Major changes made TEA HISD TAKEOVER: ONE MONTH IN

By Tannistha Sinha

It has been a month since the Texas Education Agency (TEA) announced its takeover of the Houston Independent School District. Several meetings have been held, plans for getting students ready for 2035 have been laid out, teachers in New Education System (NES) schools have been asked to reapply for their jobs and some principals have been reassigned.

Reassignments

New state-appointed superintendent Mike Miles reassigned the principals at three of the district’s high schools, all of which are located in low-income communities of color.

Sharpstown’s Dan De Leon, Worthing’s Everett Hare and Yates’ Tifany Guillory will all be reassigned. Permanent replacements for the principals will be in place before the start of districtwide professional development in August, Miles said.

“My leadership team and I reviewed existing plans for the future of these schools and determined that new leadership was necessary to drive the kind of improvement these high schools need to start preparing their students and graduates well for the workplace and world that waits for them afer high school,” Miles said.

Major Changes

On July 6, Houston ISD Superintendent Mike Miles held a meeting with numerous school principals, where he presented his plans for reforms in schools. It was the same day that HISD employees were told that regarding their delayed July 5 paychecks, employees can opt for either a paper check or a direct deposit.

During the meeting, Miles also extended a fnal opportunity to those who had enrolled in his New Education System to reconsider their decision.

Miles’ intention was to clarify the diferences between NES and NES Aligned schools. While 28 schools are already a part of the NES program, he gave the option to other schools to join this initiative. Fify-seven schools had opted into the NES system.

NES Aligned schools, however, are diferent. Teachers will not have to reapply for their jobs in these schools and will not receive a higher salary like the NES schools, but will instead, receive a $10,000 stipend.

Budget Set

Earlier in June, the HISD Board of Managers unanimously approved Miles’ budget of $2.2 billion for the academic year.

In that meeting, he said he intended to save $30 million by cutting down central ofce jobs, $50 million by discontinuing services from contractors, and $25 million by ending some staf funding through the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund, which is expected to run out by September 2024.

An estimated 500 to 600 jobs in HISD’s chief academic ofce will be eliminated, along with 40 human resources positions.

Miles estimates that the cuts from academic departments total 30% of current positions, around 3% of which were vacancies. However, more jobs in other sectors of the school district will also be eliminated in the near future, Miles said.