Category Archives: Board of Education

HISD Board honors Worthing HS student for act of heroism

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The Houston Independent School District Board of Education on Thursday night recognized Worthing High School junior Marcus Dillard for an act of heroism that may well have saved the life of 72-year-old Houston resident Gloria Cage.

Cage’s car became disabled on Wednesday night after hitting a pothole. A short time later, her vehicle erupted in flames with Cage trapped inside. She said several cars drove by as she pounded on the window for help.

Marcus and his younger brother were passing by, and Marcus quickly turned around to assist Cage. Using a tire jack, Marcus and his brother Marvieon broke the windows of the car and dragged Cage to safety. Continue reading →

HISD recommending no increase in property tax rates for 2018-2019

Homeowners in the Houston Independent School District wouldn’t see an increase in HISD property tax rates for the 2018-2019 school year under a proposal being considered by the district’s Board of Education on Thursday.

The board’s regular monthly meeting will begin at 5 p.m. on Thursday, October 11, in the Manuel Rodríguez Jr. Board Auditorium of the Hattie Mae White Educational Support Center, 4400 West 18th Street. Click here to view the full agenda.

If approved by trustees, HISD would maintain the current tax rate of $1.2067 per $100 of taxable property value for the third year in a row. The tax rate includes two parts: $1.04 dedicated to funding general maintenance and operations and $0.1667 earmarked for debt service. Trustees adopted a $2 billion budget for the 2018-2019 school year last June based on this tax rate. Continue reading →

HISD Board of Education votes to initiate national superintendent search

Trustees exercise warranty with executive search firm previously utilized by district

The Houston Independent School District Board of Education on Thursday voted 6 to 3 to exercise a warranty provision with an executive search firm to conduct a superintendent search.

The executive search firm, Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates, issued a warranty when it conducted the district’s previous superintendent search, which resulted in the hiring of former superintendent Richard Carranza in August 2016.

Under the firm’s warranty, if the board became dissatisfied with the superintendent within two years from the date of employment, and if the employment was dissolved by either side due to resignation or termination, the firm would conduct a new superintendent search at no cost to the district, except for expenses. Continue reading →

HISD Board of Education adopts recommendations from Special Education Committee

The Houston Independent School District Board of Education on Thursday unanimously voted to adopt recommendations from the district’s Special Education Ad Hoc Committee, which was tasked with assessing HISD’s current special education program.

Approval to accept the report and its seven recommendations grants the interim superintendent the authorization to carry out the recommendations.

In a separate vote, the board also voted to sunset the ad hoc committee. Continue reading →

New ‘Legislative Center’ encourages community engagement in lawmaking process

HISD has launched a new online hub for all legislative information to educate the community and encourage participation in the lawmaking process.  The Legislative Center is a unique tool designed to expand the community’s access to state lawmakers and facilitate communication between Houstonians and key decisionmakers in Austin.

Continue reading →

Preliminary HISD STAAR scores show strong gains across multiple grades, subjects, and student groups

Houston Independent School District students showed strong gains that exceeded those made by the state in third- through eighth-grade reading and math, and on end-of-course (EOC) assessments in English I and Algebra I, according to preliminary 2018 State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) scores.

“This year, our students made significant progress on the state-mandated STAAR tests,” Interim Superintendent Grenita Lathan said. “We are excited about what these preliminary results mean for our schools labeled by the state as Improvement Required and our district’s accountability ratings. HISD is shifting course and turning schools around. We know that it is critical that we continue our commitment to strengthening the supports in place to further advance our progress in student achievement.”

Overall, the spring administration of the 2018 STAAR grades 3-8 assessment results indicate the district held steady or showed increases in the percentage of students meeting the Approaches Grade Level standard in reading, math, science, and social studies. Continue reading →

HISD Board of Education moves forward with performance review

The Houston Independent School District Board of Education on Thursday voted in favor of requesting a performance review to be conducted by the Texas Legislative Budget Board (LBB).

After considering public input since the May regular board meeting, trustees voted six to three to request a performance review from the LBB and concurrently withdraw their previous approval to procure an external performance audit. The LBB will begin working on the performance review this fall. Its findings will be used by the board in time to make informed decisions during the next budget cycle.

The Board also voted by a five-vote majority against the proposed 2018-19 school year budget. State law requires the budget be approved by June 30. Continue reading →

HISD Board of Education approves recommendation for external performance audit

The Houston Independent School District Board of Education on Thursday unanimously approved a recommendation from the Audit Committee calling for an external performance audit.

The Audit Committee recommended an external performance audit be conducted in order to ensure HISD is utilizing scarce resources as efficiently and effectively as possible to inform decision-making and budgeting by the board and administration for the 2019-2020 school year and beyond, and to build public trust by exhibiting good stewardship of public dollars.

Continue reading →

HISD to offer new districtwide scholarship to one senior from each high school

In recognition of high school seniors who have exemplified great character and resilience, the Houston Independent School District is launching the HISD Superintendent and Board of Education Scholar Award – a scholarship of $5,000 or $2,000 awarded to one senior from every HISD high school.

This scholarship is designed for students who face hardships or challenges that may make higher education or career/vocational training difficult or even impossible to attain without assistance. The goal of the award – HISD’s first districtwide scholarship initiative for all high school students – is to remove as many obstacles as possible so that students can pursue higher education opportunities. Continue reading →

HISD Board of Education will not vote on partnership for “Improvement Required” campuses

HISD will not submit any plans to the Texas Education Agency related to SB 1882

The Houston Independent School District Board of Education on Tuesday adjourned without  approving a contract to partner with the governing board of Energized for STEM Academy as part of Senate Bill 1882. The district will no longer pursue this proposal, nor will the district submit plans for partnerships to the TEA.

The proposal was intended to give HISD a two–year pause on accountability from the Texas Education Agency (TEA) and prevent sanctions from the state related to House Bill 1842.

HISD will continue to operate and manage the 10 campuses that have been in Improvement Required (IR) status with the state for four years or more. Those campuses are: Blackshear, Dogan, Highland Heights, Mading, and Wesley elementary schools, Henry Middle School, Woodson PK-8, and Kashmere, Wheatley, and Worthing high schools. The district’s goal is to help these 10 schools exit IR and continue to meet yearly standards.

“We are not bringing another partnership proposal to the Board, nor will there be another meeting to consider partnerships for the 10 schools,” said Interim Superintendent Grenita Lathan. “Instead, we will continue to reinforce our commitment to helping students, staff, and families of our Achieve 180 schools continue the hard work they’ve done this year to transform their campuses and increase student achievement.”

HISD will make the necessary changes to the Achieve 180 framework to ensure the district provides them with the additional resources and supports they need to be successful. District administration will be holding meetings with staff and parents at these 10 schools to discuss Achieve 180 plans for their campuses in the 2018-2019 school year. Staff will remain in place at these 10 campuses unless a position is closed as part of the reduction in force HISD is experiencing across the district due to the $115 million budget shortfall.