SAN ANTONIO – There have been two big rallies at two South Side Independent School District schools recently, but not for a game or a competition.
These rallies are to get an H-E-B.
Sylvia Rincon, a spokesperson for Southside I.S.D. said their district is a food desert and there's no full service grocery store for miles.
"Of all the districts in San Antonio, we're the only one that doesn't have a full service grocery store, an H-E-B," said Rincon. "We have been listening to the pleas of the community and have reached out to H-E-B."
The district has grown to 5,500 students and they expect several hundred more next school year.
Parents say there's a definite need.
"Being a parent of two teenagers and a 5-year-old, it's difficult sometimes when I get home," said Stephanie Robles Ng, a parent in the district.
"They're like, ‘Mom, we don't have any groceries.' We go down to the convenience store and all they have is lunch meats, hot dogs and that's it. There's no produce, there's no fresh food."
Ng is also a teacher at Matthey Middle School. She said not having a grocery store also hurts the schools.
"It's difficult when we tell the students, as a teacher, these are items that you may need for a project," said Ng. "We have to make sure we give them a week in advance to get that project returned because there are not many stores out here where they can get the items for these projects."
H-E-B officials confirmed they received an email about the interest in getting a store in the South Side ISD area, but have not made any decisions. They plan on scheduling a meeting to talk with school officials.