Teachers tell South San Antonio ISD board new paperwork, loss of planning time harm instruction

Three educators and a union representative urged the South San Antonio Independent School District Board of Trustees on Aug. 18 to reverse recent changes they say have lengthened the teacher workday, removed guaranteed planning time and created excessive lesson-plan paperwork.

Tom Cummins, representing South San AFT, said many teachers have been denied 45 minutes of daily planning and preparation guaranteed by state law and board policy DL(Legal). “These 45 minutes are a critical time,” Cummins told trustees, and he said administrators are using intimidation to require teachers to give up that time. Cummins asked whether the district will comply with law and policy and warned that the issue may need TEA review, citing a past case he identified as Alicia Gonzales versus Hausen ISD.

Cecilia Gonzalez, a dual-language kindergarten teacher at Benavides Elementary speaking on behalf of South San AFT, said the extended workday, added paperwork and loss of planning time are “already taking a painful toll on teachers.” She said teachers are “leaving work in tears” and that the district’s extended-day practices make it impossible to “properly review student work, analyze data, or communicate with parents.”

Valerie Rios, a sixth-grade science teacher at Zamora Middle School and an AFT member, said multiple requirements are based on outdated data and that the district’s adopted rubric now requires “extensively written lesson plans” that conflict with Texas Education Code limits on required teacher documentation. Rios said preparing the new materials can take an entire workday for a single week of lessons and that many teachers have been pressured to give up conference periods to meet the new requirements. She also said the contract day has been extended from eight hours to eight-and-a-half hours, with some staff doing additional unpaid morning duty.

Board response and process: Board President Raymond Tijerina and trustees did not take action during the public-comment period; the trustees and district staff noted that the board may refer matters presented during citizens-to-be-heard to the appropriate department for staff review. The board’s policy and law cited by speakers (DL and DLB legal references cited during comments) remain the governing standards for required teacher planning time and lesson-plan obligations.

What was requested: Speakers asked the board to enforce existing law and policy, to stop redundant paperwork demands, to restore teachers’ planning time for professional use and to return the contract day to prior hours. The speakers said they would provide supporting documents to the district following their remarks.

Next steps: The board may refer the concerns to the superintendent and staff for review; public-comment speakers were told the board cannot take formal action on items not on the agenda during the citizens-to-be-heard portion but can refer them to staff for follow-up.