CASE Report: HISD Funnels Money Into Classrooms

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HISD Funnels Money into Classrooms

HISD’s annual financial report has just been released, and it shows focused investments in teaching and learning, overperformance in revenue generation and cost reductions, and healthy fund balances going into 2025.

Here are some highlights:

Houston Chronicle’s story is here.

Why it matters: Houston ISD is navigating a tighter budget environment amid stagnant state funding, enrollment declines, legislative mandates, and inflation. Despite these challenges, HISD has found ways to increase revenue, decrease expenditures, raise teacher salaries, and keep a healthy fund balance. HISD’s more efficient management of funds allows for greater investment into students and teachers while reducing obligations that are unaligned with student success.

By the numbers: The number of instructional leadership employees nearly doubled from 316 to 628 — the highest level in the last ten fiscal years. This focus on high-quality instruction will serve to increase student achievement and improve student outcomes.

The number of school leadership employees decreased by 22 employees, the report shows, which aligns with Superintendent Miles’ goal to reduce central office spending in favor of classroom spending.

What’s next: Going forward, HISD will look to increase teacher salaries, incentive payments, and stipends, and also hire additional "apprentice teachers" and create the "learning coach position" as part of its innovative staffing model.

HISD Right-Sizes Bus Operations

HISD, which provides the largest district-led school bus service in Texas, will reassign work to minimize overtime costs, require prior approval for overtime hours, and hire a pool of drivers designated exclusively for field trips, according to a Wednesday announcement. HISD said the new measures will cut an "unsustainable rate" of accrued overtime pay, while promoting a healthy work-life balance and staffing field trips.

Houston Chronicle’s story is here.

Why it matters: Transportation inefficiencies were highlighted in HISD’s bombshell Efficiency Report that was released shortly after Superintendent Miles took the helm of the district. From an oversupply of buses, to inefficient routes, to overtime overages, HISD’s transportation operations showed significant room for improvement.

The district’s new changes to transportation will save roughly $3 million.

What they’re saying: “…[W]e are looking for ways to be more efficient within the department, so that we can make sure that kids are having the best experience possible when they're riding busses," said Kari Feinberg, HISD chief of organizational effectiveness.

Go deeper: Many members of the transportation department have exceeded 10% of their annual projected pay in overtime, which is the cap set by the district. Per the new rule, drivers will need to complete an overtime form 24 hours in advance and get prior approval from a supervisor.

Reducing this inefficiency will save the district valuable dollars that can be reallocated toward student achievement.

What’s next: The district notified staff of the change Wednesday afternoon and will conduct several terminal talks through Dec. 10 to discuss updates. Transportation staff can submit comments and questions ahead of terminal talks with an online survey.

HISD Looks to Boost Pre-K Enrollment

Houston ISD is making a push to fill pre-kindergarten seats for 3- and 4-year-olds at more than 40 schools across the city, according to a Wednesday social media post.

The district stated,” Kids who attended pre-K at Houston-area public schools were more likely to be ready for kindergarten and less likely to be chronically absent in early elementary school, according to new reports from Rice University’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research: https://bit.ly/3YJ0FcG ”

Families need proof of residence, their child's birth certificate, and, if applicable, proof of eligibility for free pre-K , to enroll. Here are the schools that still have availability:

Houston Chronicle’s full story is here.

By the numbers: With 14,000 available pre-K seats, HISD planned to add around 800 additional pre-K seats by August, according to a June board document. The district had also planned to add about 4,000 more seats under its proposed bond that Houstonians voted against in November.

What they’re saying: Superintendent Mike Miles has said that enrolling more children in pre-K is a tool for increasing the number of elementary school students able to read "on grade level" in the future.

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