HOUSTON 鈥� Community members were irate Tuesday night as state education officials tried to explain the process of taking over the Houston Independent School District. State officials did not take questions about the effects such a move could have on the district, which is the largest in Texas, but did try to recruit community members to replace the existing school board.
About seven minutes into the Texas Education Agency鈥檚 PowerPoint presentation on the impending HISD takeover, parents and community members erupted in shouts directed at TEA deputy commissioner Alejandro Delgado.
鈥淲e got questions,鈥� attendees repeatedly yelled. 鈥淵鈥檃ll tryna take our community.鈥�
It was the first meeting that the state agency held in Houston since it on March 15 that it would replace the district鈥檚 current superintendent, Millard House II, and its democratically elected school board with its own 鈥渂oard of managers鈥� in response to years of underperforming schools, mainly Phillis Wheatley High School.
The high school received a failing accountability grade from the agency for five years in a row. It reached that threshold in 2019, but a court injunction had delayed any action from the TEA until this year. TEA Commissioner Mike Morath has said a mandates that he either close the failing campus or appoint a new board of managers, effectively taking over the whole district.
The TEA commissioner decides how long the board will be in place. Usually, this sort of takeover lasts two to six years. TEA is seeking nine board managers that live within the district to take over starting June 1.
Houston ISD, with 276 schools and an enrollment of nearly 200,000 students, will be the largest district the agency has taken over.
The TEA official attempted to finish his presentation without interruption, but community members would not stand down. They were upset that they had to write their questions down on index cards and then TEA officials would choose which questions to answer.
鈥淭his meeting was rodeo-grade BS,鈥� said Houston ISD parent Travis McGee. 鈥淭he community should have been able to speak.鈥�
McGee and other community members were also upset that the TEA commissioner himself didn鈥檛 show up to the meeting.
U.S. Rep. , D-Houston, took the podium once the TEA could not take control of the meeting. She said she believes Morath has the ability to not take over the district and instead continue monitoring improvement within the schools.
鈥淭he board of managers will not be responsive to teachers, parents or children. I do want the school board to be responsive to you,鈥� she told the audience.
The TEA, which grades schools and districts each year based on their academic achievement, gave Wheatley a grade of F in 2019. Last year, Wheatley got a C, and Houston ISD as a whole received a B. In the last 19 months, HISD has made positive strides reducing the number of its campuses with a D or F rating from 50 to 10. Ninety-four percent of HISD schools now earn a grade of A, B or C.
While the accountability grade improved, Morath said that doesn鈥檛 change the fact that the school received failing grades in its accountability rating for five consecutive years 鈥� enough to mandate that the agency intervene.
鈥淭here are still systemic challenges in Houston,鈥� he previously told the Tribune. 鈥淲e are still required to act and so we are acting.鈥�
McGee, whose children attend an HISD high school, said the meeting was 鈥渧ery disrespectful鈥� to community members. People wanted to express their concerns and frustrations directly to TEA officials through a microphone on a podium regarding the board of managers change, rather than hear about the application process, he said.
鈥淭he board of managers is going to be a bunch of puppets,鈥� McGee said. 鈥淥ur school district ain鈥檛 perfect, but I doubt the state of Texas gonna do any better.鈥�
Arnetta Murray, a Houston ISD teacher, said the TEA has not listened to the community about more pressing concerns. If they did, they would know the district has a bus driver shortage and teachers are stressed over standardized testing.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 care about no board of managers,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 care about our students and I care about the teachers.鈥�
The agency will host three more this month.
