Meet the three Black HISD Board of Managers

Houston Independent School District is still getting acclimated to the new reality as former Dallas ISD Superintendent Mike Miles takes the reins as the district’s new superintendent, following his appointment by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) earlier this month. This marks the beginning of the state agency’s intervention in HISD, leading to the takeover of the district’s board of trustees.

To transition back to an elected board, TEA officials outlined specific requirements for the district to meet. These include eliminating multiyear failing campuses, achieving full compliance with state and federal special education program requirements, and demonstrating improved governance focused on enhancing outcomes for all students in HISD.

The primary objective of this intervention is to improve the performance of underperforming schools within the district. However, some community members have expressed their distrust of the new board of managers and their lack of involvement and education experience in improving education outcomes for students in HISD during the board of managers’ first public-school board meeting on June 8.

Recognizing the need to address community concerns and foster understanding, The Defender Network conducted interviews with three Black representatives from the Board of Managers: Angela Lemond Flowers, a veteran HISD educator; Cassandra Auzenne Bandy, HISD graduate and PTO volunteer; and Adam P. Rivon, HISD parent and military veteran.

Defender: Can you tell us about your previous experience and community work you’ve done for the community at-large and HISD?

Flowers: I began working in the district in 1993 at Jesse H. Jones High School. I also raised my children in the Third Ward. We’ve been active in the Houston community our entire lives. We’re active at Wheeler Avenue, which is my church, active in Jack and Jill, active with other community events, and then raising my kids from South Central Little League to Boy Scouts. They are grown now. My oldest is 23, my youngest is 16. I’ve also worked outside of the school system with non-profit organizations that partner with HISD and other school districts. I’ve worked on principal pipelines, teacher pipelines, making sure that we have the best and brightest for Houston and drawing them in, providing support for leadership development. One of the things the research says is that the school principal, school leader is really the sole pivot for school change. We’ve got to have excellent principals. I’ve been doing this work for a while, I know the needs in HISD, and that’s one of the things that drew me to the work here.

Bandy: As far as community involvement, I started when I was an HISD student myself from Grissom Elementary, to TH Rogers to Booker T Washington High School. We live on the northeast side of town right now. My kids go to Hester House twice a week to do swimming lessons. My volunteer affiliations are Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, MD Anderson, AIDS Foundation of Houston, Junior League of Houston. I try to maintain my volunteerism in the community and try to teach my kids that’s the way to go and surround them with those types of opportunities as well.

Rivon: I grew up in Baytown. I guess I’ll call it east Houston. Half of my childhood was there. The second half was in Barbers Hill ISD, which is Mont Belvieu. However, when I got to Prairie View, I pledged to the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, began working with Big Brothers Big Sisters, a lot of our national programs. Later in life, I actually was able to become one of the presidents of the Alpha chapter of Alpha Lambda. I’m a member of Wheeler. Prior to the pandemic, you could see me regularly in Children’s church. I’ve always kind of been involved there as one of the voluntary leaders. I also led the Lemonade Day for Houston for Wheeler.

Defender: Community engagement is crucial in fostering positive educational outcomes. How do you plan to actively engage with and involve Black students, families and communities in shaping policies and decisions that directly impact their academic success?

Flowers: We have a community engagement plan. It’s starting with our superintendent and it includes all of the board. We are going to go out to the community and then bring the community in. We are now the school board. We are that voice for the community. All of us are large members, so it’s not one person for one district. You can literally reach out to us collectively. All of those things are going to start in the summer, even before the school year, because we need to hear from the community.

Bandy: We’ve outlined our network map of important stakeholders within the community. We are tapping into our networks. We’re spreading it wide. The Houston Defender needs to hold us accountable. You are how we’re speaking to our people. That goes for the Chronicle, the Landing, everybody we’ve talked to. The media is so powerful. Journalism is powerful. You guys can help us with this effort, because it’s all hands on deck.

Rivon: We’re already reaching out. We’re going to various community events to make sure that folks know who we are and know that they can reach us. We want to be available not only to the communities where many of us reside. Third Ward is where I lived for the longest. I live in the Montrose area, but I’ll be going to different parts of the community to make sure that they are connected to us. We’re still accountable to you even though you didn’t vote for us per se. We want to make sure we are achieving our targets.

Defender: Talk about the strategies being laid out to close this achievement gap in schools.

Flowers: Our superintendent has outlined his plan to work with the achievement gap, starting with 29 schools. It’s really best practice. It’s about leadership and making sure that principals are instructional leaders and providing that professional development and support because [they] evaluate teachers. He started on day one talking to his principals about the plan to make sure that all principals in HISD are equipped with the skills to be instructional leaders. He went straight on day two to teachers talking about the value of teachers as instructional leaders. Our job again is to evaluate and measure progress over time with this plan he’s outlined.

Bandy: The plan is clear and the resources are allocated where they need the most. It is important that they understand the superintendent’s plan that he’s rolling out. We are putting the money where the mouth is.

Rivon: As parents we all have a responsibility to help our kids, as well. I didn’t come from an education background. I’m a small business owner. What I did know was that I needed to help my son learn to read, and I needed to help him with his math homework to the degree that I could. Those little things that we can do, as well, will assist in closing those gaps.

Angela Lemond Flowers is an experienced educator who started her teaching career at Jesse H. Jones High School in HISD, following in the footsteps of her mother. With over 20 years of experience as a high school English teacher and in administrative leadership roles in Houston-area schools, Flowers is committed to advancing children’s education. As a mother of four, including two HISD graduates, she brings a personal understanding of the district’s challenges and aspirations.

Cassandra Auzenne Bandy , a Houston native and Houston ISD graduate, is a parent to fourth-generation HISD students. Actively involved in the Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO) at her children’s school, Bandy also holds a background in chemical engineering and currently works as a business strategy manager at a global consulting firm.

Adam P. Rivon is a Houston ISD parent and a military veteran. As the founder and owner of a small business in the real estate industry, Rivon’s experience in leadership and his service in the United States Army earned him a Bronze Star during combat operations in Iraq.

With this new board of managers in place, the community eagerly anticipates their commitment to earning the trust of families while navigating the path forward for HISD.