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Alamo Heights ISD leaders flag federal grant shortfalls, cite stark Title funding gap with nearby district

Alamo Heights ISD Board of Trustees ยท December 18, 2025
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Summary

District finance staff told the school board that federal grants for Alamo Heights ISD are far smaller than a nearby Bexar County district's allocations, limiting programs from Title I interventions to career and technical education; the board said it will pursue competitive grants and continue local budgeting to protect services.

Alamo Heights ISD district staff told the board Wednesday that federal grant dollars for the district trail a nearby Bexar County district by wide margins, leaving local leaders to stretch limited funds across student interventions and career-technical programs.

"We sent back $23,000,000," the presenter said while summarizing fiscal pressures and compliance burdens attached to federal grants. The presenter framed the gap by listing several federal grant awards: "Title I ... we get $371,000. Our neighboring school district gets $2,400,000," and "Title II ... we have $100,000. They have $309,000." (Unidentified Staff, Speaker 9).

Why it matters: grant formulas use measures such as the share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, which staff said reduces funding for Alamo Heights despite local needs. The presenter argued that federal funds carry strict spending rules and rising compliance demands that create planning uncertainty.

The presentation listed how the district currently uses federal grants: Title I funds support targeted math and reading interventions (primarily to offset interventionist salaries), Title II pays for professional development and some consultant fees, Title III funds emerge bilingual instruction and tutoring, and Title IV supports safety programs including counseling and a suicide-prevention service the district calls MindWise.

The presenter also highlighted recent competitive success and ongoing applications. He said the district won a grant from the San Antonio Charity Ball to help equip career-technical programs and that two competitive grant applications submitted this year will be announced in February. "We wrote for this year. We'll find out in February if they were awarded," he said (Unidentified Staff, Speaker 9).

Public comment during citizens-to-be-heard connected to the presentation. A parent and teacher who identified no formal title in the transcript urged the board to continue supporting teachers in the face of recent state legislation, saying such laws "are putting school districts, school board, administrators, and teachers in impossible positions" and citing a statute referenced in the comment as "SB 12." The commenter urged the board to keep supporting administrators and teachers rather than ceding to outside organizations (Unidentified Speaker, public comment).

Next steps: board members discussed pursuing grants more aggressively and noted the need to forecast federal revenues despite uncertainty from shifting federal agencies and compliance requirements.

Ending: The district will bring follow-up details to the board as awards are announced and staff continue grant-seeking efforts.