Board appears likely to get new trustees
Early election returns show embattled Houston ISD trustees Diana Dávila and Sergio Lira facing big deficits in their races against single challengers, while two races for open seats could be headed to runoffs in December.
With absentee, early and 8 percent of in-person votes reported as of press time, Judith Cruz held a large lead in District VIII over Dávila, who is seeking her fourth term on the HISD board, and first-time candidate Dani Hernandez far outpaced Lira, aiming for his first full term from District III.
In two races without an incumbent, retired postal manager Kathy Blueford-Daniels appeared poised to win outright or reach a runoff in District II, while three candidates ran neck-and-neck in District IV.
If the early results hold, the much-maligned HISD board would see four new candidates take power — albeit for a potentially short time. Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath is widely expected to temporarily strip the board’s nine elected trustees of power in the coming months, either due to chronically low academic performance at Wheatley High School or misconduct by current board members.
Cruz and Hernandez, who would become first-time officeholders, centered their campaigns on calls for fresh leadership amid a state investigation into multiple allegations of wrongdoing by Dávila and Lira, including violations of the Texas Open Meetings Act and making false statements to investigators.
“I kept telling people I’m a candidate of integrity and transparency, and that I’m different from what’s been on the current board,” said Cruz, a former HISD teacher
and director for the education nonprofit DiscoverU. “I think that’s what resonated with voters.”
The two challengers faced incumbents who denied the allegations while promoting their accomplishments on the board, including raising the minimum wage by $2 per hour. Dávila and Lira earned the endorsement and financial backing of the district’s largest teachers union, while Cruz and Hernandez drew much of their support from business leaders, education reform advocates and small donors.
“I was happy to see the community understands that HISD needed a big change in leadership,” said Hernandez, a former HISD teacher who now works as a real estate agent.
District VIII covers much of eastern HISD, while District II spans southeastern HISD.
In District II, home to much of northwest and northeast HISD, Blueford-Daniels easily outpaced four other candidates seeking to replace outgoing Trustee Rhonda Skillern-Jones. It wasn’t immediately clear, though, whether Blueford-Daniels will win outright.
The most competitive race, in District IV, featured three candidates with realistic chances of making a runoff: retired HISD principal Patricia Allen, management consultant Matt Barnes and education nonprofit executive Reagan Flowers.
The candidates ran despite the growing likelihood that Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath will strip power from the district’s school board and appoint a new governance team in the coming months. State law mandates that Morath must close campuses or replace the school board after Wheatley High School received its seventh consecutive failing grade in August. TEA officials denied the district’s appeal of Wheatley’s grade on Tuesday.
Community leaders and legislators widely expect Morath to choose to oust HISD’s school board instead of shuttering historic Wheatley.
“Even if it’s short-term, if the TEA does take over, they’ll have someone they can relate to, that can have a pulse and sense of what’s going on in the community,” said Blueford-Daniels, whose district includes Wheatley.
Morath also could replace HISD trustees following the TEA investigation into the misconduct allegations. State investigators recommended last week that Morath employ the option after finding multiple board members violated the Texas Open Meetings Act and improperly interfered in the district’s day-to-day operations, among other instances of wrongdoing. Lawyers for HISD trustees allege state investigators conducted an unfair, biased inquiry.
Morath has not commented on whether he would strip authority from HISD’s school board under either scenario. A replacement board likely would take power in early 2020. If he opts to replace HISD’s board, he also would select the district’s superintendent.
Under that scenario, trustees elected Tuesday could not take power until they win another election, likely in 2023, or get appointed to the board by Morath.