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Saturday, January 31, 2015 • Vol. 60 • No. 13
HISD considers adjusting attendance boundaries By Jonathan Garris jgarris@theleadernews.com
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A potential plan to rezone almost two dozen Houston-area schools could have a number of Leader-area elementary schools using new attendance boundaries as the district continues to address its issues with classroom overcrowding. A proposal to adjust attendance boundaries at 22 schools across Houston includes Leader-area elementary schools like Love, Memorial, Highland Heights and Northline, which would all see enrollment increases under a potential readjustment. The move is part of a mandate from the Texas Education Agency due to the large number of classsize waver requests submitted by HISD to
the state agency, which requires kindergarten through fourth-grade classes to have no more than 22 students per classroom. According to the HISD website, the district had to submit nearly 1,500 class-size waiver requests – a number which officials aim to cut in half for the 2015-16 school year and beyond. HISD is aiming to not only alleviate overcrowding but is also examining potential policy revisions including extra scrutiny for the waiver process and capping the number of transfer students that schools may accept from outside their attendance boundaries. According to the HISD website, a series of See Boundaries P. 4A
Contributed Photo Under a potential boundary readjustment, several elementary schools in The Leader area, including Memorial Elementary, would see an enrollment increase.
Tightening the economic belt
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HEB in ‘GOOF’ not a reality any time soon By Betsy Denson betsy@theleadernews.com
Touching base on education Curious about HISD’s newest President of the Board of Trustees? This week, The Leader sat down with Rhonda Skillern-Jones who was recently unanimously elected to a one year term as President. A Houston-native, all five of her children have also attended HISD schools.
Photo by Jonathan Garris New homes on lots around Leader-area communities have become a common sight lately, something that bodes well for the Houston housing market despite a possible drop in home prices.
Houston likely to see drop in home prices even as price of oil recovers, leading economist says
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By Jonathan Garris jgarris@theleadernews.com
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One of the nation’s leading economists says that Houstonians who are fearful of a resurgence of the type of recession seen in the 1980s should remain calm, but cautious, about the city’s economy in 2015. Dr. Bill Gilmer, director at the Institute for Regional Forecasting, C.T. Bauer College of Business at the University of Houston said the economic conditions that exist in 2015, even in the midst of an oil crunch and a downswing in the local energy market, aren’t anywhere close to the vulnera-
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ble economy rated” in Housthat existed ton. Gilmer noted 20 years ago. that Houston no He elabolonger has a masrated on this sive credit crunch while giving a that occurred in presentation 1982, as the enat the Greattire Texas banker Heights ing system had Chamber of essentially colCommerce’s lapsed, taking the Economic real estate market Dr. Gilmer Forecast Lunwith it as well. cheon Jan. 22. “None of that, “This is not 1982,”Gilmer even the last round with said. “1982 was a culmina- the global financial crisis, tion of three very serious compares even remotely to mistakes – one made by the conditions that existed the oil industry, one by the then,” Gilmer said. “You bankers and another in the have to put this 1982 out of real estate industry.” your head, I think, to betDuring that recession, ter understand how Housone in seven jobs “evapo- ton can grow through this
downturn.” Houston will likely share in the growth the rest of the nation is seeing as the economy continues to gain traction through positive job growth, Gilmer said. Although the Great Recession suffered from a credit crunch, housing bust and damage to national financial institutions, Gilmer said the country is coming back on track and consumer confidence and employment appear to be normalizing. “If somebody asked a few years ago and said we’ll pull the price of oil to $40 a barrel, you just have to choose a point when it will happen, See Economy P. 4A
It is the fervent wish of many in The Leader area – a supersized H-E-B like the one in Bunker Hill. Every time a multiple acre property comes on the market, people suggest online and elsewhere that it would be a perfect spot for the San Antonio headquartered grocer. In January 2014, the supermarket chain officially denied the rumor to The Leader that it would be adding a store in the Garden Oaks area in place of the Sears at 4000 N. Shepherd. “We’re always looking for property, but it has to be the right property,” Director of H-E-B’s Public Affairs Cyndy Garza-Roberts told The Leader in 2014. “We would love to be in that area.” More recently, Garza-Roberts denied that the chain was looking to move into the space across from the Sawyer Heights Target. So what exactly is H-E-B looking for in a location? We asked Garza-Roberts for some of their basic strategies and guidelines. First the acreage. She said H-E-B looks for a minimum of six acres when building a store. “We need that amount of space to See HEB P. 4A
Photo by Betsy Denson For the time being, Leader-area residents will have to turn to the H-E-B located at West 18th Street to scratch their H-E-B itch.
Historic Houston brings vision for preserving architecture to the Heights By Kim Hogstrom For The Leader Heights-area residents have always had a clear passion for preserving their history, even at times when people might butt heads on the best way to do so. Now, Historic Houston is hoping its recently opened Salvage Warehouse will help make it easier to save some of the area’s architectural history while helping the planet along the way. Historic Houston, a nonprofit organization, is dedicated to conserving and promoting Houston’s his-
toric architectural resources though recycling and sustainability. “Reclaim, reuse, reduce,” is the agency’s mantra. “We achieve this in several different ways,”said Lynn Edmunson, architect, founder, and Executive Director of Historic Houston. “Since 2002, we have relocated 32 entire old homes - 12 from the Heights alone. Our relocation program is a proactive approach to preserving the area’s vernacular architecture, while helping provide affordable housing throughout the city. It makes sense financially
and environmentally. “We also have our salvage program,” Edmunson said. “This program reclaims historic building materials from houses slated for demolition, houses that can not be relocated. Our salvage crews deconstruct and remove the building elements in these. They collect beautiful, old things that would be going into Houston landfills otherwise.” Historic Houston then sells these remarkable elements to the public from its warehouse in the Heights. Are you looking for solid wood doors? How about
old glass doorknobs, or an original fireplace mantel? The Salvage Warehouse provides an outlet for the purchase of these and much more while encouraging recycling at the same time. According to Edmunson, prices are well below regular retail. “We price everything to sell fast,” she stated firmly. “We recently deconstructed a big home in River Oaks, and one in Memorial too. Many of the homes we deconstruct are old bungalows, but many are not. In See Historic P. 4A
Photo by Kim Hogstrom Even small items like this stained glass window can be repurposed or preserved through Historic Houston.