Incumbent Marques Holmes will be running against challengers Holly Ham and Audra Deaver in the upcoming election. HISD board of trustees positions 2 and 7 will also be up for election in May.
According to the HISD website, each member of the board of trustees is elected to an at-large position for four years in a nonpartisan election. For more information about trustee elections in HISD, click here. For more information about how Texas school boards function, click here.
For more information about what Lake Houston-area voters can expect to see on the ballot May 6, click here. For more information about voting in Harris County, click here.
To learn more about each of the candidates before heading to the polls, see the Q&A's below.
Candidates were asked to keep responses under 75 words, answer the questions provided and avoid attacking opponents. Answers may have been edited or cut to adhere to those guidelines, or for style and clarity.
* indicates incumbent
Marques Holmes*
Experience:
Current Humble ISD trustee; Leadership Lake Houston: Class X; Humble ISD Education Foundation trustee; Leadership Houston: Class XXVII: Fellowship of Christian Athletes trustee; 4DX Certified Managers Training; experience managing $500 million budgets that include capital improvement projects; John Maxwell Coaching Program: Founders Circle coach and mentor
Occupation:
technology consultant
Candidate Website:
https://www.keepholmes.com
What are the biggest issues Humble ISD is currently facing, and how would you address them?
After listening to parents, the biggest issues are the safety and security of our students, teachers and administration. I will continue to make sure that safety and security are the No. 1 priority on our superintendent’s yearly evaluation. I will continue to support the hardening of our campuses, a zero tolerance for bullies, and additional funding to send offenders outside of the district so our teachers can teach and our students can learn in peace.
Are there any parts of Humble ISD’s budget you feel are overfunded and/or underfunded? How would you address this?
Currently, 95% of our budget goes towards salaries for our teachers and administrators. If the Texas Education Agency would allow it, I would want a larger budget to increase the salary of our teachers, our para(educators) and long-term substitute teachers. These positions are critical to the ongoing success of our district. We will continue to address this by writing and going to our state representatives through our trustee board advocacy committee.
What changes do you believe need to be addressed at the state level regarding public education?
The No. 1 priority is the safety and security of our students, faculty and staff. We need to push for legislation that allows for additional funding for adding law enforcement officers at all elementary schools and further hardening of our schools. I also want increased funding in expanding course offerings that cater to college and career readiness or skills (technician, mechanic, etc.) that can be applied after graduation.
How do you believe the district should plan for future growth?
Humble ISD is a fast-growth district; the community voted and passed a bond in 2022 that would assist in this growth. We may need to build one additional middle school and one additional high school along the W. Lake Houston corridor to alleviate overcrowding in this area of the district. We are also adding 30 classrooms to Summer Creek High School as an example, and also building additional gyms and multipurpose rooms to campuses.
Do you believe Humble ISD doing enough to address the concern of parents regarding some of the content available in school libraries? Why or why not?
Humble ISD has given the ultimate authority to our parents to have full control over what their children read. Through HAC (Home Access Center), if a parent does not agree with a book that is in our libraries, they can eliminate their child from checking it out by toggling a button. We also have a book review process in place as of 2022 that allows parents to raise their concern about books to the district.
Audra Deaver
Experience:
vice president of James Deaver Services Inc.
Occupation:
self-employed
Candidate Website:
www.audra4kids.com
Contact Information:
832-802-1329
What are the biggest issues Humble ISD is currently facing, and how would you address them?
The biggest issues facing Humble ISD have everything to do with classroom deficiencies. Deficiencies in the classroom means students are not learning to their highest potential, and that is unacceptable. I’ve seen declines from 2017 to 2023. We demand academic excellence at Humble ISD. Anything outside of that purview aside from safety is second. We should focus all resources on bringing up academic rigor and make sure students are challenged every day. COVID[-19] is over. We need to get back to the business of education.
Are there any parts of Humble ISD’s budget you feel are overfunded and/or underfunded? How would you address this?
