Jolanda Jones not only represents the state as a representative, but she served on the HISD board of trustee, District 4 from 2016-2020.
Known for her outspoken nature, she fearlessly advocates for impoverished children and isn’t hesitant to hold fellow trustees accountable. However, certain events have brought significant changes to the school district’s governance.
In 2019, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) initiated a move to remove the HISD board due to allegations of misconduct by trustees and a history of poor academic performance at a single high school within the district. The TEA’s Special Investigations Unit conducted an inquiry that revealed potential wrongdoing in two areas: violating the Texas Open Meetings Act and exceeding their authority.
Supporters of the state’s takeover argue that it provides a way to revitalize struggling school districts. However, critics express concerns about undermining the community’s choice by removing elected board members and the potential impact on jobs within the district.
The Defender Network had the opportunity to speak with Jones to gain insights into her thoughts on the TEA takeover and its implications. As a former HISD board member, her unique perspective sheds light on this significant development in Houston’s educational landscape.
Defender: As a former Houston ISD board trustee and advocate for education, what are your thoughts on the Texas Education Agency’s takeover of Houston ISD?
Jones: Before they [Board of Managers] were appointed I’ve never met them and I was involved in HISD, I mean trying to help before I was ever on the board. I’ve never seen any of them. Where did they come from? They know nothing about HISD. They never came to one board meeting. They never talked to any trustees. I got on the board in 2016.
Defender: In your experience as a board trustee, what specific challenges or disparities did you observe in the education in Houston ISD?
Jones: They didn’t have sports. They didn’t have bands. They didn’t even have honor society. They had nothing. Some of these kids deal with trauma. Think about the immigrant kids who have people in their families who are undocumented, or maybe they’re working and they need to take care of their families, or scared that their parents will be taken from them. Can you imagine living like that? How do you explain that to people who think that if the kids are struggling, it must be something the kids or the parents aren’t doing? So, HISD has all of those problems and most of my colleagues had no clue about them.
Defender: TEA first moved to force out the school district board in 2019 in response to allegations of misconduct by trustees. What can you recall from that time?
Jones: Dr. Grenita Lathan was the best superintendent HISD ever had. She recognized the schools that were underfunded. She gave us budgets in multiple years to sufficiently fund all those 29 schools that fake board of managers are mentioning… Not only did [certain] board members vote against it, what they did at the board table was just decided to put money where they wanted. We had a chief financial officer who made sure the budget was balanced. At the board table, they were like we’re going to take money from this school or this program. They didn’t know what they were doing. HISD is in the financial ruins that it’s in because of them deciding that they knew how to be a superintendent. There was no unity across the board. Sue Deigaard, Elizabeth Santos, Holly Maria Flynn Vilaseca, Sergio Lira, Diana Davila, and Anne Sung voted together, on a team of nine. I was in an alliance of three. Three is never going to beat six. In fact, the TEA investigated HISD because they were looking for anything to take us over, even during that walking quorum [some board trustees] were a part of. Everybody got in trouble but me. When you have open meetings, the public needs to be aware, so that we’re not doing sneaky stuff like they were doing.
Defender: What were some initiatives that played a role in achieving positive results in the schools at the time?
Jones: Dr. Lathan put in for us to have nurses at every school, psychologists and counselors and librarians. Dr. Lathan knew that the inner-city kids have unique problems that sometimes we don’t talk about. She tried to put money into special education. They [board members] wouldn’t let her put that kind of money in.
Defender: What do you have to say to the members of the appointed board?
Jones: I had to know what was going on [in the district]. My son was zoned to schools that had no certified math or science teachers before I was elected. I had to put my son in a charter school that was marginally better than the schools that my son was zoned. I knew my son wouldn’t be able to compete with kids who were educated by certified teachers. I knew the problems because that’s why my kid didn’t go to those schools. Who better than somebody like me to try to fix it. The community doesn’t know these people [board of managers]. I can tell you this. Not one of them has called me and I’m now a state rep. The district actually needs me to vote on stuff for them to get money. None of them has bothered to contacted me to say, “Hey, you used to be on the school board, we may need to come to the state for money.” They are just connected, prominent, more money than average people. My advice to these board of managers is to leave.
Defender: What did it take to succeed in the role as board trustee? How can that translate now for this new appointed board?
Jones: They need the respect of the people. Until they earn the respect of the constituents, they can’t succeed. The problem is they think they’re smarter than the parents and the kids of the people they’re making decisions for. Nobody respects that. Every district that TEA has taken over has been worse. TEA doesn’t have a reputation of fixing schools. They go in, spend all the money, and then they leave.
Defender: What message would you like to convey to Black families in Houston ISD during this time?
Jones: I hate to say this, but if you can afford to leave HISD, you should. Problem is they can’t because over 90% of HISD kids are poor. The parents don’t have any money. I wouldn’t send my child to HISD with TEA over it.
