Houston ISD board managers have until Aug. 18 to decide whether to approve placing $4.4 billion in bond referendums on Nov. 5 ballots, giving voters within the district's boundaries the chance to approve or reject those proposals. The district's board of managers will consider an agenda item at an Aug. 8 meeting to place two propositions on the ballot.
Board managers received an overview of the proposed bond June 27, which would largely focus on upgrading and improving more than 270 campuses throughout the district.
HISD Superintendent Mike Miles said the bond would provide:
- $1.04 billion for safety and health initiatives
- $200 million for early childhood education
- $445 million for technology upgrades
- $425 million for career and technical education
- $2.27 billion for campus expansions, renovations and rebuilds
While the bulk of the work included in the 2012 bond was focused on high schools, Alishia Jolivette, HISD interim chief operating officer, said the potential 2024 bond would emphasize elementary and middle school improvements.
Jolivette said there are more than $10 billion •worth of facilities, technology and security needs across the district, noting the bond would serve as a first step toward addressing those needs.
“The bond is going to help us address some of it,” Jolivette said. “It won’t address all of it.”
According to the June 27 presentation, a total of $2.2 billion would be spent on campus improvements affecting 43 schools, including:
- 15 full campus rebuilds
- 7 partial campus renovations
- 4 partial campus renovations with expansions
- 1 co-location serving 2 elementary schools and 1 middle school
- 3 co-location rebuilds, combining 3 elementary schools and 3 middle schools
Another $1.1 billion would be allocated toward “future-ready” initiatives, including:
- $445M in technology upgrades
- $425M in career and technical education improvements
- $200M to expand the district’s prekindergarten program by 4,000 students
In the Bellaire-Meyerland-West University area Shearn Elementary School and Fondren Middle School would receive partial renovations.
A closer look
Although Miles said the bond would not result in a tax rate increase, many members of the public have expressed concerns over the proposal due to what they called policy and culture changes that have taken place since the Texas Education Agency appointed Miles to take over the district last June.
Several locally elected officials who spoke during the board’s July 16 workshop raised concerns over the bond proposal’s plan to construct “co-locations,” which would entail merging several elementary and middle schools into single campuses.
State Sen. Molly Cook, D-Houston, said the inclusion of co-locations has been deeply unpopular with her constituents.
"Folks do understand that school combination plays out exactly the same way as a school closure. I don’t know a single person in my district that would be supportive of that," Cook said during public comments.
For months, community members who have been opposed to the changes implemented by Miles, have concluded their comments at board meetings with the phrase “no trust, no bond.”
Several community members continued to share that sentiment during the board’s June 27 meeting.
Jamie Ford, a former teacher at Carnegie Vanguard High School who resigned earlier this year, said she couldn’t support the bond because of her mistrust for Miles.
“[Miles’] approach has sucked all the joy out of teaching and severed the connections teachers make with their students,” Ford said. “I would not trust him to organize a bake sale, much less a
$4.4 billion bond.”
Community member Amy Maddux voiced similar concerns.
“Trust and transparency have tanked with students, parents, the community and elected leaders,” Maddux said.
Former state Rep. Garnet Coleman, who co-chairs the bond advisory committee, said it would be essential for district officials to work more closely with community members to regain their trust.
Alexandra Elizondo, HISD’s chief of communications and public affairs, said a large portion of the community members the district has engaged with were initially skeptical of the bond, but she said many of them reconsidered their position after seeing the state of the district’s aging campuses.
Also of note
During the July 16 workshop, several board members questioned whether the $425 million allocated toward the construction of three new career and technical education improvements should be scaled back.
Miles said it’s unfair and inequitable for students to only have one career center—the Barbara Jordan Career Center—serving the entire district.
Board manager Cassandra Auzenne Bandy said she understood the need for greater access to CTE programming, but she questioned the cost of keeping the facilities and equipment up to date.
“It seems like we are bearing the burden of managing a state-of-the-art CTE facility times four,” Bandy said.
Board manager Janette Garza Lindner also questioned the need for four CTE facilities, asking administrators to consider exploring partnerships with local businesses and organizations to provide additional CTE programming.
What's next
If board managers approve placing propositions on the ballot at the Aug. 8 meeting, the district would move forward on two separate items—a $3.96 billion referendum targeting school buildings and a $440 million referendum targeting technology infrastructure.
Depending on the outcome of the Aug. 8 meeting and the Nov. 5 election, the timeline for improvements could follow a path previously laid out by district officials:
- August: Managers will consider approving project management consultant to oversee the scope and sequence of bond
- September: District officials will release preliminary project plans and timeline
- October: District officials will name members of bond oversight committee, release final project plans and timeline
- Nov. 5: Voters will consider approving the district’s bond proposal on Election Day; if approved, district officials will launch project site feasibility studies
- Q1 2025: District will issue solicitations for safety, health and security projects
- Q2 2025: Potential launch of first projects
