Education Opportunities Committee Meeting - December 10, 2025
Education Opportunities Committee Meeting - December 10, 2025
The Education Opportunities Committee convened to review early childhood initiatives from the Departments of Human Services, Pre-K for SA, and the Public Library, followed by a strategic discussion on adopting a community resource mapping tool similar to Dallas ISD's model. The meeting featured detailed presentations on program metrics, enrollment demographics, and workforce development, alongside a contentious public comment regarding municipal election timing and its potential impact on school district funding.
Consent Calendar
- Approved the minutes of the previous meeting without corrections by unanimous motion.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Melina Espiritu Asocard (President, North Side AFT): Expressed strong concerns regarding the potential shift of municipal elections from May to November odd-numbered cycles. Argued that such a move could cause school district election costs to rise 20 to 40 percent, potentially diverting resources from classrooms. Stated that families are the primary decision-makers for school board elections and that isolation in city-ISD decision-making creates unintended challenges for public schools. Expressed full support for maintaining a steady, intentional collaboration between the city and public school districts to ensure student success.
Discussion Items
Early Childhood Program Briefings
- Human Services (Melody Woosley): Reported that 50 million in grant and general fund resources are focused on early childhood for Fiscal Year 2026. Noted that Head Start serves 3,300 children, making it the third largest program in the country. Highlighted that almost 40 percent of families in the service area receive SNAP benefits compared to 16 percent citywide. Expressed that 20 percent of currently enrolled children have identified disabilities, exceeding the 10 percent federal minimum. Stated that attendance improved from 92 percent in 2024 to 93 percent in 2025. Discussed the "Ready to Work" child care initiative, noting a 15 percent increase in co-enrollments but identifying barriers such as the requirement for parents to be on waitlists for long-term subsidies and a preference for home care.
- Pre-K for SA (Dr. Sarah Bray): Provided data showing the program serves 1,823 four-year-olds and 60 infants/toddlers, with 15 percent of children receiving therapy services. Stated that 18 percent of current enrollment is composed of military families. Presented findings from an early learning landscape study indicating that while 132,000 children under five exist in Bexar County, only 46 percent have child care seats available. Highlighted a critical shortage in infant care, where only 3 percent of openings are in quality-rated centers. Discussed partnerships with Educare at Texas A&M University to serve infants to age five, and plans for summer programming in 2027.
- Public Library (Dale McNeill): Outlined services provided by the 30 locations (including the Little Red Wagon mobile unit). Stated that the library provides free virtual homework help and weekly programs for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers focused on pre-literate activities. Emphasized that Little Red Wagon staff work entirely on early literacy, visiting neighborhoods and schools to provide books and parent education. Discussed the social isolation faced by parents and the library's role in connecting families. Noted the lack of a formal data triangulation system between library usage and pre-K/Head Start enrollment but pledged to include self-reporting questions in surveys.
Community Resource Explorer Tool (Dallas Model)
- Rebecca Flores (HDS): Presented the Dallas Community Resource Explorer, a tool developed by the Child Poverty Action Lab (CPAL) that maps positive and negative community assets within a two-mile radius of schools. Noted limitations including the cost of keeping data current, margin of error when pivot data to different geographies, and the inability to customize indices. Stated that the committee should consider aligning with Texas Education Agency (TEA) block group reporting requirements.
- Julia (Bexar County Education Coalition): Expressed support for adapting the model to include all school districts and county-level data. Suggested creating an interactive overlay for ArcGIS dashboards to visualize school locations alongside poverty and infrastructure data. Proposed using the tool for community engagement regarding bond measures.
- Councilmember Mungia: Expressed caution regarding external data management, stating a preference for in-house development to prevent data loss if external partners change or funding stops. Advocated for using existing city resources while seeking support from partners like the Urban Education Institute at UTSA.
- Councilmember Castillo: Expressed support for the data analysis but emphasized that the ultimate outcome must be equitable resource distribution. Stated that data alone is insufficient without a willingness to have tough budget conversations to direct more funding to underserved areas. Urged the inclusion of data on closed schools to highlight historical under-investment.
- Councilmember Corrao: Expressed concerns about housing the tool outside the city due to potential loss of data continuity. Expressed interest in seeing an internal refinement of existing city tools before committing to a new external model.
Key Outcomes
- Requests for Data: Council requested offline data delivery regarding trends in children born to teen mothers in Head Start (5-year data), homeless referrals sources, and third-grade meeting scores specifically for Edgewood ISD Head Start students compared to non-Head Start controls.
- Data Sharing: Council requested that the Library Department provide breakdowns of usage metrics by council district and library branch to identify geographic disparities. Councilmember Mungia requested a current map of child care deserts from Pre-K for SA.
- Program Expansion: Pre-K for SA confirmed plans to launch a center at Texas A&M University (Educare) in summer 2026, pilot summer programming for preschoolers in 2027, and pursue a ballot authorization for re-extension in 2028.
- Next Steps: The committee agreed to review internal city data tools in February 2026 to determine whether to refine existing resources or pursue an external partnership for a community resource mapping initiative. Staff will investigate opportunities to formalize partnerships with non-city Head Start providers to increase awareness of city services like the Green and Healthy Homes initiative.
- Timeline Adjustment: The meeting concluded at 11:50 a.m., with several items noted for follow-up discussion in future meetings.
Meeting Transcript
All right. The time is now 10.02 a.m. on this Wednesday, December 10th, 2025. We will now call this meeting of the Education Opportunities Committee to order. Madam Clerk, will you please call the roll? Councilmember Corr. Councilmember Maki Rodriguez. Councilmember Mungia. Present. Councilmember Castillo. Chair Galvan. Here. Sir, we have a quorum. Thank you so much. First item on the agenda is approval of minutes. Are there any corrections to the minutes? If not, can I get a motion to uh second or motion and a second to approve the minutes? Motion to approve. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed. Any abstains? Moving on. Motion carries. We also have public comment. We have one speaker signed up. Melina Espiritu Asocard on item three. You have three minutes to speak. Yes. You go right into it, Councilman. Good morning, Chairman Galvan, Councilwoman Castillo, Councilwoman, Councilman McKee Rodriguez. My name is Melina Spirituasucon, and I'm the proud president of North Side AFT, the union representing the working people who keep Northside ISD running every day. Thank you for your continued willingness to discuss how sit this uh the city and our public schools can work together. I especially want to acknowledge Councilman Kis Councilwoman Castillo and Councilman Galvan for always making sure working people have a seat at the table. At this as this committee meets today, I want to center us on its purpose. This committee exists to improve student outcomes, expand economic mobility, strengthen community success. It should bring together leaders, educators, and residents to strategize on access to high quality education from pre-K through post-secondary pathways. It is also the space where you all confront the root uh factors that shape student success, including housing, health care, transportation, and workforce readiness. We uh talk about educational opportunity. We are when we talk about well-being of San Antonio as a whole, we speak about all of those things. Because of that, it's important to remember that most San Antonio families send their children to our traditional public schools. Our local ISDs are essential to the city's economic health and to the daily lives of families. That's why collaboration with public schools districts must remain steady and intentional. When decisions are made about us without us, the real um impact on students and educators can easily be missed. Today you will hear about the strong work happening in our early learning programs and through pre-K for SA. As you review that progress, I ask that you keep in mind how interconnected our systems are. Even decisions that may seem procedural can create significant ripple effects for students in public schools. There is one example I want to lift briefly because it relates to that to interconnectness. There has been growing discussion about shifting municipal elections from May to November odd numbered cycles. When while I understand the interest in improving civic engagement, a move like that would have real consequences for local ISDs.
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