Subject:

Melinda Garrett

  • Blogs

    February 23, 2012

    HISD Takes Another Run at Standardizing School-Day Start and End Times

    Could be required reading in all of HISD next year.​Superintendent Terry Grier is making another run at cutting Houston ISD expenses by standardizing school schedules throughout the district, after last year's narrow rejection of the measure by board trustees. His administration says that by ... More >>

  • Blogs

    August 12, 2011

    HISD Trustees Say Power to the Principals

    A "permanent" disagreement​In a 5-3 vote, Houston ISD trustees passed an amended motion Thursday night to return $18.5 million to principals for the 2011-12 school year with no strings attached -- but with an extra designation that the return of the money would be "permanent." Trustee Anna Ea ... More >>

  • Blogs

    August 9, 2011

    Most HISD Trustees Say Give the Money Back to the Schools Now

    Disagreements about money and how to spend it.​A majority of Houston ISD trustees meeting Monday afternoon said they want $18.5 million -- the amount of money they initially overcut from their budget -- to go back to the district's schools this fall with no restrictions on how principals shoul ... More >>

  • Blogs

    August 5, 2011

    Anna Eastman: HISD Board May Be Losing the Public Trust

    Anna Eastman calls for an audit.​Acknowledging that "the public trust that we've had is really waning" and that "there's an appearance of impropriety," Houston ISD board trustee Anna Eastman said today she believes the district should have "a third party to audit our bidding and procurement pr ... More >>

  • Blogs

    May 26, 2011

    Optimism 2011: HISD May Lose Less Than Expected in State Funds

    Either still in the hole or way ahead​Could the Houston ISD have cut too much? According to Chief Financial Officer Melinda Garrett today, the latest news from the state Legislature is that if the so-called Eissler (Rep. Rob Eissler, R-The Woodlands) amendment is adopted, the district may hav ... More >>

  • Blogs

    April 29, 2011

    HISD Trustees Prove They Can Go Hours Without Peeing

    Margaret DowningTrustee Michael Lunceford and Superintendent Terry Grier wade through another marathon budget meeting​Houston ISD board members resolutely stayed anchored at the board room table for hours Monday, picking through programs, considering projections (What if there's a 3.3 percent ... More >>

  • Blogs

    April 7, 2011

    Between Passing Standards and State Funding, HISD Remains in Free Fall

    Margaret DowningHISD Chief Financial Officer Melinda Garrett warns there's no tax increase -- yet.​It wasn't just the budget numbers that remain in free fall as Houston ISD trustees discovered at today's agenda workshop. Next fall, board members and Superintendent Terry Grier's administration ... More >>

  • Blogs

    March 24, 2011

    HISD Trustees Ask For More Data Before They Make Tough Decisions

    HISD could use some of 50 Cent's cash.​It was another lengthy trek through the budget for Houston ISD trustees this morning as board members considered good news - the shortfall from the state may be several million dollars less than first thought (but still a lot) - and not so great: employee ... More >>

  • Blogs

    March 4, 2011

    HISD: Terry Grier -- Budget Crisis Detailed, 25 Magnets Proposed To Be Slashed

    Terry Grier proposed some controversial changes to HISD last night.​The Houston school district suggested sweeping changes to nearly every detail of its infrastructure last night in light of the budget crisis it faces, from cutting down the number of crossing guards that lead children to schoo ... More >>

  • Blogs

    February 24, 2011

    Higher Taxes, Fewer Teachers: HISD Readies Itself for a Tough Sell

    Margaret DowningTerry Grier and the board face tough financial decisions​Higher taxes, a sweeping change in bus times, a cut in the number of police officers in the schools and an end to special school adjustments that for the noted T.H. Rogers elementary and middle school alone would mean a l ... More >>

  • Blogs

    February 8, 2011

    HISD Says All Presents Aren't Good Ones, Rejects Deeds

    Not one of the houses donated to HISD​While going through their normal delinquent tax collections business, Houston ISD tax staff members discovered three separate property owners had gifted them with parcels of land. Wow, Hair Balls was thinking, isn't that nice? Nope. Or as Donald Boehm, ... More >>

  • Blogs

    February 7, 2011

    CEP About to Shrink to One Campus, If HISD Trustees Say A-OK

    Terry Grier is calling for a less expensive CEP contract​ Updated: With comments from board agenda meeting at end of story. Community Education Partners will shutter its Ferndale campus as a result of an amended contract calling for it to receive $1.8 million less a year from the Houston IS ... More >>

  • Blogs

    February 3, 2011

    Texas Finances in Tatters, State Tells HISD It's "The New Normal"

    Get used to it​Chief Financial Officer Melinda Garrett passed on the new buzz phrase coming out of the state capital at today's Houston ISD workshop session: "The New Normal," which is being used to explain that the current state budget crisis isn't a transitory thing but something that will b ... More >>

