Category Archives: District IX – Myrna Guidry

HISD student athletes commit to play college sports on National Signing Day

More than 90 of HISD’s top student athletes committed to taking their academic and athletic talent to the college level as part of National Signing Day on Wednesday, February 4.

The HISD ceremony at the Region IV Education Service Center, aimed to recognize the students’ formal commitment to continue their education and sports careers at colleges and universities around the country. During the event, students signed symbolic certificates of intent to continue their careers in baseball, basketball, football, lacrosse, swimming, tennis, track and field, volleyball, and wrestling.

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Among the highlights:

  • More than 50 HISD senior boys will continue their football careers in college, including 11 from Lamar High School, seven each from Reagan and Wheatley high schools, six from Kashmere High School, five from Furr High School, and four each from Madison, Sterling, and Westside high schools.
  • Five HISD senior girls will run track and field in college.
  • Eleven senior boys and four senior girls will play college basketball.

Traditionally, National Signing Day has been reserved for senior high school football players completing their letters of intent with colleges and universities. But, for the past six years, HISD has included both female and male athletes from all sports to showcase the district’s athletic talent. Additional athletic commitments also are expected after Signing Day.

During the event, students heard from featured speaker Antonio Armstrong, a Kashmere High School graduate, former NFL player, and owner of Houston-based 1st Class Training, as well as HISD Director of Athletics Marmion Dambrino, HISD Board of Education President Rhonda Skillern-Jones, HISD Board of Education Trustee Wanda Adams, and representatives from the Houston Positive Coaches Alliance.

Click here to view a list of the 2014-2015 HISD student athlete signees.

Project Advisory Teams tour 4 innovative schools in D.C. area

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The concept of a 21st century school can be hard to imagine. But Project Advisory Team members from nine HISD schools have a clearer vision after a trip to our nation’s capital last week.

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Bond Oversight Committee gets update on bond construction

BOC1The Bond Oversight Committee held its first meeting of 2015 on Tuesday, hearing an update on the bond program and the impact that soaring construction costs are having on HISD’s plan to build or renovate 40 schools.

Since 2012, when Houston voters approved the district’s $1.89 billion bond program, the district has seen an average 44 percent increase in building costs, from about $146 per square foot in 2012 to about $210 per square foot today.

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Spiking construction costs create challenges for bond program

Bond Delmar

HISD trustees got a detailed look on Jan. 22 at the impact of escalating construction costs on the district’s bond program at a workshop that also considered possible strategies to address potential budget gaps.

Since 2012, when Houston voters approved the district’s $1.89 billion bond program to renovate or replace 40 schools, the district has seen an unprecedented jump in building costs, a trend that is posing challenges for school districts across the region and nation.

In Houston, construction costs have jumped an average of 44 percent from about $146 per square foot in 2012 to about $210 per square foot today.

Much of that spike is attributed to the oil and building boom over the last several years, which spurred Houston and much of the state on to a robust economy – even when others were experiencing a downturn. The growth in the energy sector brought an influx of commercial construction projects to the area, along with a huge demand for workers and materials, such as steel and concrete.

The district has already taken some steps to deal with potential gaps, including moving inflation and some reserve dollars to each school’s construction budget. On Thursday, the Board of Education also gave the district the green light to consider other strategies, including waiting to bid a project or re-bidding portions of a project to try to get a better price.

Trustees noted that the recent drop in oil prices may help push construction costs down as energy companies delay building projects and more workers and materials become available.

“I think we owe the taxpayers better than to move forward as if there’s been no change in the economy,” said Trustee Harvin Moore. “As oil prices decline, I’m confident that construction costs will follow, so putting some of our projects on hold is a very logical way to handle this.”

In the coming weeks and months, HISD officials will analyze the various options for each project to determine the best path forward.

Board of Education elects new officers for 2015

Board of Education meetings usually begin with commendations and recognitions. However, the first meeting of every year starts with the election of new officers.

On Jan. 15, 2015, the trustees chose Rhonda Skillern-Jones to serve as president, Manuel Rodriguez Jr. as first vice president, Wanda Adams as second vice president, Paula Harris as secretary, and Juliet Stipeche as assistant secretary.

Serving as an HISD school-board member requires a lot of hard work and dedication, and the nine trustees on HISD’s board selflessly devote many hours to studying issues, deliberating proposed actions and policy changes, and representing HISD in the community, all without pay. These men and women are essential to the success of this school district and deserve the district’s and the community’s deepest thanks.

2015 HISD Board of Education

  • Rhonda Skillern-Jones, President
  • Manuel Rodriguez, First Vice President
  • Wanda Adams, Second Vice President
  • Paula Harris, Secretary
  • Juliet Stipeche, Assistant Secretary
  • Anna Eastman
  • Michael Lunceford
  • Greg Meyers
  • Harvin Moore

For more information, including biographical information for each trustee, visit the Board of Education website.

Reagan students excited to receive laptops for school and home use

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All 2,234 students at Reagan High School received laptops on Monday, Jan. 12, as part of the district’s one-to-one plan to give all high school students a digital device to use for learning at school and at home. The one-to-one laptop program is a key component of HISD’s PowerUp initiative, which aims to digitally transform teaching and learning throughout the district.

Reagan is one of 14 HISD high schools distributing laptops to students during the month of January and early February. Others high schools include Davis, Lamar, Milby, Scarborough, South Early College, Waltrip, Westbury, Westside, Wheatley and Yates, as well as the Futures Academies at Jones, Jane Long Academy, and the High School for Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice.  Continue reading →

Celebrations mark beginning of construction for 2012 bond projects

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Right on schedule, the fourth quarter of 2014 brought the beginning of construction for the 17 schools in Group 1 of HISD’s current bond program, bringing groundbreaking ceremonies and more activity to worksites across the district.

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Student Congress giving high school kids a voice in their own education

Speaker of the Congress Zaakir Tameez (lower left) poses with members of the Student Congress at the Dec. 11 Board of Education meeting.

Speaker of the Congress Zaakir Tameez (lower left) poses with members of the Student Congress at the Dec. 11 Board of Education meeting.

A group of juniors and seniors from four HISD campuses is on a mission to give their peers a voice in public education—and they have created a new Student Congress to do it.

More than a dozen students from Bellaire, Carnegie Vanguard, Lamar, and Yates high schools founded the congress last spring, after participating in senior Zaakir Tameez’s Texas Performance Standards Project at Carnegie Vanguard.

“We were originally called ‘Our Shared Future’ and talked about current events,” explains Outreach Chair Amy Fan, now a junior at Bellaire High School. “But as we met with city leaders from all over Houston, our conversations would constantly lead back to education. Yet the only people with whom we could share our critiques was each other.” Continue reading →

HISD breaks ground on four new campuses, celebrates first project to ‘go vertical’

Two years ago, Houston voters approved a $1.89 billion bond to replace or repair 40 HISD campuses, including 29 high schools. Now, taxpayers are starting to see the fruits of that decision, as HISD officials and community leaders have broken ground on four brand new campuses over the past two weeks, and recognized the first project from the 2012 bond to “go vertical.” Continue reading →

Pre-K students get a holiday surprise

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Preschool students at Farias Early Childhood Center enjoyed an early holiday treat Tuesday, Dec. 16. Santa and his helpers along with HISD high school students and members of Leading Ladies, a nonprofit female youth service organization, distributed toys to 380 excited four-year-olds. Continue reading →