On the record is brought to you by Steve and Adele Dufilho San Antonio is a fast growing, fast moving city with something new happening every day.

That's why each week we go on the record with Randy Beamer and the newsmakers who are driving this change.

Then we gather at the reporters roundtable to talk about the latest news stories with the journalist behind those stories.

Join us now as we go on the record with Randy Beamer.

Hi, everybody, and thank you for joining us for this edition of On the Record.

I'm Randy Beamer, and this week we are starting with the maybe the biggest story in San Antonio.

We have had this week brings up a lot of other issues.

And that is a disappearance right now of a mother from Almost Park and the arrest of her husband on family violence charges, unlawful restraint and gun charges.

And it brings up the whole issue of family violence.

What we all can do when we know anything about something like this going on.

Joining us, Marta Playas, who is president and CEO of Family Violence Prevention, serve us.

Thank you very much.

Thank you for coming.

When you heard about this story, well, just initially, what's your reaction to this kind of thing?

It is unfortunate, but at this point, after 26 years, I have been working in the field.

I, I predict, correctly, every time that the news has something like this.

And we want to say that right now, he is the husband Brad Simpson is only charged with.

He has not been convicted.

But there are a lot of, we're learning now.

There are a lot of things that other people knew, at least right before this, including, a neighbor who saw something that night.

I have to say that that is so disconcerting.

I mean, there are so many questions in my mind and people's minds.

We all have a level of responsible ability when these things happen.

This is this is our family.

This is our community.

So we see something, so abrupt and so potentially serious as what has been described.

I want to think that we all understand that we need to grab the phone and make the police phone call.

And then this case, there are screams reported an altercation that was seen.

But is this some.

I don't want to say somewhat, but it does happen in other domestic violence cases here in San Antonio.

People don't want to get involved.

Absolutely.

So, I, I get involved every time that I see something that shouldn't be, it looks like aggression towards a child.

Or I see the the male partner yelling and mistreating.

I, I go and I talk to her and I say something like, you don't have to be disrespected like this.

There resources out there.

And people have warned me, don't don't get involved.

I can't not get involved.

And perhaps we should all think twice about having an attitude of noninvolvement.

And in this case, apparently it was at the most dangerous time because she had, according to her mother, called her mother, told her about abuse, and her mother was going to put in place a plan where she would stay with her.

That is the most dangerous time, right?

When there is become an altercation?

Yes, probably she was considering.

And I'm going to talk about generally, since there's so many gaps in what we know about this specific case, but, the most dangerous time, the one that offers the highest risk for, for lethality, is when the victim is getting ready to leave.

The perpetrator will not have it.

The perpetrator.

There is always a self-esteem issue on the part of the perpetrator.

And that self-esteem will not allow that individual to be threatened with her departure.

He has invested time, emotion, maybe financially as well, to appropriate that person.

And that is his property.

And it's not.

And now she she wants to leave.

He will not have it.

And it's not just, in a high profile couple like this.

Almost park, you know, high, high income.

That is not the case.

The self-esteem issue is, is across.

The board.

It's it's across the board.

I mean, these are these are, individuals who may have been raised in a domestic violence, situation, may have suffered, horrific trauma.

Including child abuse, etc.. And now they establish a relationship having having been modeled the domestic violence behavior.

Let's say the father, that's what he saw in his home.

So he establishes a relationship with perhaps, perhaps a woman who was raised in a domestic violence situation as well, who also learned her social cues from the mother, the the subservience, the the the, the, you know, walking on eggs kind of thing.

And so she also has her social cues and alignment to meet the right person.

And this we have kind of a stereotype in minds with lower income people stressed with money.

It shows this is not a lower income problem.

And you see that here in San Jose.

Absolutely.

It is unfortunate, for the conversation that we're having, but that I cannot share some names of, of of people that have a completely different profile from what people think domestic violence is.

It impacts only the poor people.

And, people that do not have a social or social, presence and not quiet in the community.

That is not the case.

How about the presence of children in this case?

A couple had four children, and she obviously was concerned about that.

The daughter went to school the next day and wasn't picked up.

Then he reported the the mom, the husband reported missing.

How complicated is it when there are children involved for the woman or whoever, to make that escape plan?

It is even more complicated.

It adds a levels and levels.

Levels of of of stressors and and complication.

What do you tell people in that situation?

Yeah.

What I tell people, because this is what I hear most commonly he is an abusive person with me.

Yes, he abuses me, but he is a wonderful father towards the children.

He has never touched the children.

So I would say any mother that is listening to me right now, to us right now, having this conversation, I would say it is the same individual dichotomy thing, that individual and to two separate persons so that you can live with the one and repudiate the other, but you live with him because he is not this other thing.

Should they leave.

Him?

I know you tell people to leave right away as soon as they can.

But I do not you don't.

Okay I am.

