\n Though Bexar County school systems face some unique local challenges, campus closures are happening across the country.<\/a> They disproportionately harm minority students, Ariel Bierbaum, an urban studies and planning professor at the University of Maryland, said.<\/p>\n The typical\u00a0reasons to close a campus, including low test scores, underused buildings in disrepair and inadequate funding to keep campuses open, often show up in communities with higher rates of poverty, Bierbaum said.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n In her research, she has often seen districts create plans to\u00a0repurpose a school before deciding to close it, or partner with the city to reuse a site. The latter keeps the building in public use, which\u00a0Bierbaum called a best practice.<\/p>\n \u201cEven if that public interest is no longer as a school,\u00a0there are ways to still think about those school buildings as really important public infrastructure, and there are risks when we sell those off into the private market,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n The public may have less access or accountability for the buildings that were built to serve them. Districts also may struggle to sell a school because the buildings often serve a narrow architectural purpose, she said.<\/p>\n Signs of abandonment at the the more than 100-year-old Frederick Douglass Elementary School, left and top right, and an overgrown soccer field at Mary Huppertz Elementary School. Both San Antonio Schools closed in 2024 under SAISD rightsizing plans.<\/p>\n Sam Owens\/San Antonio Express-News<\/p>\n New life<\/p>\n In some of the city\u2019s smaller districts, closed down schools now have new public purposes, either within their school systems or serving surrounding communities.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n South San Antonio ISD<\/a> has closed four schools over the past several years. Palo Alto College uses the gym at what was Kazen Middle School; the former West Campus High School now houses the district\u2019s administrative staff, and the school system plans to keep Kindred Elementary within the district because it sits next to South San Antonio High School, spokesperson Alexis LaFosse said.<\/p>\n What used to be Athens Elementary is being converted<\/a> into a community service hub offering medical and social services, such as food, counseling and clothing, to the area\u2019s residents.\u00a0<\/p>\n Former City Councilwoman Adriana Rocha Garcia<\/a>, CEO of the Center for Health Empowerment in South Texas, is spearheading the project and hopes to open the center at the end of the summer.<\/p>\n Including Caroll Bell, Harlandale ISD has converted three of its four shut-down schools for new purposes in the district. What was Morrill Elementary is now a family engagement and student support services center. The former Rayburn Elementary now houses the district\u2019s police department.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The district also converted a facility that once served students with disabilities into a makerspace, where students can do arts and crafts and other hands-on learning\u00a0activities.<\/p>\n Matthew Chairez, 5, center, asks STEM teacher Sam De La Rosa, not pictured, a question as other summer campers raise their hands at Harlandale ISD\u2019s Jewel C. Wietzel Makerspace in San Antonio on Tuesday, June 23, 2026.<\/p>\n Sam Owens\/San Antonio Express-News Harlandale ISD\u2019s Jewel C. Wietzel Makerspace provides space for children to tinker, create and build using a variety of equipment.<\/p>\n Sam Owens\/San Antonio Express-News STEM teacher Tobie Saiz, center, helps Sebastian Ortiz-Trevenio, 10, left, and Markus Alejos, 9, build moving claw machines out of LEGO bricks during a STEM summer camp at Harlandale ISD\u2019s Jewel C. Wietzel Makerspace in San Antonio on Tuesday, June 23, 2026.<\/p>\n Sam Owens\/San Antonio Express-News Jacob Reyna, 5, plays a game on a virtual reality headset during a STEM summer camp at Harlandale ISD\u2019s Jewel C. Wietzel Makerspace in San Antonio on Tuesday, June 23, 2026.<\/p>\n Sam Owens\/San Antonio Express-News STEM summer campers make handmade helicopters during an engineering activity at Harlandale ISD\u2019s Jewel C. Wietzel Makerspace in San Antonio on Tuesday, June 23, 2026.<\/p>\n Sam Owens\/San Antonio Express-News The SAWS Hydrocore room inside Harlandale ISD\u2019s Jewel C. Wietzel Makerspace will open to children in August. The makerspace has partnered with local companies, including the DoSeum, Toyota and JCB, that helped renovate former classrooms into STEM labs for children visiting the facility.<\/p>\n Sam Owens\/San Antonio Express-News<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re providing a space of enrichment of learning and transformation within these two arenas, and I think the community was on board,\u201d said Meghan Guerrero, who oversees the district\u2019s career and technical education and science and technology programs.\u00a0<\/p>\n Daniel Pe\u00f1a teaches information technology and cybersecurity to students\u00a0\u2014 including Guerrero\u00a0\u2014 at Caroll Bell. He\u2019s been with the district for five years and moved from Harlandale High School to take on a new role at the trades-focused campus.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Pe\u00f1a said that converting the former elementary school has fostered an environment\u00a0where\u00a0students seem more focused on learning. He enjoys teaching more than he used to.<\/p>\n \u201cSchool closures kind of seem rough a little bit,\u201d Pe\u00f1a said. \u201cBut then I think it could bring other opportunities for our students, because we didn\u2019t have welding, we didn\u2019t have electrical, plumbing, HVAC, barbering, dental, and when they shut down the school, we repurposed it and brought those programs back.\u201d<\/p>\n Suburban schools and forecasting<\/p>\n Closures initially affected San Antonio\u2019s inner city districts most acutely after the pandemic, and by the end of the last school year, more than 25 campuses\u00a0closed across four urban, high-poverty districts. But in recent years, school systems in Bexar County\u2019s sprawling outskirts and beyond city limits have also shuttered campuses.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n In 2024, Judson ISD trustees voted to close Coronado Village Elementary<\/a>. The district, located in northeast Bexar County across several suburban communities, voted to close four more campuses this school year.<\/a><\/p>\n Southwest ISD, located on the city\u2019s outer Southwest Side and stretching to remote areas beyond city limits, also opted to close an elementary school<\/a> in November 2025.<\/p>\n Northside\u00a0and North East ISDs, the city\u2019s two largest school systems, have historically had to plan for\u00a0population growth in new developments.\u00a0<\/p>\n Both districts have also benefited from higher property values<\/a> in their boundaries, which, in addition to the number of students in class each day, plays into how much funding a school system receives. Yet the looming possibility<\/a> of future closures has hung over those districts, too.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n North East ISD, which enrolls about 55,000 students, shuttered three schools in 2025<\/a>, and this year, Northside ISD began discussing the possibility of consolidating campuses in the coming years<\/a>.\u00a0The district is currently studying how to \u201coptimize\u201d resources and may discuss closures at the end of this year.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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