Since the Texas Education Agency (TEA) took over the Houston Independent School District in 2023, the district has been in the midst of controversy. The appointed superintendent Mike Miles and the Board of Managers have been under fire, at times for their curriculum model in New Education System (NES) schools, the closure of libraries, downsizing, and most recently, proposing a $4.4 billion bond that eventually failed.
Here are the top moments of the year that proved to be transformational for the district and the protests that dictated the course of action for the coming year.
HISD proposed $4.4 billion bond
Earlier this year, HISD proposed a $4.4 billion bond, which was placed on the Nov. 5 ballot. The bond aimed to use $1.1 billion for “safety and healthy campuses” and to prepare students to be “future-ready.” The remaining $2.2 billion was allotted to “restoring Houston’s schools.”
With a bond of this size, the district had a major task at hand: to garner community support, especially in the face of massive opposition toward leadership, which it failed to do. This was a crucial step for HISD’s ambitious plans to fix the district’s campuses and address prevalent issues.
Parents, teachers and community members who opposed the bond agreed that expensive upgrades to campus technology, security, HVAC systems, air quality, health, career and technical education (CTE) facilities, pre-K spaces, transportation and new construction would benefit the students.
However, the consensus remained the same – “no trust, no bond.”
Bond proposal failed at the polls
After months of debating the $4.4 billion bond’s pros and cons, the increasing distrust among the HISD community decided its fate: the bond failed with nearly 60% of voters saying no to both propositions. Out of 210,967 voters, 59.97% voted against Prop A (amounting to $3.96 billion), and 60.02% went against Prop B ($440 million).
The votes symbolized an unofficial referendum on HISD’s leadership. For months, speakers took to the podium at board meetings to express their discontentment with how HISD operated.
The bond’s failure highlighted the need for district leadership to engage the community and make its plans more accessible. It also united people on both ends of the political spectrum, in which Democrats and Republicans united in their opposition to the bond, alongside teachers’ unions and parent-teacher organizations (PTOs). Organizations like the Greater Houston Partnership, BakerRipley and Good Reason Houston also came together to advocate for the bond.
Scores improved but not for all students
Scores improved for white and Asian students under the rigorous NES model, which uses a centralized curriculum and test-based evaluations. However, Black and Brown students have yet to show the same progress in non-NES schools. Scores improved in all student groups in NES schools, from 28% of all students meeting the third-grade math grade level in 2022-23 to 35% in 2023-24. NES schools also improved by three percentage points on the third-grade reading levels with students outperforming others across Texas by four percentage points on average.
Despite the improvements, non-NES elementary schools lagged. Overall, HISD’s third-grader reading level fell a percentage point from 41% to 40%.
Moreover, while the percentage of students who met grade-level standards increased in NES schools for African American, Hispanic, disabled, bilingual, and economically disadvantaged students, it declined in non-NES schools. Math test scores in non-NES schools declined by a percentage point, from 42% in 2022-23 to 41% in the 2023-24 school year.
Budget cuts impacted district
Miles also downsized campus wraparound specialists, who provided support for food, shelter, medical, legal, and immigration needs, among other things. The remaining specialists’ new duties focused more on preventing chronic absenteeism and dropouts. They also referred students to HISD’s newly built Sunrise Centers.
Miles conducted layoffs to offset a budget deficit, citing declining enrollment and the drying up of federal COVID-19 Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER) relief funds.
Teachers spoke with the Defender throughout the year about the impact the layoffs had on students, especially those experiencing hunger and homelessness issues.
Leadership changes frustrate teachers, students, and parents
Numerous HISD teachers and principals were fired or reshuffled this year. Former principals, many beloved in their community, spoke up about how they were blind-sided and dismissed from their duties. Although they were hopeful about the current HISD leadership and were initially offered autonomy over their campuses, they were soon let go. Miles’ evaluation of principals was based on data points like instruction, achievement, action plan and leadership.
The district warned 117 principals, representing 40% of schools, to improve their performances before the spring break. Some principals like Meyerland Middle School’s Auden Sarabia, who spent almost three decades at the district, were given an ultimatum to resign or be terminated. Similarly, Samantha Woods, the former principal of STEM magnet school Valley West Elementary, and Jessica Berry, the former principal of Herod Elementary School, were terminated after they declined to resign.
Local media reports revealed that there were at least 154 principal changes across 141 HISD campuses this year. Since the TEA takeover, more than 4,000 employees, including a record number of teachers, left the district.
The layoffs led to protests among parents and students across the district. Parents and community leaders said the frequent layoffs and reshuffling of beloved principals impacted students’ academic performance and mental health. They also criticized the moves as a “community-busting” tactic aimed at destabilizing schools and weakening community voices.
HISD released its own accountability ratings
HISD reported significant strides in state-issued accountability ratings, in which more than half (149) of the schools’ ratings improved by one or more letter grades, 87 had the same grade and 29 saw their score decline. The district had to release its projected ratings because of a temporary restraining order issued by a Travis County Judge that blocked the release of TEA’s ratings this year.
HISD said it used TEA’s formula, which uses student achievement, school progress, and closing achievement gaps as parameters. It reflected improvements in NES schools following a centralized curriculum and test-based evaluations. Although scores were low compared to the rest of the state, they improved from other years. Some argued these are the most common parameters to judge if a school is performing well, while others criticized a disproportionate reliance on test results to gauge progress.
