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Houston ISD's board of managers continued to hear pushback from community members Tuesday night – including a pair of local elected officials – about the district's $4.4 billion bond proposal.
But about three weeks before they are set to decide whether to place a bond package on the Nov. 5 ballot, the state-appointed leaders of Texas' largest school district signaled support for the plan. They also expressed a sense of urgency for making schools across the city safer and more secure.
The board members held a rare July meeting to discuss the bond proposal and get more specifics about it from HISD's state-appointed administration, which is trying to garner support for what would be the largest school bond package in Texas history and the first for the district since 2012. Several of the district's aging campuses have especially pressing needs, according to Superintendent Mike Miles, who cited faulty air-conditioning and heating systems as well as the presence of lead and mold at some schools. District administrators also want to harden all 274 of HISD's campuses with perimeter fencing and single points of entry.
"When you get down to the bottom line of this, I don't think our kids can wait," board member Ric Campo said, echoing a sentiment expressed by others on the dais. "The problem is we have HVAC systems and security systems and technology vulnerabilities today that would absolutely be unacceptable in a reasonable corporate environment or any other reasonable entity that had responsibility for maintaining the health and wellness of 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, which is its next scheduled meeting, and was provided more details Tuesday about the administration's plans for implementing hundreds of proposed projects as well as ensuring community oversight and engagement. HISD administrators said the district would issue bonds in four tranches over the next four years, with some of the construction initiatives expected to take 7-8 years to complete.
The district, which serves roughly 180,000 students, is proposing to spend $2.05 billion to rebuild or substantially renovate more than 40 aging campuses, $1.35 billion on safety and security upgrades and a total of $1 billion on technology updates, three new career and technical education centers and the expansion of HISD's pre-kindergarten programs. The bond package would focus mostly on elementary and middle schools after high schools were the focus of the 2012 bond.
Nearly all of the 30-plus public speakers at Tuesday's meeting, a group that included state Sen. Molly Cook and elected trustee Savant Moore, expressed disapproval of the bond proposal and distrust of HISD's state-appointed leadership. One speaker criticized the board for holding a meeting while tens of thousands of Houston-area homes and businesses, along with 20 HISD schools, remain without electricity in the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl last week.
The Texas Education Agency last summer appointed Miles as superintendent and replaced the district's nine elected trustees with a board of managers because Wheatley High School received a string of failing academic ratings from the state. Widespread reforms implemented by Miles along with staffing cuts and substantial teacher and principal turnover, with well-liked educators in some cases being forced out based on performance metrics, have been met with protests by students and their parents as well as teachers and community members.
"Please consider listening to the many voices from over the past few months who have told you as loud as they can that this is not the time for a bond," HISD parent Brooke Longoria said. "Bond proposals can fail, and this an opportunity for you to stop the process, to listen to the community, to hit pause and know that this can come later."
Criticism about ‘co-locations’
Cook and Moore, the latter of whom ended the meeting with an emotional speech that was stopped by board president Audrey Momanaee, both criticized HISD's plan to merge underutilized elementary and middle school campuses through an arrangement described as "co-locations." It would entail building seven new campuses that would house a total of 15 schools, to consolidate space and resources while avoiding the closure of schools.
Cook and Moore both asserted the arrangement would amount to closing schools in underserved communities, with Moore adding that he would rally support against the bond if it included the provision.
"If you want this bond to pass, do not put co-locations," he said. "Because I'm telling you, it's a promise, I will knock on every door in the northeast, the southeast. I will not allow them to close, because this storm has revealed so much to me. I'm tired of Black and brown people being done wrong."
Much of the board members' feedback to administrators focused on the plan 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 one center to serve each of the district's four geographic regions. Miles highlighted the need to help HISD students better prepare for college and careers, noting that half of the district's graduates attend college and 14% complete college, while also saying it is unfeasible and inequitable to have one career center for the entire district.
Board members such as Cassandra Auzenne Bandy, Janette Garza Lindner and Paula Mendoza questioned the need for four career centers while also challenging administrators to further explore partnerships with local businesses and community colleges, saying those entities could potentially provide funding and facilities along with training and curricular input. Some also expressed concerns with keeping the proposed career centers, and their offerings, up to date after they are constructed.
"I'm still trying to wrap my head around the need for four facilities," Auzenne Bandy said. "We have talked a lot about ensuring our students have access to state-of-the equipment and facilities to make sure they're upscaled for the future. It seems like we are bearing the burden of managing a state-of-the-art CTE facility times four."
The board will decide next month whether to put the bond measure before Houston voters. Its members also could decide to amend the proposal that's been 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 the board members. She supports a bond herself, citing pressing facilities needs and costs that figure to escalate as time passes, but said she also understands the skepticism among many HISD stakeholders.
"There are a lot of opinions out there, and there are parts of this bond that will affect different communities in different ways," Cruz said. "I do hope that folks will continue to ask questions and continue to engage and at the same time, support what is needed."