Ana Mac Naught, the parent of a seventh-grade student at Pershing Middle School, says the community is ready to send a message to leadership: It’s time Houston ISD stopped causing instability at the school.
More than 50 students and parents recently showed up at Pershing with protest signs and sang Christmas carols embedded with slogans. A police officer was also seen disciplining students during the protest.
“The approach was to send a message to HISD that the parents and the students of Pering are ready to defend our school,” Mac Naught said.
The protesters called on the district to support teachers, provide stability in staffing, focus on social-emotional learning (SEL), increase community engagement on schoolwide changes, and “cessation of punitive policies that harm the school community.”
“There’s been an increasing punitive atmosphere that punishes dissent, independent thought, and teachers for trying to teach beyond the packets and the slides that are provided by the district,” said Anita Wadhwa, an HISD parent of a sixth-grade student at Pershing.
The school has undergone months of upheaval, including the turnover of six school leaders.
In October, Pershing’s former principal Alvin Goldman was put on leave pending an investigation. Jeffrey Whitaker, the assistant principal at Holland Middle School, was placed as the interim principal during Golman’s absence.
Soon after, HISD appointed Domiana Battah-Miari, previously a principal apprentice at Henry Middle School, as Goldman’s replacement. In a letter to the Pershing community, she wrote she was “beyond ecstatic to serve and lead Pershing Middle School” and that she is committed “to working closely with ALL students, staff, parents and community partners to ensure every voice is heard and valued.”
Battah-Miari is the school’s third principal of the year. Simultaneously, HISD removed and replaced four assistant principals without disclosing a clear reason.
Several “beloved” teachers were put on leave or resigned days before Thanksgiving. Parents say it further destabilized the school, emphasizing the departure of a guitar teacher.
“There’s a culture of fear that has been in the district since this takeover a year ago. I don’t blame even administrators or teachers in the building for these stressful, anxiety-inducing environments that are being created,” Wadhwa said. “It starts at the top, it starts with the Texas Education Agency, with Abbott, and Mike Miles. They’re just causing constant chaos in the district to the point where young people think this is normal.”
Students say school feels like “a prison”
Among the many changes in school leadership, parents have noticed a shift in instruction methods as well. Mac Naught says homeroom has been slashed, instruction has been increased by 80 minutes, and passing time cut short, which causes anxiety for her child.
Based on Mac Naught’s observations, the police handle discipline issues at the school. She said three officers were present on the campus. Her child, too, said the school feels like “a prison” and that he has to run across the school to get to class on time due to the shorter passing time. “He comes home very tired,” she said.
Students in her son’s class have also not checked out a book all year because there is no librarian. Mac Naught says the school must prioritize children’s mental and social well-being and bring back wraparound service specialists.
“I’m very concerned about his well-being and about the content that he’s being taught,” Mac Naught said. “They’re using really repressive tactics to get kids ‘in line.’ These tactics of control are sending a message to our kids that they should do as they’re told. I don’t think that that’s what schools are about.”
Mac Naught says teachers also hesitate to speak up and can only do so by resigning as they no longer have autonomy over their classrooms.
“They really don’t have a say on the curriculum that is being taught or how it’s being taught. Resigning is also a way to speak up because frankly, they can’t inside,” she said.
Mac Naught added that students turning up to protest shows their resentment toward the school’s new disciplinary shift.
Wadhwa echoed the sentiment. She said the protests will continue. Her daughter, too, speaks at most board meetings with her.
“All we can do as parents is either sit on our hands or we can wake up and make noise,” Wadhwa said. “I think people underestimate the power of youth in this movement…We’re not gonna roll over, we’re gonna be a pain in your side.
