HISD leader urged to quit
Emotions run high as 300 attend board meeting
A long line of frustrated community members railed against Houston ISD trustees and called for the board’s president to step down Thursday at the district’s first regular meeting since two people were arrested during a raucous public session last month.
With about 300 people in attendance, residents demanded trustees take steps to restore trust with the community — starting with the removal of board president Rhonda Skillern-Jones — as emotions continued to run high. But unlike the board’s prior meeting on April 24, there was no skirmish between members of the public and HISD police.
“I’m not dangerous. I’m not the enemy,” said speaker Karina QuesadaLeón, whom SkillernJones ordered to leave the podium at last month’s meeting. “I show up because I want a
education for every child in HISD.”
HISD’s previous meeting drew national attention after police made the arrests and temporarily removed all members of the public, with some resisting officers. The scuffle came after Skillern-Jones ordered the room cleared when attendees continued to make noise during public comment after she warned them to remain quiet. The two arrested were released the next day and not charged.
Community members were given more latitude Thursday to respond as about 125 scheduled speakers began addressing trustees, with Skillern-Jones issuing no warnings about noise. One speaker pointed at trustees, calling each a “coward.” Another wore a shirt declaring “Not Afraid of Rhonda.”
Several speakers told trustees that members of the public have been unfairly targeted for their activism, demanding better treatment from the board.
Several trustees have voiced frustration or apologized for arrests and upset last month, taking responsibility for failing to diffuse the situation. To date, only one trustee, Elizabeth Santos, has publicly called on Skillern-Jones to step down from her leadership position. SkillernJones, who has expressed regret that her decision to clear the room resulted in arrests and public criticism, said she doesn’t plan to relinquish her post.
“That meeting was not indicative of who I am or where my heart lies,” Skillern-Jones said Thursday. “I hope there’s room for forgiveness. I hope there is an opportunity to be able to give this work what I have left to give.”
The conflict between the board and some community members has simmered for months, as HISD sought ways to stave off sanctions due to its failure to improve academic performance at 10 low-performing schools. Hundreds of parents and advocates have attended recent community meetings and board meetings, with many demanding the district sue the state over a law passed in 2015 that put sanctions on the table.
So far, only one trustee has voiced public support for litigation, with others arguing a lawsuit would be costly, lengthy and unlikely to succeed. Instead, HISD’s administration proposed surrendering control over the 10 schools to Energized For STEM Academy Inc., a nonprofit that runs four in-district HISD charter schools, as a method for avoiding sanctions.
At last month’s meeting, when trustees were scheduled to vote on the Energized For STEM Academy Inc. agreement, about 100 community members attended. They arrived to find dozens of chairs removed from the board room and a heavy police presence, fostering the belief that HISD officials wanted to limit public input.
“Quite frankly, it appears to the public that HISD has no idea what it’s doing, and it’s no exaggeration that a large percentage of the people I come across as a parent are deciding whether to stay in HISD,” said Amy Maddux, the mother of two eighthgrade students in the district.
Skillern-Jones said trustees are exploring options for offering additional time for public comment. In recent months, trustees have reduced the amount of time given to each speaker during public comment to one or two minutes, citing the need to move meetings along faster to comply with statewell-rounded mandated governance policies.
Trustees on Thursday also heard that HISD showed across-the-board increases in fifth- and eighth-grade math and reading scores on the first administration of state standardized tests. The improved scores were nearly identical to statewide increases, but Trustee Anne Sung noted HISD faced additional hurdles this year due to Hurricane Harvey.
“In a year when we, in Houston, were closed for the first two weeks of school, that we still outperformed the state, that’s wonderful,” Sung said.
Trustees also were scheduled to vote on moving forward with a wide-ranging performance audit, which would involve a review of virtually all aspects of the district. No vote had been taken as of press time.