I, I do not.

Perhaps that is what we expect that we all wish.

It is the one thing that we should not tell victims.

Leave.

What are you doing?

You're coming to me again to tell me that you're.

He did this.

He did that.

Why don't you leave him?

You haven't left him yet.

Believe me, that victim has thought of leaving him more times that you will ever know.

And telling her yet again to leave only lets that victim know that you, as a well-intended friend or family member, have no idea of what domestic violence is.

Should that person help with their escape plan?

Absolutely.

Offer.

Offer support.

I will be here.

Please tell me when.

Give me a call.

I'll come.

Doesn't matter what time of the day.

Let me.

Let me help you.

Create that safety plan.

Apparently, that was in the works with with her.

And just mother.

So sad.

Very, very sad.

Very disturbing.

Well, thank you very much.

And I know you have a lot of resources that you can help other people out there with.

Martha as president and CEO of Family Violence Prevention Services.

Thanks very much for coming.

Thank you, Randy, for the interest in the topic.

Thank you very much.

And now to a story you may not have heard much about yet.

It's in the 2025 budget.

One of the details that's now coming out is that the city is going to spend $500,000 from its Tree Mitigation and Preservation Fund on the zoo, and a new gorilla habitat.

They're out of their $9 million that they made last year from developers who cut down trees and such when they build new buildings and houses.

Joining us to talk about the tree canopy in San Antonio in general, and how it's going going literally away is Jackie Randall, the executive director of a group called Bare Branches Alliance.

Thank you very much for coming in.

Thank you for having me.

You know, just in terms of the tree canopy in this particular story that will get us into other, other topics.

What do you think of taking money from this mitigation and preservation fund for trees and spending it, on the zoo or canopy?

So I don't have enough information as to why they made the decision to spend the mitigation funds in the, at the zoo.

The gorilla exhibit.

So I don't have an official comment for that.

I do think it is important to utilize tree mitigation funds to reforest and invest in our neighborhoods that really need tree canopy, and I'm excited that the city is also doing that with those with their budget.

Now bare branches, bare as in Bexar County branches, is something you started a few years ago after being away from San Antonio for a while, then coming back.

Tell us why you did that.

Sure.

I got back to San Antonio, in December of 2019, and, some folks that helped found Bare Branches Alliance really wanted to do something positive during Covid.

We had a lot of time.

So, we virtually got together.

And because our area, we're getting hotter, we're getting drier, we're getting more polluted.

And just seeing the devastation of our urban forest and tree canopy throughout the county.

We decided to, to form Bare Branches.

Alliance, and you were quoting, I'm not sure what group or source that a major part of our canopy is going in Bexar County in the past decades.

Sure.

So bare branches Alliance, we're a data driven organization, and it's important for us to really learn the reality of our climate and what's happening with our tree canopy.

So there's an org at Global Organization called Global Forest Watch.

And they monitor the tree canopy all over the world.

And their data shows that since 2001, Bexar County, we've lost 20% of our tree canopy since then.

And that's due to development and of course, climate.

And as you can see, their graphs, we're losing more and more, as we go.

So we don't have data yet for this year.

But we lost a lot of tree canopy.

Because of the sprawl development, things like that.

And despite what the city and others are doing and including your group trying to get more trees planted, what are you doing?

So we, have a couple of different tree planting programs.

We started three years ago.

So our first year was really analyzing the data and reaching out to our local communities to learn how they wanted to interact with their their tree canopy.

So our first major tree planting project with with was with Northside Independent School District.

We collaborated with their fifth grade environmental science teacher and chose five elementary schools that are high risk in the data we use in Heat Island, social Vulnerability equity, and then Tree equity.

And we planted 510 trees throughout these five elementary schools with about 854th and fifth grade students.

And these trees are now being incorporated into the fifth grade environmental science curriculum.

So you have to hear these students are going to measure the circumference and the height of the trees, and then report that to, the Glo program, which is a citizen science program run by NASA and NOAA.

And you're also helping out with a new arboretum on the southeast side that, eventually is going to have a whole lot of trees and educate people about trees.

How are you helping them?

Absolutely.

So, we got connected with the Arboretum and their CEO, Tom courser, about two years ago.

We have done initial, our tree experts on our board have done walks to help identify the different tree species on site.

We hosted our second annual five K on site to bring awareness to the arboretum, and they received a grant.

This past year to start, nursery, a temporary nursery.

And we helped plant 140 trees on site.

And if people want to plant trees out there, I guess, you're talking about native trees and things that can withstand the drought, that the species have changed over time.

Yes.

Because Sherman Oaks, you were telling me isn't isn't something we we maybe should plant anymore.

Absolutely.

So, we are actually working on a, recommended tree species list with not only the Arboretum San Antonio, but also with CPS energy and looking at what trees as we get hotter and drier, are going to be able to to live in this climate change that we're dealing with.

