Trustees don’t appoint interim leader.

District postpones picking a temporary superintendent until March 22 meeting

Houston ISD trustees on Thursday opted not to appoint an interim superintendent at a school board meeting, leaving it unclear who will run the district after Superintendent Richard Carranza’s anticipated departure later this month.

Board members did not discuss potential candidates or options for moving forward during closed or open session Thursday because one trustee was absent. They are expected to consider options for appointing a temporary district leader at a March 22 meeting.

Trustees faced a relatively subdued crowd given Carranza’s abrupt announcement Monday that he plans to leave the district after 18 months to become chancellor of New York City public schools. They never referred to Carranza by name during the meeting or commented at length about his decision to leave, making only glancing references to his departure.

“The sky is not falling around replacing our superintendent,” HISD Board President Rhonda Skillern-Jones said. “We do have some heavy lifts, but we’ve had to do some heavy lifts before.”

As expected, Carranza did not attend Thursday’s meeting at the request of trustees, who didn’t want his presence to become a distraction. SkillernJones said district officials had received angry messages from some community members. Only a few community members criticized Carranza on Thursday, while a few dozen residents spoke about other issues.

Carranza is expected to leave HISD in the next couple of weeks. The 51-year-old unexpectedly announced his decision Monday, catching the entire Houston community offguard.

Skillern-Jones said board members discussed some legal matters surrounding Carranza’s departure during closed session, including their ability to rehire the search firm that helped them land Carranza,

who formerly presided over San Francisco Unified School District. Trustees expect they will be able to use the search firm, Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates, free of charge because Carranza remained in HISD for less than two years.

Carranza’s departure has added to the tumult surrounding HISD, which faces significant financial, academic and state oversight pressure.

Administrators are projecting a $115 million budget, with decisions on cuts needed before June 30. Carranza suggested the district will have to make staffing reductions that will impact virtually all departments.

District leaders also must decide by April 30 whether they want to surrender control over several low-performing campuses to outside organizations in an effort to stave off severe state sanctions. The district risks a state takeover of its locally elected school board or statemandated campus closures if it doesn’t hand over control or close-and-restart 10 chronically failing schools.

On top of that, trustees and administrators must decide how to follow through on proposals to alter the district’s magnet program and campus funding model.

HISD Trustee Sergio Lira said he wants the district to continue with discussions around those proposals, which have resulted in significant community feedback at public meetings across the city. The proposals, Lira said, are all centered around providing more equitable funding and opportunities to students in long-neglected neighborhoods.

“I hope we, as a school board, move forward in a unified position to continue these initiatives,” Lira said. “They still need to be fleshed out. We can’t stop midstream.”

Skillern-Jones said trustees are considering three options related to the superintendent position: appoint a short-term interim, a long-term interim or a permanent choice.

Cecelia Edwards, CEO of the People’s Choice Association, a labor organization representing about 300 HISD employees, said she wants trustees to appoint an interim superintendent and search for a permanent superintendent with Houston roots.

“I think if they had someone from this community, they would value the position and value the children,” Edwards said. “It’s a place where you can learn and grow and thrive. Houston has been around a long time.”