According to a report released Tuesday by state-appointed superintendent Mike Miles, Houston ISD has been spending too much money without ensuring efficiency.
The report questions the district's efficiency in eight areas, including human resources, transportation, employee overtime and outside contractors. It also describes a "morass of curricula and programs that were not linked to any particular standards of quality" and a "bureaucracy that creates obstacles and is divorced from progress and student outcomes."
As the district faces a ballooning budget deficit — currently estimated to run over $250 million this year — Miles is promising to reduce inefficiency.
"If we don’t fix these systems, we can’t be as efficient and effective in supporting our schools," Miles said in a Tuesday morning press conference. "It’s not just about saving money. It’s about making sure we get our kids to school on time, making sure we do fix the toilet when it breaks on time, making sure our buildings — as old as they are — are as cool as they can be in the summer and as warm as they can be in the winter. That’s why we need efficient systems."
"The second thing is money," he added. "Our inefficiency actually cost us a lot of money."
Houston ISD grappled with a ballooning budget deficit prior to the current, state-appointed administration, and it's getting worse as federal relief dollars from the pandemic expire and student enrollment continues to decline.
While revenue is down, costs are up. Miles' controversial "New Education System" reforms will expand from 85 schools this year to 130 by August. The reforms are expected to cost more than $100 million this year alone, and the administration projects a more than $250 million budget deficit heading into the new fiscal year in June.
"We will save enough money to pay for the reforms that we need to put in place," Miles said, though he declined to provide a specific figure on how many dollars he hopes to save through cost-cutting.
Miles said he aims to end this fiscal year with at least $870 million in the district's fund balance, and he promised the fund balance will remain above $850 million through the end of the 2024-25 fiscal year.
During the press conference, Miles addressed previous cuts to the Central Office. In July, he said more than 2,300 positions had been cut, including a nearly 700-employee layoff and the elimination of almost 1,700 vacant roles. When a Houston Landing story called that figure into question in August, a Houston ISD spokesperson argued not enough time had passed to see the full effects of the cuts.
At the end of January, Houston Public Media obtained records showing 300 more staffers in the Central Office and the divisions than when Miles started on June 1. The records obtained by Houston Public Media also show the number of staffers who make over $100,000 per year has increased by more than 200 during that timespan.
In response to those findings, a Houston ISD spokesperson wrote "Since June, HISD has cut more than 1,900 positions" — about 400 fewer than what Miles initially promised. According to the spokesperson, the reorganization involved the creation of 260 positions that are categorized as Central Office but actually work on the campus level.
Over the course of more than two weeks, the district did not respond to repeated questions about the 400-position disparity, but Miles addressed the exaggeration on Tuesday.
"It is very complicated," Miles said. "The bottom line is we’re going to be more efficient. We’re going to save dollars. What does it matter whether it’s 2,000 or 2,100 (eliminated positions)? I will get the mission accomplished by cutting the people that we need to cut."
While Miles criticized inefficiency and bloat in Houston ISD, other public school systems across the state have turned their attention to the State Legislature, which failed to keep school funding steady with inflation. Proposals to increase public school funding fell flat during last year's battle over private school subsidies, also known as vouchers or "education savings accounts."
When Spring Branch ISD announced the final phase in more than $35 million in cuts on Friday, superintendent Jennifer Blaine pointed directly to state lawmakers and Governor Greg Abbott.
"We budgeted ... anticipating the 88th Legislature would act to adequately fund public education, given the state's record high $33 billion budget surplus and no additional funding for public education since 2019," Blaine said in a press release. "With the 88th Legislative Session and four special sessions concluded and no movement for Governor Abbott to call a fifth special session to address the educational funding challenges of Texas public school districts, we must act now."