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SATURDAY | March 2, 2013 | Vol. 59 | No. 18 | www.theleadernews.com | @heightsleader
Time to Choose Favorites
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THE LIST.
One garbage bin for trash and recycle? Houston already boasts a massive, innovative plant that allows household recyclers to toss their reusable items into one bin, to be sorted and sold. Now Mayor Annise Parker wants to take that concept even further: a one-bin trash system where household garbage, yard waste and recyclable items could be deposited and separated later, recovering up to 75 percent of all food, yard and recyclable waste for reuse. The idea, formally called “Total Reuse: One Bin for All,” has made Houston one of 20 finalists out of more than 300 entrants to compete for a grand prize of $5 million and four prizes of $1 million each in the Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Mayors Challenge. Although a panel of experts will choose the winners, cities are vying for a $50,000 prize from the Huffington Post. You can vote online at http://www. huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/19/votemayors-challenge-fan_n_2716857. html?utm_hp_ref=mayors-challenge Here’s where to find out about the Mayors Challenge and the ideas from Houston and other cities: http://mayorschallenge.bloomberg.org
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Principal walks out at Waltrip by Charlotte Aguilar charlotte@theleadernews.com
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WHAT: Prelims for Idol of the Heights, sponsored for the fourth year by the Greater Heights Area Chamber of Commerce. WHEN & WHERE: First round was set from 7-10 p.m. March 1 at Big Woodrow’s, 3111 Chimney Rock Road (rock and pop); with country and under-21 performers competing at 7 p.m. March 8 at Blue Moose Lodge, 5306 Washington Ave.; and lounge, soul, R&B and oldies singers belting it out at 7 p.m. March 15 at Bubba’s Sports Bar, 6225 Washington Ave. HOW MUCH: Admission is free; $40 to enter the contest LEARN MORE: www.heights. chamber.com EDITOR’S TAKE: The Heights’ own version of American Idol provides more kudos than cringes. Each venue offers the chance to select a Fan Favorite, and you can follow the prelim winners right on to the finals on April 4 at the Chamber’s annual Crawfish Festival at Northwest Mall.
THE INDEX. Public Safety Hipstrict Topics Obituaries Coupons Puzzles Sports Classifieds
2A 3A 4A 5B 4B 4A 3B 5A
L cav raci us Super-mega-signature-flagship markets are falling out of favor with shoppers who increasingly are seeking farm fresh or homegrown products, like Cathy Sullivan’s fresh-from-the-coop eggs. Beginning in this week’s Hipstrict, we begin regular coverage of the growing industry of locally sourced food. We think you’ll – pardon the pun – gobble it up. Page 3A
Steve Siebenaler, principal at Waltrip High School since 2003, resigned Monday. In an email Tuesday morning, Houston ISD spokesman Jason Spencer said Siebenaler cited “personal reasons” and said the principal’s resignation date would be March 15. However, some connected to Waltrip have told The Leader Siebenaler did not show up Monday and is not expected to return to his job. According to Spencer, Linda Lazenby, a former principal of the DeBakey High School for Health Professions for three years and at the dual language K-8 Rice School before that, will serve as interim Steve Siebenaler principal until a permanent replacement is found. Sources described dissatisfaction with the longtime educator on the part of several school factions and the HISD administration over Waltrip not showing improvement on student academic achievement and preparing youngsters for college and careers. see Waltrip • Page 2A
Teacher layoffs, tax hike suggested for school budget problems by Charlotte Aguilar charlotte@theleadernews.com Variables seemed at times to exceed facts as Houston ISD trustees began tackling the lengthy budget process at a workshop last week – and faced with that uncertainty, the administration is talking widespread teacher layoffs or a 6-cent tax rate increase. There’s the cloudy situation of whether the state’s system of school financing is legal. A district court judge recently ruled it unconstitutional, but there are appeals to be made. There’s the utter unpredictability of the State Legislature over how much money it will give to schools in the budget it will craft in this session. And there’s an educated guess – but not a solid figure – about the size of the property tax roll from the Harris County Appraisal Dis-
trict. HISD has until June to pass a budget, until October to set its tax rate. “I absolutely think we need to be funding public education to the best of our abilities,” said HISD Board President Anna Eastman, who represents Leader neighborhoods on the board, “but there are still a lot of questions that need to be answered. And it can’t all fall to the school districts.” Eastman She pointed out that about 80 percent of HISD’s budget comes from its property taxpayers, up from about 50 percent before the legislature started slashing allocations. Some trustees expressed surprise that a shortfall, first projected at around $50 mil-
lion, had morphed into a $72 million deficit at the workshop last week. While discussing the option of classroom cuts in teachers and staff or the 6-cent tax rate hike, HISD administrators kept in $20 million in funding for the Apollo 20 turnaround school program and for so-called targeted assistance schools. Eastman said she wouldn’t support a tax increase without “a strong effort to get all possible feedback” from the public. “We have to be very transparent about where every dollar is going,” she said, saying the board needed more information about programs in the budget.“We have to be able to evaluate outcomes and results of existing programs before voting on how we’re going fund them and asking taxpayers to pay more.” In the last legislative session, lawmakers cut $5.4 billion from the two-year state bud-
get, resulting in a $120 million loss to HISD over that period and prompting the lawsuit by dozens of districts in Texas. HISD’s communications department seemed to be preparing taxpayers for a rate hike. In a news release about the budget workshop, it said that adding 6 cents to the tax rate would cost owners of a $200,000 home an additional $88.80 a year or $7.40 a month –– not mentioning incremental increases in the tax rate coming in the next few years to help fund the $1.89 billion bond approved last November. And it reiterated that the district’s rate of $1.15670 for each $100 of assessed property value is “a full 20 cents below” the average of Harris County’s school districts and how the district is only one of eight in the county to grant an additional 20 percent homestead exemption.