Residents question TEA over potential HISD board takeover
Residents of Houston ISD peppered state officials with questions Wednesday night about the potential replacement of the district’s elected school board, voicing frustration about the lack of immediate plans for students and staff during the Texas Education Agency’s first community meeting about the looming intervention.
Uncertainty about the state’s intentions with Texas’ largest school district simmered throughout the two-hour meeting at Pershing Middle School, where nearly 100 people gathered one week after Education Commissioner Mike Morath announced his intention to appoint a replacement school board. Morath’s decision is the result of
Wheatley High School receiving a seventh consecutive failing grade and state investigators substantiating several allegations of misconduct by HISD trustees.
State officials offered relatively few answers about potential changes to the state’s largest school district, telling attendees that the agency is listening to residents before appointing managers who ultimately would dictate HISD’s future. While Morath has the final authority to appoint and remove board members, the chosen managers are responsible for crafting and carrying out plans for the district in coordination with the superintendent.
“This can be a frustrating part of the process, and I think that’s a reasonable place to be right now, because there’s more unknown than known,” said A.J. Crabill, who serves as special adviser to Morath and previously worked as the TEA’s deputy commissioner of governance.
An appointed board would be comprised of HISD residents and likely remain in power for two to five years. Barring a change of heart by Morath or legal intervention, the new board likely would take over in the spring of 2020.
Amid heated debate about the state’s potential intervention, which has drawn condemnation from some state legislators and the district’s largest teachers union, Wednesday’s meeting maintained a lowkey tenor. Supporters of the intervention argue HISD needs a fresh start after years of board infighting and low academic performance at several schools, while opponents call the move an undemocratic seizure of power from HISD voters.
Many residents brought several questions for TEA officials, worried that the agency’s actions will lead to more charter schools, campus closures and teacher layoffs. Some argued that the TEA has not proven itself trustworthy with the district’s children, pointing to its well-documented failure to ensure students received special education services.
Rita Martinez, the mother of three children at Berry Elementary and Henry Middle schools on the city’s north side, said she lost confidence in the TEA after one child did not receive proper accommodations while taking state standardized tests.
“If they failed my kid at that, how do I know that they’re not going to fail my kid throughout the rest of the school year?” said Martinez, who pressed Crabill for specific plans in HISD.
Racquel Lawson, an HISD resident with about 15 cousins attending district schools, called Wednesday’s meeting “insightful,” giving her more confidence in the TEA’s intentions.
“I’m happy to see the process they’re taking,” said Lawson, who supports the state intervention. “They’re trying to gather as much information from the people who live in Houston, who have kids in HISD, so they can build a solid plan to help the district move forward and be successful.”
Crabill, who for the past year has served as Morath’s top lieutenant in Houston, said state officials want to hear feedback about the public’s desires for an appointed board before finalizing any decisions. TEA leaders have said they want to appoint a board that reflects HISD’s diversity and boasts governance experience, but opponents of the intervention worry that Morath will choose more conservative-aligned members in a Democratic-dominated district.
Crabill told the crowd that an appointed board likely would be charged with addressing one to five specific issues in HISD, emphasizing that the chosen board wouldn’t be expected to solve all of the district’s challenges.
“If our stance is that the board of managers stay in place until every single issue in HISD is solved, when will the board of managers exit? Never,” Crabill said.
Crabill shed slightly more light on the process and timeline of the state’s board selection, which agency officials first publicized last week. He said the names of applicants might be released in late December, cautioning that the agency’s lawyers must still sign off on the publication. He added that the earliest to expect an appointed board’s selection is March 2020.
HISD trustees are suing the state to stop the intervention, arguing the TEA does not have the authority to replace the district’s elected board members. The trustees’ lawyers also claim the agency is violating the Voting Rights Act by illegally disenfranchising the district’s black and Hispanic residents. A hearing on a preliminary injunction motion is set for Dec. 5 in Austin.
Three more community meetings are scheduled this month, including one on Thursday at Wheatley.