After several weeks of debating whether Houston ISD’s $4.4 billion bond proposal, the largest in Texas history, is the best choice for the district at the moment, the debate was settled once and for all. With months of parents, teachers, students, and community members saying, “No trust, no bond,” Houstonians have rejected the proposal.
According to preliminary results released by the Harris County Clerk’s Office, nearly 60% of voters voted against propositions A ($3.96 billion) and B ($440 million) of the bond.
With 210,967 people (59.97%) voting against Prop A and 209,447 voters (60.02%) against Prop B, the bond did not pass. Both propositions garnered 40% of votes in favor of the bond.
Harris County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth said more than 85,000 voters cast their ballots before 10 a.m., and by 7 p.m., 318,811 voters had cast their ballots in Harris County.
What this means
Unofficially, the bond was a referendum on HISD leadership. For several months, the bond created a stir in the district, with multiple speakers opposing it vocally during board meetings. While most agreed the funds were necessary to implement campus improvements, the prevalent sentiment was distrust in district leadership with HISD’s state-appointed Superintendent, Mike Miles, at the helm. Miles and a board of managers joined the district after the TEA (Texas Education Agency) took over, citing poor academic performance in Wheatley High School and alleged misconduct by previous trustees.
The bond marks the first significant milestone that Houstonians were required to vote on. In a rare gesture of unity, both the Democratic and Republican parties in Harris County opposed the bond, following teachers’ unions and PTOs. Nonprofits and groups with business backgrounds, like The Greater Houston Partnership, BakerRipley, and Good Reason Houston, advocated for the bond.
People weigh in
“We know that our children need the infrastructure, HVAC systems, and technology, but at this point, we don’t have the trust in the current HISD administration to do what they say they’re going to do. Tomorrow, our teachers will return to work, they will continue to work for our students,” said Jackie Anderson, president of the Houston Federation of Teachers. “We just hope that this is an indication that HISD administration and Board of Managers will look to us to build coalitions so we can move forward.”
Anderson added teachers were left out of the process since TEA took over and more community engagement might have resulted in the bond passing.
HFT’s Corina Ortiz agreed that addressing district leadership will be challenging.
“That’s gonna send a message not only to TEA but also to Mike Miles this past year and a half that we haven’t been able to get any kind of consultation with him either through parents, through our organization, the largest teacher organization in the state of Texas,” Ortiz said. “We’re not gonna go away quietly. We’re just gonna keep crying harder.”
Good Reason Houston, an education nonprofit that advocated for the bond, said the outcome will have “profound implications” for the district.
“We are deeply disappointed that the HISD bond measure did not pass, as we firmly believe in providing Houston’s students and educators with the facilities, safety measures, and technology they need to thrive,” said Cary Wright, CEO of Good Reason Houston. “This outcome means we must continue to work within the current insufficient infrastructure, even though we know students deserve and need more. We stand ready to collaborate with community leaders, educators, and families to explore other ways of ensuring our schools receive the resources necessary to create safe, healthy, and modern learning environments.”
Brittany Smith, a student pursuing a master’s in social work, said voters at the Nottingham Park polls expressed confusion regarding the HISD bond propositions and heard them ask questions about what they entailed.
Houstonians for Great Public Schools, which supported the bond proposal, said the bond’s outcome is a “setback” for Houston’s students.
“With the last bond election held 12 years ago, children have waited too long for essential improvements that would provide a safe and supportive learning environment,” said Veronica Garcia, executive director of Houstonians for Great Public Schools. “While this setback is disappointing, our commitment to supporting this bond and its goals remains unwavering. However, we can’t afford to wait…The needs of HISD students cannot be put on hold.”
Recap: what HISD planned
HISD said there will be no property tax increases from the passage of this bond. It planned on paying what it owed from the existing rates but relied on the increase in property values across the district. By law, however, the ballot had to say, “THIS IS A PROPERTY TAX INCREASE.”
Currently, district residents are paying off HISD’s last bond, passed in 2012, through property taxes. Now that the bond has failed, HISD may choose to reduce taxes in the future.
Now what?
Since the bond did not pass, HISD will have to pause its improvements on HVAC, lead abatement, and security issues on several campuses and rebuild or renovate others.
Moreover, the district’s “co-location” plan, in which eight schools with dwindling enrollment move into nearby existing campuses, will also have to halt.
