CASE Report: Community Rallies in Support of Bond

CASE is a collective of Houstonians committed to ensuring every student within Houston Independent School District (HISD) has the opportunity to receive a high-quality education.

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Bond to Benefit Smaller Schools

HISD’s proposed bond will not only benefit its large, fast-growth schools, but it will also support the district’s smaller schools, including 25 schools with declining enrollments.

Each of the schools would get an average of over $5 million if the bond passes, which would largely go toward security upgrades, lead remediation and heating, ventilation and air conditioning improvements. The bond also allocates money for each school to meet statewide legal safety and security requirements included in House Bill 3.

Houston Chronicle’s story is here.

Why it matters: Although these schools have declining enrollments, they are not empty. Students, teachers, staff, and parents that use these buildings deserve to have air conditioning, lead-free water, and security.

By the numbers: HISD’s bond proposes spending $2.3 billion for rebuilding and renovating schools and $1 billion for lead remediation, security upgrades , and HVAC improvements. It would also provide $1.1 billion to expand pre-K , build three new career and technical education centers and make technology upgrades without raising taxes.

What they’re saying: “As far as those schools with a projected decline in enrollment, of course, we still need to invest in our students and in our schools, so that our students and our staff are safe. They still deserve to be safe and secure, so we're definitely going to continue to invest in those campuses.” - Alishia Jolivette, HISD's interim chief operating officer of business operations.

Go deeper: Virginia Snodgrass Rangel, an associate professor in the University of Houston's College of Education, said she believes it makes sense for HISD to invest in improving HVAC or security, even at schools that are under-enrolled or underutilized through the bond because the kids who are currently attending the schools deserve to see infrastructure upgrades.

“While you have students there, you do have a responsibility to these communities to equitably spend money across the district,” Snodgrass Rangel said. “If there's a school in the Fifth Ward that is on a list to consider for closure in five years, does that mean you don't invest in it? That's an equity issue, because a lot of those kids are in schools that are under-resourced.”

Rising “Unsubstantiated” SPED Complaints Waste Resources

The Houston Chronicle recently outlined a growing problem in HISD: the sudden rise of “unsubstantiated” special education complaints.

Parents can complain to the Texas Education Agency if they believe their child is not receiving federally-compliant special education accommodations, which triggers an investigation. Complaints found to have merit are addressed with the districts, but those without merit are deemed “unsubstantiated".

The Chronicle reported that unsubstantiated TEA complaints against HISD have risen an alarming 11% since 2019.

Check out the full story here.

Why it matters: False complaints are wasteful in several ways, but most importantly, they divert attention and resources away from students whose complaints are substantiated with facts, evidence, and truth. Time and resources wasted investigating an unsubstantiated claim is time and resources that could have gone toward helping a student in need.

By the numbers: In 2019-2020, 61% of all claims were substantiated, while only 50% were substantiated 2023-2024. The trend is that fewer and fewer complaints are being found to have any merit.

What they’re saying: HISD is not without special education challenges, however, these can largely be attributed to external factors:

"It's so unfortunate that (HISD's) state takeover coincided with the pandemic and long wait times for students getting labeled, especially through the ARD process," University of Houston-Downtown associate professor Ashwini Tiwari said. "It's across Texas that a lot of these issues are occurring."

HISD’s “Mini West Point” Strengthens CCMR Efforts

Houston ISD opened its new Cullen Military Academy this school year, a “mini West Point” housed within Cullen Middle School.

The innovative program offers “leadership skills and those life skills for those students that are (considering) the military”, said Tiesha Duffey, a sixth-grade math teacher at the academy.

The students are immersed in military culture, which emphasizes excellence in mind, body, and spirit. Students are expected to perform well academically, to improve their physical fitness, and to grow personally and as leaders.

Check out Houston Chronicle’s full story here.

Why it matters: The military academy will serve to boost the number of CCMR (college, career, or military-ready) graduates, which factors into the district’s official A-F accountability score, and which determines how fast the district can end the intervention. In short, better CCMR outcomes mean a faster transition to an elected school board.

By the numbers: Cullen opened Aug. 14 with around 60 students in both sixth and seventh grades. These students are enrolled in English and language arts, math, science, a high school Mandarin language class and leadership and character development, including physical fitness training. Eighth grade will be added next year.

What they’re saying:"They always have something good to say. 'I don't want to go to school,' we don't have that anymore. We were telling them about, you know, the drill team and everything and the different things you learn about. And so they have more of an open mind about what's going on." - Karen Hubb, Cullen Military Academy Parent.

Harvard Principal Disciplined as Scores Slip

Harvard Elementary’s principal was put on leave last week pending an investigation. Although it is unclear what exactly led to the disciplinary action taking place, we do know that student achievement at Harvard was not keeping pace with expectations.

Houston Chronicle’s story is here.

Why it matters: The move, though shocking due to the principal’s popularity, might have been viewed as necessary in order to improve scores and close achievement gaps.

Harvard’s slip from and A to a B-rated school is a trend that the district would like to reverse. Also, Harvard’s magnet students may be thriving, but those on the disadvantaged side of the achievement gaps are in dire need of more focused attention.

What they’re saying:"We understand that sometimes employees need to be placed on leave, and that sometimes, very often, when they're placed on leave, it's for legitimate reasons," parent Josh Brodbeck said. "And so, if that's what's happening here, we get it and we understand.”

Go deeper: The district confirmed that Harvard is not an NES school and the district has no plans to convert Harvard into an NES school.

What’s next: Assistant principal Alejandra Perez will step into the role. Superintendent Miles’ principal academy ensures that effective leaders will be ready to hit the ground running in the event of a personnel change like this.

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