HISD Board Begins Consideration of $4.4 Billion Bond Package

“This is going to be a difficult situation,” former Texas Rep. Garnet Coleman told Houston ISD Superintendent Mike Miles and the HISD Board of Trustees Thursday evening.

He was, of course, referring to the adoption of a $4.4 billion bond issue at a time when many residents do not trust HISD’s new administrative regime. If the board approves the bond issue, it will be put to a vote on Nov. 5. The district has said the bond would not result in a tax increase.

The bond issue was considered after a lengthy presentation of the STAAR scores achieved by Miles and his directors, followed by an almost mind-boggling dive into the NWEA scores. Miles was in his element with charts and graphs in his PowerPoint explanation, recognizing early on that the way NWEA scores are calculated is difficult to understand. He nevertheless embarked on the adventure.

In any case, it was only after several hours of meeting that started at 4pm that the presentation of the bonds began and the Board of Directors began to ask detailed questions about how the whole thing had been put together, in particular about the proposal for four vocational and technical training centres in different areas of the district, at a significant cost.

“I have a lot of questions about the need to have a CTE facility in all of our divisions. To me, it screams redundancy,” said Administrator Cassandra Auzenne Bandy. The administration’s position is that there is too much travel time for students if there is only one CTE facility. The CAC report recommends that the centers be phased in and deferred to a future bond that completes this concept.

Divided into three sections, the bond issue would dedicate $1.04 billion to safe and healthy campuses (Miles stressed that fencing to ensure security was necessary), $1.07 billion to “ready for future” projects. ‘future’ (technical improvements for students and teachers) and $2.27 billion for the restoration of numerous establishments. schools. The administration also proposed moving some low-enrollment schools so that two different schools occupy the same campus, either in adjacent buildings or in a shared building. In some cases this would involve building a new school. Not all administrators are comfortable with this either.

Trustees Adam Rivon and Rolando Martinez asked what data the district uses to predict the size of these relocated schools with shared campuses.

It is planned to continue to expand the pre-kindergarten offering while admitting that the number of new places — 800 in the coming year — is still far from what the district would like to do for this young population, increasingly recognized as a crucial element. see more children reading at grade level by third grade. The bond would add an additional 4,000 3 pre-kindergarten and 4 pre-kindergarten seats, which, according to their calculations, would still leave 25,000 additional students in that age range unserved.

“The last bond was in 2012,” Miles said, adding that it was primarily for the district’s high schools. “The last time we invested significantly in our primary and secondary schools was in 2007 and even then we had not met the needs of all schools.” He said other Texas districts have spent significantly more money on their facilities in recent years, even much smaller districts than HISD.

In fact, Superintendent Mike Miles’ administration says the district’s needs far exceed $4.1 billion, but it has acknowledged that a $10 billion-plus bond issue accompanied by a tax rate increase would be unlikely to pass.

Coleman and former HISD board member Judith Cruz were present as two of three co-chairs of the Community Advisory Committee and they attended the entire meeting, including the public speakers section during which several People addressing the board concluded their remarks with “No confidence.” , no bond” chant which has been a frequently expressed mantra in recent months.

Coleman asked audience members to separate their feelings about Miles’ new education system — known for its daily testing and regimented approach to learning — from HISD students’ real need for newer buildings that are not not faced with mold, leaks and unsafe conditions.

“This initiative is long overdue,” Coleman said. “It is imperative that young students get what they need. » He and Cruz both said the district will need to be transparent in its plans if it wants to get buy-in from the community.

The proposed co-locations for schools, as described by HISD:

· Holland MS, Port Houston ES and Pleasantville ES (Furr Feeder) – Holland MS and Pleasantville are currently adjacent (separated by one street). This co-location would organize the three schools on the Holland parcel – each with separate entrances, staff and programs. The Port Houston community will need transportation to access the new campus.

· Fleming MS, Isaacs ES (Wheatley Feeder) – Fleming MS and Isaacs are currently two blocks apart and are high FCI campuses with low utilization. Fleming is in need of reconstruction and has a large parcel, which provides the opportunity to co-locate Isaacs on the parcel in an adjacent building.

· Franklin ES, Edison MS (Austin Feeder) – Franklin ES was closed for HVAC upgrades during the 2023-24 school year and will reopen in August 2024. Edison is located two blocks from Franklin , has a high FCI and is less than 50% used. There is room on the Franklin parcel to build a smaller middle school for Edison.

· Key MS, Kashmere Gardens ES (Kashmere Feeder) – Kashmere Gardens has a high occupancy rate (83%) and a low enrollment rate (331 students). Key Middle School (41%) has enough room to accommodate Kashmere Gardens students, with renovations to ensure both schools maintain their identities. The district will accommodate the transportation needs of Kashmere Gardens families to ensure access to the new Key Campus facilities.

· Baylor at Ryan MS, Blackshear ES (Yates Feeder) – Baylor at Ryan has low enrollment (313) and utilization (32 percent). Blackshear Elementary also has low enrollment (301 students) and utilization (55 percent). This co-location combines the two schools on the Ryan campus, with renovations to keep the school communities separate within the space.

· Deady MS, Sanchez ES (Milby Feeder) – Deady has low enrollment (494 students) and low utilization (37 percent). Sanchez has low enrollment (431 students) and is poorly located. Deady has ample space to co-locate the Sanchez community, and Deady is more central and convenient to the Sanchez attendance area.

· Cage ES, Project Chrysalis MS (Austin Feeder) – Cage and Chrysalis are an existing co-location. Cage is recommended for rebuilding, and Project Chrysalis, while small (252 students) is currently a temporary (poor quality) campus building located next to Cage Elementary. Since Cage will be rebuilt, this is an opportunity to move Project Chrysalis to more permanent structures. This could become a shared building with separate entrances, but still have shared amenities and spaces. A complete rebuild with permanent structures for both will allow them to remain in their current location – but in healthier, safer, and more effective learning environments.