A Proud Moment for the Future of HISD

Tuesday night was one of the proudest moments of my career at HISD. As I gathered at Hattie Mae White with district staff and community members, early voting returns told the story: Voters had overwhelmingly approved the district’s $1.89 billion schools bond. It’s a decision that will change the trajectory of the district for hundreds, and eventually millions, of HISD students.

But that sense of pride was only magnified as I stood in front of our schools’ principals this morning and could put faces to all of the hard work, leadership, and commitment over the last several months. The success of this bond at the polls is a huge testament to the work of Team HISD. The team never falters where our kids are concerned, and I know this bond would not have passed without them.

Over the past few weeks, I have seen so many creative efforts to educate the public about the bond. Employees, parents, and students passed out handbills at dozens of locations, organized voter registration drives, distributed get-out-the-vote yard signs, and even organized a “Zombies Vote Early” campaign to encourage voters to go to the polls. Take a closer look at some of those efforts here.

As we go forward, we know we have a lot of work to do. Some schools will need to be built first for strategic reasons. It’s a building process that could take 7-8 years. We have to take a deep-dive look at how these new high schools will look, and that means we will have to continue to be Team HISD at its best.

It’s a great day to be in Houston, Texas. I will continue to reflect on the cheers and triumphant faces I saw today in that meeting. Congratulations on a job well done!