So we're looking at species that are doing well south and west of us rather than the species traditionally looking north and east.

Side looks.

Live.

Oaks are awesome trees.

Yes.

They also have the, live oak wilt or the oak wilt.

Is that an issue when you tell people to plant them?

So biodiversity in our planting is really important.

We have a planting coming up on Friday in Leon Valley along the Huebner Creek Greenway Trail and we're introducing 21 different species, native species, into that space.

What do you tell people out there right now?

What else they can do aside from planting trees on their own?

Can they push for, the city to work with developers more?

What what would you like people to do?

So I would love if you have a tree.

To really take care of your tree that you currently have.

There, we have a lot of really great resources on our website, but our trees, even our established trees need supplemental water, both in the summer and in the winter.

We're very dry, and people don't think to water their trees in the winter, but that's really important to do so.

And then if you have a tree, you know, you walk around, you see all those mulch volcanoes, where the mulch is, like, literally piled up against the tree.

That's really detrimental to the tree because where the tree breathes, it's where the roots meet the bark.

So if you pile all that mulch, you're essentially suffocating your tree.

And it'd be like you and I walking around with a pillow over our face.

So those are two immediate things that you can do right now.

Yeah, that you can do right now to help, your trees in your, at your house or in your neighborhood thrive.

And then, there are many different ways that they can get involved in tree planting projects.

But also, you know, if you want more trees for your neighborhood, you can talk to your council person, you can call parks, if you don't live in San Antonio and you live in one of the smaller, municipalities around, you know, see what they're doing.

We've got a lot of Tree City uses around, the smaller municipalities as well as San Antonio.

So there are planting programs that they can learn about.

All right.

Well, thank you very much.

What's interesting and surprising to me, a lot of that information, Jackie Randall, who is the executive director of Bear Branch Alliance Branches Alliance here in San Antonio.

Thanks very much for coming in.

Thank you so much for having me.

On our reporters roundtable this week, we're following up on a story that made headlines across San Antonio earlier this year and now Texas Public Radio.

Camille Phillips has done a series following up on that.

Thank you very much for coming in and tell us about this, this story, which is violence suffered by special ed teachers, not just in San Antonio, but across the country.

And, of course, here, the story that gained attention was the death of a teacher from traumatic brain injury.

Yes, exactly.

And my reporting so far has focused on San Antonio largest school district, Northside ISD.

But you know, from what I've heard from, you know, people following up with me after I did the series and just from some research as well, is that it is, a pattern beyond just one school district.

And what happened specifically in this district, according to a grievance I obtained, is that there is a widespread pattern of student caused injuries, especially in, classrooms that are self-contained units for students with high levels of need, students with special education students right.

And the man who died, and he was Alfred Jimenez junior, he was an instructional assistant in a self-contained classroom at Brandeis High School.

He was pushed by a student in their gym, hit his head, ended up dying of a traumatic brain.

That students, obviously have differences.

And one of those is violent outburst.

And so how many, teachers and instructional assistant are recommended to be in those classrooms?

Yes.

I spoke to Elizabeth Bertini.

She's a special education professor and Boston University, and she's an expert in special education work.

She says there should be at least three adults in the room.

Anytime there's a student that is prone to aggressive behavior or violent outbursts and that's because, you know, you try and not restrain kids, ever.

But if they're hurting themselves or someone else, that is the one time when you do for safety, right?

And you need two adults for that restraint and an adult to document it, right, because you always have.

Not necessarily teachers, but instructional assistants who yes.

They don't have to be all teachers like Adelia would be like a teacher and two instructional assistants in the room.

But commonly the number is.

Well, you know, according to this grievance, again, it's often less.

And maybe they're assigned to to begin with, but then they need an instructional assistant, another room that they haven't been able to fill that position to.

They reassign them or you know, there's just maybe a lot of student s per teacher, you know, they'd like maybe eight, but then there's not another teacher.

So they combine the classroom.

So there's like 18.

And these again are kids that have high levels of need.

Right.

Like maybe they need the right their diaper changed or they need to be fed through a g-tube.

But it's, you know, a very important job, but not an easy job.

And doesn't pay much for those instructional assistants.

Right?

Yes.

I $15 an hour.

And now the teachers who filed this grievance, the district says it's pending litigation.

They can't comment on it.

But what are some of the root causes of this?

It's it's funding.

Funding systemic.

Right.

And it's a in a spiral.

Right.

It's a hard job.

So, again, the research that Elizabeth Bertini was part of found that 43% of instructional assistants quit their job each year.

So that's a massive amount of turnover.

And when you have that level of turnover, you have to fill that number of positions.

Again every year, every year, every year.

And it's just really hard.

And the districts don't have the.

Money, right?

Yes.

The districts, you know, have long been saying that they have a hard time meeting all their needs.

