The Fifth Ward community is leading a conversation aimed to facilitate open dialogue about the recent HISD takeover and its impact on local schools.
A meeting led by Janice Thomas, founder and CEO of Discovering U, and hosted by Greater Fifth Ward Go Neighborhoods at the Restoration Square Full Gospel Church, aimed to give parents, educators and community members the chance to discuss school district updates, challenges and opportunities for collective action to improve student outcomes.
“I believe that all children can succeed. Our children deserve a quality education. All they need is an opportunity and resources that will help them get there,” said Thomas. “Their economic background has no bearing on what they are capable of learning and doing.”
Thomas, a Wheatley High School alumna (Class of 1986), pointed to five key pillars for changes that the state expects from public schools.
She believes the school district fell short in terms of the academic success of Black and Brown students in the district which include:
- Ensuring all students graduate with essential knowledge and skills for life, career and/or military
- Equipping all schools with strong visionary leaders
- Staffing each campus with effective educators
- Directing schools to welcome community members, parents, teachers as partners in the decision-making for schools in their neighborhoods
- Equitably funding all schools to meet the unique needs of their student populations
- Maintaining safe and supportive environment for students
- Providing schools with curriculums, programs, activities and services that provide opportunities for student achievement and growth
Several parents actively addressed challenges from an HISD parent’s perspective including, lack of school funding, discipline disparities, a lack of meaningful engagement with educators, and lack of college prep for students to excel at low-performing schools.
“I would say the problem we have with parent communication in schools is that we don’t feel welcome. We feel dumb or you’re not taking me seriously enough because I have a bad child,” said Fifth Ward resident Barbara Jones. “So, when I walk in and have a serious case and I want to get to what we can do to solve this problem to help my child succeed, but you’ve already had this idea in your head that the parent must be bad because the child is terrible… and their address defies what type of mother I am.
“If we don’t get these pillars for change, we’re going to have a lot of uneducated people walking around doing nothing; and that hurts us. We fought too long and hard to go backwards.”
Flo Samuel, a longtime member of Restoration Square Full Gospel Church, said parents have to be more involved in the student’s education process, including engaging in the school material at home.
“I have a granddaughter and ever since she finished school, every day I pick her up, get her something to eat and we hit the books,” said Samuel. “And she’s sitting right here next to me because I need to know what’s going on while her parents are working. I want her to know that I am interested, I’m willing to be here with you.”
Danielle Flanagan is the operations and research manager of the Coalition of Community Organizations. She says solving the problems in the public-school education system goes well beyond the schools. She expressed that some schools in Fifth Ward struggle with water filtration system problems, poor air quality in the buildings and transportation challenges for residents who can’t afford vehicles.
“There is a compound problem that we are all facing. [We have] social, climate and environmental issues that we’ve allowed to progress and get worse over the last three decades,” said Flanagan. “Where are our advocates? We need people who will come and align with us and help us dig up this data.”
Another attendee said there are many parents who want to volunteer their time at HISD to enhance the student learning experience, but some parents are scared to register for HISD’s Volunteers in Public Schools because of background checks that could potentially bring up past criminal records or misdemeanors.
Although Thomas wasn’t originally for the takeover, she said the community has to come to terms with move and focus on the children.
“Houston ISD has been chosen as the model district to set the example for how all school boards should operate and how the members should be focused on the outcomes of our children.”
