D
Live Pilot · Bexar County, TX · First Complete GTB Grade

San Antonio Independent School District

Overall Grade D — Academic D · Finance D · Community F

44,635
Students
7
Board Trustees
$1.2B
Bond Debt
~80%
Econ. Disadvantaged
Overall Scorecard

Three grades. One verdict.

SAISD · Grade the Board Scorecard
Data: 2019–2025 · Last updated 2025
Academics · 50% weight
STAAR Math + Reading vs. Peers
D
Score 38 · 17th peer percentile · Flat 5-yr trend
Finance · 25% weight
Debt per Student + Spending Efficiency
D
Score 49 · $26,900/student · Debt cap triggered
Community · 25% weight
Independence Score — Campaign Finance
F
4 of 6 trustees graded F · 80% from $1k+ donors
D
Overall Grade
Academic D at 50% weight anchors the overall. The Community F pulls down; no single dimension offsets the pattern of below-average outcomes, structural debt, and institutional financial dependence.
D
Academic Grade — Score 38 — 50% of overall
SAISD students score at the 17th percentile among peer districts on combined Math and Reading STAAR performance. The 5-year trend is essentially flat — no meaningful improvement since 2019, with post-COVID levels matching pre-COVID baselines.

5-Year STAAR Trend — Meets Grade Level %

SAISD — Math + Reading Combined Meets Grade Level Rate · 2019–2024

Peer Group Comparison

Peer group: large urban Texas districts with 75%+ economically disadvantaged enrollment.

Combined Math + Reading Meets Grade Level % — vs. Peer Group
Score Calculation: Performance score 32 (×0.40) + Trend score 42 (×0.60) = Academic Score 38. SAISD sits at the 17th peer percentile for current performance and the trend score reflects minimal improvement over 5 years. COVID year (2020–21) excluded from trend.
D
Finance Grade — Score 49 — 25% of overall
SAISD carries approximately $1.2 billion in outstanding bond debt across 44,635 students — roughly $26,900 per student. This exceeds the GTB $20,000 absolute cap, triggering a maximum Finance Grade of D regardless of peer percentile rank.
Debt per Student
$26,900
Total bond debt ~$1.2B ÷ 44,635 students. Sits at the 71st peer percentile — meaning SAISD carries more debt per student than 71% of its peers. Exceeds the GTB $20,000 cap → grade capped at D.
Spending Efficiency (3-yr avg)
1.078
SAISD's 3-year average instructional spending ratio of 1.078 sits +0.70 standard deviations above the peer median — meaning it directs a relatively high share of its budget to instruction. Spending score: 76 (×0.30).
Debt Cap Applied: Raw composite score would be 50. Because SAISD's debt per student ($26,900) exceeds the GTB $20,000 absolute cap, the Finance Grade is capped at a maximum of D (score 49). Notable: SAISD passed a $1.3B bond in 2020 — the largest in city history. A 2023 audit found $9M spent on campuses that were later closed.

Debt per Student vs. Peer Group

F
Community Grade — Score F — 25% of overall
4 of 6 graded trustees scored an F on the Independence Score. Across all graded trustees, 80.3% of combined campaign funding came from donors giving $1,000 or more — and just 4.5% from donors giving $100 or less.
Where the Board's Money Came From
Combined campaign fundraising — all 5 graded trustees · 2023 & 2025 elections
4.5%
80.3%
≤$100 donors · $3,475 (4.5%)
$101–$999 donors · $11,737 (15.2%)
≥$1,000 donors · $61,944 (80.3%)

Individual Trustee Independence Scores

F
Christina Martinez
District 6 · 2023 Election · Score 3
Total raised$28,322
From ≥$1,000 donors$26,052 · 92.0%
From ≤$100 donors$370 · 1.3%
Largest donorSA Kids First PAC — $22,552
92% from large donors. SA Kids First PAC alone provided 79.6% of total campaign funds — the single highest PAC concentration on the board.
F
Alicia Sebastian
District 2 · 2023 Election · Score 3
Total raised$13,695
From ≥$1,000 donors$12,000 · 87.6%
From ≤$100 donors$495 · 3.6%
Largest donorSA Kids First PAC — $10,000
87.6% from large donors including $2,500 from a New York City organization (Leadership for Educational Equality). SA Kids First PAC: 73% of total funds.
F
Mike Villarreal
District 1 · 2025 Election · Score 3
Total raised$19,891
From ≥$1,000 donors$13,891 · 69.8%
From ≤$100 donors$1,400 · 7.0%
Largest donorSA Kids First PAC — $10,891
69.8% from large donors across 34 contributors. SA Kids First PAC is again the single largest funder at 54.8% of total raised.
F
Jacob Ramos
District 3 · 2025 Election · Score 3
Total raised$13,110
From ≥$1,000 donors$10,000 · 76.3%
From ≤$100 donors$1,210 · 9.2%
Largest donorHumberto Melendez — $6,000
76.3% from large donors. Two donors — a single individual ($6,000) and the San Antonio Alliance teachers union ($4,000) — account for 76% of all funds.
A
Stephanie Torres
District 5 · 2023 Election · Score 1
Total raised$2,138 (all unitemized)
From ≤ reporting threshold100% · all small donors
Large donors (≥$1,000)None
In-kind support$1,073 from community volunteers
Every dollar raised was below the itemization threshold. In-kind contributions came from SAISD teachers and community members. The only board member with a genuine grassroots funding base — and she won.
N/A
Arthur Valdez
District 4 · 2025 Unopposed · No Contributions
Total raised (2025)$0
StatusRan unopposed — no campaign
Carryover balance$3,412 from prior cycle
Cannot be scored — no contributions to analyze. Marked N/A and excluded from the board-level aggregate. The absence of large donors is a favorable signal, but insufficient for a formal Independence Score.
—
Ed Garza
District 7 · Report Not Available
StatusReport not yet retrieved
Last contested race2021 (est.)
Most recent campaign finance report not yet analyzed. Grade pending. Garza has served since 2013. We will update this card when the report is retrieved.
SA Kids First PAC (4007 McCullough Ave, San Antonio · Treasurer: Sarah Harte) contributed $43,443 across three trustees — Martinez ($22,552), Villarreal ($10,891), and Sebastian ($10,000). This single PAC provided more than 56% of those three trustees' combined campaign funding.
Data & Sources

Every number, cited.

Read the Full Methodology →
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