At the 13 schools closing for good over the summer as part of San Antonio Independent School District’s effort to downsize amid falling enrollment, end-of-the-year ceremonies held an extra layer of meaning for current students, former students and educators.
The festivities occur under the cloud of another possible round of closures in the coming years at the recommendation of a committee that investigated HVAC failures earlier this year.
At Dorie Miller Elementary School last week, current students, alumni, teachers and families walked through the hallways — which were already lined with bright orange crates filled with books and classroom materials, ready to be shipped to other campuses.
“One of my favorite memories in these halls was singing up on that stage,” said Lyle Foster, who attended the school from 1971 through 1975 and recalls performing in the school’s cafeteria as part of a music class.
He was joined by Curtis Braziel, who 20 years ago painted ocean-themed murals throughout the school, which was named for Dorie Miller, a U.S. Navy sailor who was the first Black recipient of the Navy Cross and a nominee for the Medal of Honor. The murals were touched up just last year.
Closing the chapter
Earlier in the evening, in keeping with that theme, one of the school’s current students, Brielle Sustaita, lit a candle inside a glass case, a metaphor for what the school has been for the Eastside community since 1952.
“Over the years one of the symbols that has been a part of the Miller heritage is the lighthouse,” she said. “The lighthouse has always been a beacon, a light in the darkness, a way to find our way home. Tonight, we are lighting this candle to represent the beacon of hope Miller Elementary has always strived to be to our community and beyond.”
As children ran around, laughing and catching up with old teachers and friends, teachers accepted commemorative awards for years of service, and former administrators talked about their time leading the district.
Some teachers, like Tondra Williams, spent their whole education careers at the school.
Sitting under a metal plaque marking the year the school was built, Williams looked over at a balloon arch erected at the entrance.
“It really is like leaving home,” she said.
Williams taught special education, kindergarten, first grade and third grade for more than 20 years at the school.
Other teachers started their education journeys at the school much more recently.
The sentiment of the room was captured succinctly by Aubrey Cabrera, a third-grader who said she was “both happy and sad” about the closure of the campus.
Different locations on the campus sparked memories for attendees.
For Andrea Guzman, the library was her favorite place when she walked the school’s halls in the mid-2000s. Now the Texas A&M University-San Antonio graduate hopes to enter the district as a teacher. She said her own passion for education was inspired by the teachers she had while attending the school in 2005.
One of those elementary-school teachers later joined the faculty at TAMU-SA, becoming her teacher for a second time, she said.
“It was such a surprise to know that my kindergarten teacher went from Mrs. Guerra to Dr. Guerra,” she said. “That was another form of encouragement.”
The news of school closures came as a jolt, she said.
“It was heartbreaking, because as a student myself on the path to become an educator, I wanted to experience my first year somewhere familiar, either Dorie Miller, or the campus where I was doing my clinical teaching,” she said.
Community emotion
Some community members are still upset about the closure.
Joan Kearl, a volunteer for the local Rotary club that has provided playground equipment for the school for years, said the school closing is a loss.
“This is a magical place because it really is a community,” she said. “When you look at what the districts are doing in terms of putting more kids in a building, … you lose a lot of that.”
SAISD Trustee Sarah Sorensen, who voted against the first round of school closures, said the impacts of these closures won’t be fully apparent until later into the next school year. And as the district is considering another closure round, she urged caution.
“We have to figure out what the lessons are … from this first round before we move ahead with other closures,” she said. “We shouldn’t be rushing to do anything.”
But after a meltdown of the district HVAC system last winter, a more robust facilities assessment is needed, Sorensen said. Such a review would add additional transparency for parents and community members to understand decisions that need to be made, she added.
Another, similar celebration was held Tuesday at the Gonzales Early Childhood Center in Tobin Hill, which gathered parents and families for a final “graduation ceremony” complete with miniature blue caps for graduating kindergarten students.
In a sign of the sensitivity about the past and coming campus closures, the campus principal closed the event to the media after members of the media had arrived at the event.
Front office staff, who were checking in smiling parents, said it was a sad but important day before a reporter was asked to leave. Media was initially invited to the event through a district newsletter.
After the event, parent Melissa Lomas, who was loading 5-year-old Asher into the car, said the event was “bittersweet.”
She said she is sticking with the district next year, but concerns over another round of closures are also making the family consider their options.
“Obviously, we want stability for his education,” she said. “It … makes me worried for first or second grade, if I am going to have to move him again.”
Back at Miller Elementary, as some teachers wiped tears from their eyes, Miller student Sustaita walked back to the “lighthouse,” took out the candle, and snuffed it out — ceremonially ending the Miller legacy after 72 years.
Williams said the legacy is not entirely lost.
“We had to blow it out at the end, and then we just got to carry that light with us,” she said. “There are some amazing things going on in this community that we don’t always see, but … if you walk in and you see what’s going on … you see that there’s a lot of light here.”
San Antonio Report photojournalists Bria Woods and Scott Ball contributed to this report.
Disclosure: Rhonda Parramore, Dorie Miller Elementary School class of 1968, is the mother of photojournalist Bria Woods.
