HISD to hold another workshop on bond proposal

Does the Houston Independent School District really need to spend $425 million to build three new career and technology centers and upgrade the Barbara Jordan Center?

Can taxpayers trust HISD Superintendent Mike Miles and his administration to do the right thing once they have $4.4 billion in bond funds at their disposal?

Both issues were raised at Tuesday night’s special meeting, the first by several board members-designate, the second by public speakers in what was for HISD a sparsely attended meeting in which HISD employees appeared to outnumber the audience.

“You say you’re going to do the right thing with bond funds, but you’ve proven time and time again that you’re doing the opposite,” Yarborough told the board.

“Please consider listening to the many voices that have spoken out loud and clear over the last few months that this is not the time to issue bonds. This is your opportunity to stop the process. To listen to the community, to pause,” Brooke Longoria said.

The other big indicator raised by several speakers, including Savant Moore, who was elected to the board but cannot serve while the board is in place, is that the public does not buy into the idea that “consolidating” some schools with others on the same campus is not the same as closing schools. He promised that unless these consolidation plans are abandoned, taxpayers will not vote for the bond.

“If you want this requirement to be passed, remove those 15 shared flats,” he said in an emotional speech that continued after the one-minute mark. He predicted that property developers would step in and, through expropriation, take over people’s homes near the schools that would be relocated.

The workshop meeting was called to answer lingering questions about the bond proposal, which is scheduled to go before voters on Nov. 5. Before that, the measure still needs to be approved by the council, which has until Aug. 18 to make that decision.

Not mentioned in the discussion was the recent damage caused by Hurricane Beryl to several HISD schools and, in some cases, damage from the May storm.

Asked about the update, HISD released a statement that said:

HISD was significantly impacted by Hurricane Beryl. Two hundred of our campuses were without power. Fifty campuses had trees down and 60 reported roof or structural damage. Currently, 20 campuses remain without power.

Several of our schools sustained minor damage, a few more significant damage. Our facilities team along with outside crews worked around the clock to get campuses back up and running and ready to welcome students.

Currently, the campuses that have suffered the most significant damage are Sinclair Elementary, Cage Elementary/Project Chrysalis Middle and Kelso Elementary.

Sinclair Elementary School was also impacted by the May derecho. School and division leadership has been communicating with the Sinclair community weekly and will continue to do so to prepare families for the first day of school.

We are working hard to ensure these campuses are ready for the start of the school year on August 12. Campus leaders will be reaching out to families on these campuses in the coming days and weeks to provide an update on the return and to share details about any impacts the storm damage will have on the first day of school.

.As previously reported, HISD said summer school students will not have to make up the week of classes lost due to Hurricane Beryl. Students whose original schools are still not operational are being bused to other locations.

“I’m still trying to understand the need for four (CTE) facilities,” Cassandra Auzenne Bandy said. “It seems like we have the burden of maintaining four (CTE) facilities.” With the constant advancements in technology, how will HISD maintain the facilities to ensure they are state-of-the-art? she asked.

She also asked how the district approaches school choice to help students who want to study a certain career program achieve their goals. Miles said some parents choose that route. The problem is that, Miles said, most HISD high schools only offer a handful of career courses. “Most high schools that have a dozen career programs don’t have the facilities to offer even more advanced programs, and the cost of a single teacher is prohibitive. So we would still have the problem of access if we just offered choice in the district.”

Miles explained that one reason the four centers are needed is the travel time it takes to get students to vocational classes, which cuts into the core courses they need to take to graduate. Another big factor in all of this is the agreements the district has with local businesses that would like to see the up-and-coming workforce develop certain skills.

Trustee Jeanine Gardner Lindner questioned the relationships with business partners when it comes to CTE classes. “How do we know they’re going to stick around?” adding, “I think it’s important to understand what a business partnership means to the district.”

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The administration assessed its school needs, determining which schools needed to be replaced and which needed to be renovated. Part of the assessment, Miles said, was determining how much of a bond could be taken on without increasing the tax rate.

Although a quick replacement was expected, there was disappointment at the news from finance and business services chief Jim Terry, who said that in his experience it takes two years to build a new primary school and four years or more for a secondary school.

To keep the bond size at $4.4 billion, Miles presented a table showing what the bond would and would not cover. Despite the need, for example, to modernize transportation that Miles has already discussed, that category was not retained.

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As he has said before, Miles pointed out that the size of the bond was due to long-delayed improvements that the district had put on hold. “We haven’t had a bond since 2012. And the elementary school since 2007. During that time, the need has increased.”

As designed, the bond would spend $1.1 billion on health and safety, $1.1 billion on “future-ready” programs, meaning course content and technology improvements, and $2.2 billion on restoring 43 schools.