Houston ISD officials announced the appointment of Sandi Massey to serve as the district’s chief of schools in an effort to ensure high-quality instruction across the district’s 273 campuses.

The details

In a Jan. 7 news release, officials said Massey will support and oversee the district’s four division chiefs in her new role.

Officials noted Massey’s responsibilities in the new role will include:
  • analyzing data to identify and implement school improvement strategies
  • collaborating with educators to develop curriculum and assessments
  • building long-term strategies to address the needs of all students
  • providing feedback and guidance to school leaders to ensure consistent implementation of key initiatives
Massey is bringing 30 years of experience in education to the position after having previously served as a principal, regional director, executive director, deputy chief of schools, and most recently, chief of leadership and strategic initiatives for HISD, officials said in the news release.

A closer look


Prior to Massey’s appointment, HISD Superintendent Mike Miles said each of the district’s four division chiefs were responsible for overseeing assessments, assessment analysis and hiring practices within their geographic divisions.

"That means we had four different groups of people doing newsletters for the division," Miles said in a video posted to the district’s website. "We had four different groups of people doing assessments [and] assessment analysis for each division. We had four different groups of people overseeing the hiring of people in those divisions."

Miles said the chief of schools was needed to create a more consistent implementation of key initiatives and practices, noting the position creates an intermediary in the hierarchy between the superintendent and the north, central, south and west division chiefs.

What’s next


In a separate video posted on the district’s website, Massey said she was excited to begin her new role.

"My vision is along the transformation mentality of seeing all four divisions align instructionally, in coaching, in support, in training,” Massey said in the Jan. 7 video. “It was really exciting to be in the schools this morning and see the vision come to life.”