I would like to speak to both. Overfunded? We don’t need coffee bars in school libraries. That is the job of major coffee franchises, not taxpayers. We don’t need required drainage retention ponds morphing into parks at an added cost of $3 million putting extra burdens on taxpayers. Both were current board approved. Underfunded? With the steady decline of test scores in this district when compared to state averages, I’d say our classrooms are either underfunded or micromanaged. Our classrooms are where knowledge is transferred from the teacher to the student and lightbulbs come on. Our teachers are our greatest resource therefore, we should be treating them as such. The money is available, and taxpayers know this. We need to reset priorities to foster learning and bring back the spark inside our classrooms. When we do that, the rise in test scores will come.
What changes do you believe need to be addressed at the state level regarding public education?
I believe in realistic goals based on our current Texas legislative session. If schools are tasked with high percentages of specific student accommodations, then the state should provide funding to do so.
How do you believe the district should plan for future growth?
Currently our district uses a consulting firm to analyze data for future growth. This district has seen growth patterns for the past several years. However, now I believe the district should pay attention to the current legislative session where K-12 education could fundamentally change forever in the state of Texas. We also need to be ready for potential fundamental changes like school vouchers or ESAs (Education Savings Accounts). Will it mean additional students or less students? Right now, we don’t know. Nevertheless, this district must be prepared.
Do you believe Humble ISD is doing enough to address the concern of parents regarding some of the content available in school libraries? Why or why not?
No. Not even close. The parent reconsideration process is clearly designed to intimidate parents. In 2022, parents were required to meet with intimidating lawyers hired by this district leadership. Imagine that. Our state law does not allow pornography in public education. Currently, contested books are relabeled to match what you would normally associate with movie ratings. The mature content-rated books are kept behind the librarian’s desk. Parents must now give permission for their child to check out mature content-labeled books. This does not address the potential sharing of mature content amongst peers. Furthermore, it burdens school staff and librarians. How much of the classroom budget has been spent on lawyer fees fighting parents on pornography in schools?
Holly Ham
Experience:
25 years of business and leadership experience; four years as presidential appointee by President Donald J. Trump
Occupation:
chief customer and growth officer
Candidate Website:
https://www.hollyforhumbleisd.com
Contact Information:
713-249-7047
What are the biggest issues Humble ISD is currently facing, and how would you address them?
Curriculum degradation that is not preparing our students for postsecondary education or how to be competitive in the workforce. Schools are unique across the district so that each should have autonomy to modify the curriculum that fits the student population and academic rigor. Teacher retention—provide merit increases for stellar performance and provide a half-time resource to assist in the classroom. Student preparation post-graduation—add high school courses to increase critical thinking such as financial education.
Are there any parts of Humble ISD’s budget you feel are overfunded and/or underfunded? How would you address this?
Teacher pay seems underfunded even though the district currently ranks fourth in new teacher pay out of 14 districts nearby. Teachers need merit increases for stellar performance to increase retention. New schools seem overfunded given their ostensibly elaborate designs. Some of the funding for new schools (they don’t need to be so elaborate) could be applied towards technology and services to assist teachers given their classroom sizes and demands.
What changes do you believe need to be addressed at the state level regarding public education?
States need to provide autonomy to school districts to teach the curriculum and rigor that is right for each school. State-level testing is impeding the real driver of student learning since teachers are teaching to the state test, not teaching academically and applying what students learn to the real world. Texas is addressing school choice now. Families need school choice for their children’s education when public schools do not meet their children’s needs.
How do you believe the district should plan for future growth?
The district planned for major capital projects for growth; however, it does not seem as if there is planning (at least not made public) for services and demand for quality teaching staff and faculty. No matter how beautiful and modern a facility may be, when there is lack of quality teachers and staff, those walls will not serve its intention and purpose to educate our students and prepare them well for post-graduation.
Do you believe Humble ISD is doing enough to address the concern of parents regarding some of the content available in school libraries? Why or why not?
Yes, I believe the district is addressing the concern of parents regarding some of the inappropriate content available in school libraries. However, it’s unknown whether the district is willing to double-down on publishers when inappropriate content is in student classroom books.
