Millard House II, forced out of his job as Houston ISD superintendent when the Texas Education Agency assumed control of the district last week, has landed another leadership position.
House was introduced Wednesday as the new CEO and superintendent of Prince George’s County Public Schools in the Washington D.C. area. School district executive Angela Alsobrooks described House as a “dynamic, transformational, experienced leader” and praised his work in Houston, where several low-performing schools improved their academic ratings during House’s two years at the helm of the largest district in Texas.
“He has a well-rounded background that makes him the perfect fit for our school system,” Alsobrooks said.
The potential of a state takeover loomed over HISD when House was hired in 2021, because Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath had announced in 2019 his intention to replace the district’s nine elected trustees with a state-appointed board of managers, citing mismanagement and alleged illegal activity by trustees and a string of failing reviews of Wheatley High School. HISD subsequently sued the state to block that action, but Morath and the TEA proceeded with the takeover last week after a favorable ruling earlier this year by the Texas Supreme Court.
House was replaced by former Dallas ISD superintendent Mike Miles as part of the transition, but not without receiving praise from a local teachers’ union and Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, who wrote in a May 26 post on Twitter that he wanted to “apologize to him for how the state treated him.” More than 40 HISD schools failed to meet state academic standards in 2019, whereas nine of the district’s campuses received failing marks in 2022.
“Millard House did an incredible job under some very difficult circumstances,” Turner also wrote. “Houston ISD loss will be somebody’s gain.”
House, a native of Tulsa, Oklahoma, worked as a school administrator there and in Charlotte, N.C., before later becoming the director of schools for the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System in Tennessee. From there he was hired by HISD.
House referenced his time in Houston during his introductory news conference Wednesday in Maryland, where he is succeeding retiring school district CEO Monica Goldson. He is scheduled to start July 1, according to an announcement by Prince George’s County Public Schools.
“I will be coming into this school system working closely over the next 90 days with Dr. Goldson to ensure that I listen and I learn,” House said. “I spent time going to 18 different communities in the Houston area to hear from parents, students and community members around what it is that they think is very important.”
– Written by Adam Zuvanich