School naming rights
More debate
Regarding “A deal’s a deal” (Page A18, Friday), the editorial oversimplifies the choices available to HISD, now that Kinder Foundation voluntarily agreed to release the district from the obligation to rename HSPVA, Kinder High School for Performing and Visual Arts.
Everything is not a carrot or a stick. Potential donors are watching, but not necessarily concluding the public is a bunch of high school miscreants. This deal was rushed to a vote in six days, resulting in the permanent sale of the institutional name to cover a 5 percent construction budget shortfall. Legitimate concerns have been raised in the aftermath. Officials at the Houston Independent School District took no time for due diligence.
Now we have the chance to study and debate this properly. If the deal itself was unprecedented in Houston, the Kinders’ release may be unprecedented anywhere. It’s an amazing response from two people who have consistently shown an overriding concern for the whole city, not just their place in it.
The editorial hastens to the rescue, insisting HISD must “keep its word.” This unthinking response would undermine the deeply generous nature of the Kinders’ release, rendering it an empty gesture. I co-wrote the petition that restarted this conversation. It specifically suggests a Kinder theater inside the school, a significant and lasting recognition stopping short of changing the institutional identity. Sarah Terrell, Houston
A special gift
As an alumna, parent of an alumna, a longtime volunteer at the school and an HSPVA Friends Advisory Board member, I have spent more time advocating for this unique public school than most.
HSPVA’s partnership with the Kinder Foundation aligns with the spirit of the school’s creative and fearless students. HSPVA was born in 1971 of HISD’s realization that gifted young artists need highly specialized and rigorous arts training, without compromising academic excellence. HISD has once again demonstrated its support for outstanding education by accepting the generous gift to HSPVA from the Kinder Foundation, which will allow the downtown campus to be completed. An arts curriculum of this caliber requires the financial commitment of the community beyond what HISD can be expected to provide.
I encourage HISD to honor its agreed upon recognition policy with the Kinder Foundation as a demonstration to the greater philanthropic community that all HISD schools are worthy of transformational gifts. I fear that not honoring the policy would have a chilling effect on such gifts, not just to HSPVA, but across HISD.
My fellow HSPVA alumni, parents and students should be immensely proud that their accomplishments have garnered the attention of a fine charitable foundation that cherishes the school’s mission in such a generous way. I encourage HISD to continue honoring the Kinder Foundation with the naming of the Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. Agelia Pérez Márquez, Houston