HISD Bond Feedback Plan: 3-Person Committee, Public Meetings

With months remaining before HISD leaders must decide whether or not to hold a bond election, community members will have their first opportunity to weigh in on this potential multi-year project. billions of dollars.

HISD announced Wednesday the convening of a community advisory committee that will meet five times over the next two weeks to share information about the districts’ plan to modernize campuses and hear public feedback. HISD Superintendent Mike Miles’ administration said it is studying a bond totaling $4 billion to $5 billion that would not increase property tax rates.

A successful bond election allows school districts to finance, among other things, the costs of building new campuses, upgrading aging facilities and purchasing new technology.

The last time HISD issued a bond was in 2012, leaving dozens of campuses in dire need of renovations and upgrades to their heating and cooling systems. Large urban districts like HISD typically adopt a bond about every five years.

Compared to most other districts in the Houston area, HISD operates on a tighter schedule to bring together a committee of community members to discuss the bond and help generate buy-in. In recent years, several other districts have begun this process seven to nine months before elections. HISD would hold its election in early November, approximately 5 1/2 months after the first community meeting.

A recent survey conducted by the Kinder Institute for Urban Research at Rice University found that about two-thirds of the nearly 3,000 HISD residents surveyed would support a bond if it did not increase property taxes by more than $25 per year. Only a third of respondents supported a bond that would raise property taxes by $100 a year.

Some community members also said they did not have confidence in Miles, who was appointed superintendent by Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath last year, to responsibly spend school money. obligations. At recent school board meetings, many speakers repeated the phrase “no trust, no connection.”

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HISD stressed the importance of raising money for structural improvements following a destructive storm that swept through Houston last week. Several campuses were damaged by high winds, while some campuses had air conditioning problems.

“As the HISD community continues to recover from last week’s storm, the need for investment in our aging infrastructure has become even more acute,” the district wrote in a news release Wednesday. “To engage our community in this discussion as quickly as possible, HISD is announcing dates for community meetings on the status of HISD facilities.”

Three local leaders will chair the committee: Judith Cruz, former HISD administrator; Garnet Coleman, longtime Houston representative in the state Legislature; and Scott McClelland, retired HEB president and co-founder of the educational nonprofit Good Reason Houston.

In recent years, other Houston-area districts have formed larger bond committees, ranging from several to more than 100 members.

Committee meetings are scheduled:

• May 28, Forest Brook Middle School, 6 to 8 p.m.
• May 30, Cornelius elementary school, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
• June 1, virtual meeting, 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. (Access information will be shared soon.)
• June 4, Fondren Middle School, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
• June 5, Fleming Middle School, 6 to 8 p.m.

Asher Lehrer-Small covers education for the Landing and would love to hear your tips, questions and story ideas about Houston ISD. Contact him at [email protected].

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