Ensuring a safe, healthy, and bright future for all HISD students

I come from a family of educators and have seen first-hand how education changes lives.  In fact, it changed my own life.

When I was a child, I faced difficulties learning.  But it was because of teachers—hardworking, resilient, and tenacious advocates—that I was put on the right path.

As superintendent of the Houston Independent School District, I am committed to ensure that as a team we provide the right support, tools, and instruction for our students to be on the right path to succeed.  We are prioritizing how we address students’ learning loss due to COVID-19 through the strategic allocation of ESSER funds.

To ensure that we hear all our stakeholders’ voices, we have received feedback from students, teachers, staff members, parents, and community members on how these funds should be allocated and have determined a plan on how to move forward, finding the places where that extra support will have the biggest impact.

We’ve kept equity in mind at every step of the process. We want to make sure that HISD is serving our students—every one of them, at every school—in a fair and equitable way.

As we prepare for the upcoming 2021-2022 school year, safety continues to be our guiding compass as we ensure that students return for in-person instruction.

We will be giving students the chance to connect with their teachers face-to-face that can cheer them on and support them along the way.

I have two children starting at HISD schools this fall.  My own children will be sitting side-by-side with your own, and I will make sure that all our students will be healthy and safe.  

We have a lot of work ahead of us, but we can get there—together. We will work towards creating opportunities for our students to grow and thrive, and to be put on the path to success. It’s the opportunity I was given at a young age, and it changed my life. All of our students in HISD deserve the same opportunity.

I cannot wait to get started. I know that, together as a team, we can build an equitable future for everyone. Now, let’s get to work!