Four Houston ISD high schools and a prekindergarten program are one step closer to gaining more control over curriculum, hiring, assessments and calendars after the district’s board of managers approved a state-funded partnership initiative during a special meeting March 26.
The gist
During the March 26 meeting, HISD’s board of managers unanimously approved Senate Bill 1882 partnerships between five nonprofits, four high-performing high schools and a district pre-K program. The partnerships are slated to launch for the 2026-27 school year, but still need Texas Education Agency approval, according to a March 27 news release from HISD.
“We have several schools in this district who have earned the right to autonomy and with that, the opportunity to innovate,” HISD Superintendent Mike Miles said via the news release. “These partnerships will help our kids continue to thrive, and it will give our schools even more opportunity to change with the changing world.”
SB 1882 was approved by state lawmakers in 2017 and allows districts to partner with open-enrollment charter schools, institutions of higher education, nonprofits or government entities to help manage schools, as previously reported by Community Impact.
As previously reported, the partnerships approved by HISD’s board are:
Diving deeperIf the partnerships are approved by the TEA, the schools would gain increased autonomy over curriculum, assessments, calendars, staffing, hiring and evaluation, as previously reported. The schools participating could also receive $1,200-$1,400 more state funding per student.
The pre-K partnership with Collaborative for Children will involve HISD working with multiple early childhood education centers in order to serve more students, said Deputy Superintendent Kristen Hole on March 26. The program is expected to help HISD schools that can’t meet the demand for pre-K enrollment, she said.
All four high schools pursuing SB 1882 partnerships received A ratings for the TEA’s A-F accountability ratings for school years 2021-25, as previously reported. In order to continue participation in the program, the schools must maintain their A ratings and show less than a 25% achievement gap between racial groups for state tests.
What they’re saying
On March 26, multiple speakers expressed their support for the SB 1882 partnerships. Jennifer Lankau Chase, a teacher at HSPVA, said the partnerships will allow her and her fellow staff members to give kids an even better education.
“The faculty at HSPVA is equally committed to making the most of this 1882 opportunity, to continue to innovate and educate and to show the country what the city of Houston and HISD can do,” Chase said.
However, not every public speaker was in favor of the 1882 partnerships. Elected trustee Maria Benzon said she understood why parents and teachers are in favor of the partnerships, but she feels that autonomy should be granted to schools without requiring the partnerships.
“[SB] 1882 was built for struggling schools,” Benzon said. “Miles is using it to placate families at high-achieving ones. That is not innovation. That is the destruction of public education dressed up as reform.”
Wesley Gardner contributed to this report.
