In the ongoing dispute between the San Antonio Independent School District (SAISD) and AT&T over a hefty $2.2 million bill, an email has surfaced as a crucial piece of evidence possibly tipping the scales in the school district's favor. Revealed to be an overlooked key in the case, this email explicitly requested the disconnection of phone service for certain circuits no longer in use, as reported by Fox San Antonio.
According to the email dated October 5th, 2020, and obtained by reporters, "SAISD requests to disconnect the . . . Circuits listed below. Please stop billing and service asap." Yet, despite this direct request, AT&T continued billing the district leading to the current financial conflict; the disconnect request would have aligned with the district's move to new headquarters, which raises the question of whether was there a mistake on the part of the communications giant to halt the services, and thereby, halt the flow of invoices. AT&T, however, counters the simplicity of the issue—asserting that the situation is more complicated than the school district's claim.
Delving into the intricacies of their position, AT&T has offered a different perspective, suggesting in a statement obtained by reporters that "This was not a case where a disconnect request was ignored and SAISD was billed for service it was not using." This statement stands in stark contrast to SAISD Trustee Ed Garza's remarks, which assert that the district had given proper notice, written notice to AT&T, as he told Fox San Antonio in a previous engagement.
Despite past exchanges, AT&T maintains that SAISD had asked to keep some circuits alive, which they labeled as a necessity due to a delay in service from a new provider, recording that "Because the new provider was not ready to serve them, SAISD asked that those 10 circuits remain in use. SAISD chose not to renew the contract for those 10 circuits when the contract expired, and as a result those circuits billed month-to-month at a non-discounted rate until SAISD requested their disconnection in 2021,” AT&T explained via email. This multi-million-dollar billing dispute emerges amidst the district's efforts to close schools for cost-cutting measures, thrusting taxpayers like Mario Cantu, a parent of four in the district into a state of frustration who voiced to reporters, “I pay taxes, and that money should be given to the kids not that's why I pay it not for them to be paying AT&T."
