Houston ISD board voices support for $4.4 billion bond proposal while questioning need for more career centers – Houston Public Media

The Houston ISD board continued to hear backlash from community members Tuesday night — including from two local elected officials — about the district’s $4.4 billion bond proposal.

But about three weeks before they decide whether to put a bond plan on the ballot Nov. 5, state-appointed leaders of Texas’ largest school district signaled their support for the plan. They also expressed a sense of urgency to make the city’s schools safer and more secure.

Board members held a rare meeting in July to discuss the bond proposal and get more details about it from the state-appointed HISD administration, which is trying to garner support for what would be the largest school bond package in Texas history and the district’s first since 2012. Several of the district’s aging campuses have particularly dire needs, according to Superintendent Mike Miles, who cited faulty air conditioning and heating systems and the presence of lead and mold at some schools. District administrators also want to reinforce HISD’s 274 campuses with perimeter fencing and single points of entry.

“Ultimately, I don’t think our kids can wait,” said board member Ric Campo, echoing a sentiment expressed by others on the podium. “The problem is that we have heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems, security systems and technological vulnerabilities today that would be absolutely unacceptable in a reasonable corporate environment or any other reasonable entity that has a responsibility to maintain the health and well-being of the people they serve every day. So the idea that our kids can wait is just absurd.”

The board plans to vote on the bond proposal on Aug. 8, its next scheduled meeting, and received more details Tuesday about the administration’s plans to implement hundreds of proposed projects as well as provide oversight and community engagement. HISD administrators said the district will issue bonds in four tranches over the next four years, with some of the construction initiatives expected to take 7 to 8 years to complete.

The district, which serves about 180,000 students, proposes to spend $2.05 billion to rebuild or extensively renovate more than 40 aging campuses, $1.35 billion for security improvements and a total of $1 billion for technology updates, three new career and technical education centers and expansion of HISD’s preschool programs. The bond program would focus primarily on elementary and secondary schools, with high schools being the focus of the 2012 bond.

Nearly all of the public speakers who spoke Tuesday, including Sen. Molly Cook and board member-elect Savant Moore, expressed disapproval of the bond proposal and distrust in HISD’s state-appointed leadership. One speaker criticized the board for holding a meeting while tens of thousands of Houston-area homes and businesses, as well as 20 HISD schools, remain without power following Hurricane Beryl last week.

Last summer, the Texas Education Agency appointed Miles as superintendent and replaced the district’s nine elected administrators with a board of trustees after Wheatley High School received a series of failing grades from the state. Miles’ sweeping reforms, along with staff cuts and substantial turnover of teachers and principals, with well-liked educators in some cases forced to resign based on performance measures, have sparked protests from students and parents as well as teachers and community members.

“Please consider listening to the many voices that have spoken out loud and clear over the past few months that this is not the time to issue a loan,” said HISD parent Brooke Longoria. “Borrowing proposals can fail, and this is an opportunity for you to stop the process, listen to the community, pause, and know that it can happen later.”

Criticisms of “co-locations”

Cook and Moore, the latter of whom ended the meeting with an emotional speech interrupted by board President Audrey Momanaee, both criticized HISD’s plan to merge underutilized elementary and secondary school campuses through an arrangement described as “co-locations.” That would involve building seven new campuses that would house a total of 15 schools, to consolidate space and resources while avoiding school closures.

Adam Zuvanich/Houston Public Media

Both Cook and Moore said the deal would close schools in underserved communities, with Moore adding that he would rally support against the bond if it included that provision.

“If you want this law to pass, don’t put in collocations,” he said. “Because I’m telling you, this is a promise, I’m going to knock on every door in the Northeast, the Southeast. I’m not going to let them close, because this storm has shown me so much. I’m tired of black people and people of color being mistreated.”

Board members’ comments focused primarily on plans to spend a total of $425 million to upgrade the Barbara Jordan Career Center and build three new career and technical education facilities so there would be a center for each of the district’s four geographic regions. Miles stressed the need to help HISD students better prepare for college and careers, noting that half of the district’s graduates attend college and 14 percent complete college, while saying it is unrealistic and inequitable to have a single career center for the entire district.

Board members Cassandra Auzenne Bandy, Janette Garza Lindner and Paula Mendoza questioned the need for four career centers while urging trustees to further explore partnerships with local businesses and community colleges, saying those entities could potentially provide funding and facilities as well as training and educational input. Some also expressed concerns about updating the proposed career centers and their offerings once they are built.

“I still can’t understand why it’s necessary to have four facilities,” Auzenne Bandy said. “We’ve talked a lot about ensuring our students have access to state-of-the-art equipment and facilities to make sure they’re ready for the future. It seems like we’re being saddled with the burden of running four state-of-the-art CTE facilities.”

The board will decide next month whether to submit the measure for approval by Houston voters. Its members could also decide to amend the proposal presented by the administration.

Judith Cruz, a former HISD trustee and co-chair of the district’s community advisory committee for the bond proposal, attended Tuesday’s meeting and said “the support seems to be there” among board members. She herself supports the bond issue, citing urgent facilities needs and costs that are expected to increase over time, but she said she also understands the skepticism of many HISD stakeholders.

“There are a lot of opinions out there, and some aspects of this connection will affect different communities in different ways,” Cruz said. “I hope people continue to ask questions and engage while supporting what’s needed.”