They haven't had an increase in state funding since 2019.

But especially, you know, systemically, they tend to spend more in special education than they receive from state and federal sources.

And, the federal sources as well.

They haven't, contributed to this since, for decades.

And so they.

Just they federal government gives money for special education, but just the level of funding they give does not meet the level of need.

You know, some of this is because, the special education students and others disabled, I don't want to say are mainstreamed and required to be mainstreamed, but required to have public education.

Right?

Yeah.

The law is, the least restrictive environment.

It's what it's called.

And basically it means that the students are able to be in the normal classroom as much as possible.

Now, the students that I'm talking about that are, have higher levels of need, are less likely to be in that mainstream classroom.

And that's where you need more support, more staff.

And I thought part of a fascinating part of your story was you interviewed a 68 year old teacher who couldn't retire, but wants to stay in this because it's an important and tough job.

Yeah, we cry.

So she loves her job, loves her kids, really wants to make it known that she doesn't blame her kids, but she does have, you know, a long history of getting concussions, bruises, bite marks and concussions.

Yes.

Two three, three concussions.

And I've got my stories.

You see photos.

She was very gracious willing to share those photos to be published.

What do they want the district to do?

I mean, obviously it's a grievance with the district.

They want them to make changes, but they know the state and others need to help.

Them, right?

Yes.

They they recognize that a lot of this is funding, but they would like the district to at least allocate more assistance to the room.

So at least try to fill those positions.

And they also asked for what's called De-Escalation.

De-escalation.

Thank you.

That's the word I was thinking of and that the district has, implemented that, rolling it out throughout the year.

And that's important because the idea, the ideal, right, is to calm the kid down, make sure that, you know, there's not, violence happening.

That makes sure.

Because most of the time.

Right.

It's just because they're upset and they don't have the tools or the way to to communicate it.

It's not like it's something that's from animus.

Right?

Right.

And so the district responded to this by whether some training talks about.

Implementing the training.

And, you know, they are trying to hire staff, but it's hard to fill.

And that's also systemic, you know, statewide nationwide, it's hard to hire enough staff.

When I talked to, Tracy Warren who's in charge of special education for Northside, she said, you know, about a month into the school year, they had 100 vacancies in teacher special education teachers and another 100 vacancies in instructional assistants.

Now, Northside is a big district.

They have over 100 campuses, but still, you know, spread out.

That means like every campus is a little short staffed or some campuses are very short staffed, depending on how it spread out.

You know, what do you expect to happen?

The funding is going to be coming up at the state legislature.

Again, there was a standoff over public education.

Funding didn't happen because of school vouchers or school choices.

And this is going to be a big issue with teachers and teachers unions showing up.

And oh.

Yes, I mean, it's take two, right?

Coming up in January.

We'll kind of see how the cards fall in November and the election.

But right now, Governor Abbott says he has the votes to pass vouchers.

So unless something changes, it might be a negotiation over making sure that public schools at least get more money as part of the process.

And public schools, it's not just North Side.

Right.

How severe is this?

I mean, you haven't looked specifically at other districts in San Antonio yet, but, in talking with the expert from, Boston, how tough is this problem to deal with across the country?

We're not alone.

We're not alone.

No.

And it's long been hard to find enough special education teachers.

And, you know, from there's only just starting to really research instructional assistants.

I think they've kind of been not the focus.

People haven't realized how big of an issue is until recently, but that also is part of it, right?

Research does show that, keeping special education teachers in the workforce, a big part of that is making sure they have good support from their aides.

Right?

So it's all part of that same conundrum.

And a lot of it obviously nationwide is funding, and it's also support from your campus, your administrator.

It's training is having enough time to actually do the job you signed up for, which is teach.

And a lot of especially in special education, your time ends up taken up with paperwork.

What kind of response have you had to the schools?

A lot of people saying that, yeah, this is happening at my district to or and also there's a side of which that's also my first reaction when I heard this is I had no idea this was happening.

Right.

Because you don't think about a teacher, you know, going to school and coming home with bruises or bite marks.

We've.

Yeah, we've heard a lot about funding and special ed funding over decades.

But this is a this is a new one and it is widespread, I guess you would.

Say from what I can tell.

Right?

I mean, I haven't been able to like, do deep reporting outside of Northside yet, but I can't imagine it being like unique to one school district.

Oh, well, thanks very much to the eye opening series, Texas Public Radio.

You can hear it right now at, Texas Public Radio.

TPR dawg.

I hear ya, dawg.

Camille Phillips, education reporter.

Thank you very.

Much.

Thank you.

And thank you for joining us for this edition of On the Record.

You can see this show again.

You can tell your neighbors, you can watch previous shows, you can download the podcast.

Just go to KLRN.org I'm Randy Beamer.

We'll see you next.

On the record is brought to you by Steve and Adele Dufilho