  • Blogs

    January 21, 2011

    Chunks of Magnet Data MIA, HISD Parents Say

    HISD's magnet program: Proposed changes are always fun​According to documents passed out at today's Parent Visionaries Group meeting, Houston ISD's central office has increased its costs by about $9 million between the 2009-10 and the 2010-11 school years. The leader of the HISD parents group ... More >>

  • Blogs

    January 20, 2011

    Terry Grier Warns HISD Trustees Not to Make Too Many Promises

    Photo by Margaret DowningTerry Grier says big cuts are coming​Raising the tax rate? Cutting the homestead exemption? Both possibilities were discussed -- and not outright dismissed -- as Houston ISD trustees bleakly considered the ramifications for HISD in wake of the Houston budget filed We ... More >>

  • Blogs

    December 14, 2010

    Updated:Terry Grier's Rightsizing May Mean Adios For Some Teachers and HISD Schools

    HISD: Budget cuts a-comin'​Update:HISD Spokesman Jason Spencer says there are 66 not 69 underpopulated schools and that designation has nothing to do with "capacity." See below. Superintendent Terry Grier, while "trying not to be Chicken Little," brought Chief Financial Officer Melinda Ga ... More >>

  • Blogs

    November 18, 2010

    HISD Prepares For Biggest Battle Since WWII

    HISD will be breaking out the budget ax​For the first time since World War II - the big one - the state of Texas is looking at actual reductions in public education funding, Houston ISD board attorney David Thompson told trustees today. "Uncharted ground" is how Thompson termed what HISD and ... More >>

  • Blogs

    November 10, 2010

    Updated:HISD Parents Group Says No to More Bennies in Apollo 20

    Spread it around, parents' group says​It seems that a proposal to put even more money into the Apollo 20 reclamation project in the Houston ISD was the final straw for a group of parent leaders in the school district. At the same time as the district is planning "to cut summer school funding ... More >>

  • Blogs

    November 9, 2010

    Chuck Morris Falls on His Sword While Carol Mims Galloway Continues Slicing Away

    Carter Center, not going down quietly​Houston ISD trustee Carol Mims Galloway Monday made it clear once again and in even stronger terms that she thinks the current district administration headed by Superintendent Terry Grier is dumping on the people of the Fifth Ward in its plans to shutter ... More >>

  • Blogs

    November 4, 2010

    HISD Looks to Trim Summer School Costs

    No dogs allowed​An initial -- and not yet approved -- plan presented to Houston ISD board members today calls for cutting summer school expenditures from more than $26 million to either $11 million or $15 million for 2011.At the same time, principals are being told that the money they have been ho ... More >>

  • Blogs

    October 7, 2010

    Terry Grier Cries Oops!

    Terry Grier: Math is hard​Several months ago, Houston ISD superintendent Terry Grier delivered dread news to an aghast school board: HISD was short by $37 million (actually it was originally set at $39 million for a couple days) in its bond fund projects money. Almost immediately, some people ... More >>

  • Blogs

    September 3, 2010

    HISD Lures Teens With Twilight

    Note: School may still suck​Not to be too damned cute about it, but as everyone knows, it isn't only vampires who come out at twilight.The Houston ISD is more than aware that it has a healthy cohort of high school kids who just can't seem to make it to early morning classes. Last year, it tried a ... More >>

  • Blogs

    July 21, 2010

    Terry Grier Sticks HISD Principals With $19 Million Bill (Updated)

    UPDATE: News flash from Houston ISD: Summer School will go on, just maybe not in the way it previously operated. And the $19 million shortfall may not be quite that high. See end of post. Photo by Margaret Downing Terry Grier: you're on your own, principals​Houston ISD principals are going ... More >>

  • Blogs

    June 24, 2010

    No Raises For HISD Employees

    That paycheck ain't changing next year​There won't be any raises for employees of the Houston ISD the next school year.Houston ISD trustees adopted a 2010-11 budget totaling  $1.613 billion Thursday night that Chief Financial Officer Melinda Garrett termed  a "survival" budget, adding th ... More >>

  • Blogs

    May 20, 2010

    Terry Grier Can't Find A Workable Alternative to CEP

    Photo by Margaret DowningCEP survives another day, even under Grier​There will be trims. There will be millions of dollars in savings. There will be new initiatives and new monitoring, but the bottom line is: Community Education Partners will continue to operate its two alternative schools in Hou ... More >>

  • Blogs

    May 18, 2010

    Mario Gallegos Continues His Anti-Terry Grier Letter Writing Campaign

    Gallegos is writing, but he's not hearing back from Grier​State Senator Mario Gallegos has continued to dictate letters since calling for Houston ISD superintendent Terry Grier to leave in an earlier letter, saying Grier was going to ruin the lives of students here.In his latest set of letters -- ... More >>

  • Blogs

    April 27, 2010

    Is Valero Really Trying To Take Food Out of the Mouths of HISD's Children?

    The first step in taking a $1 billion out of the tax rolls?​The Houston ISD school board has spent several sessions now listening to dire warnings from Chief Financial Officer Melinda Garrett and Superintendent Terry Grier about what may happen if energy company Valero is able to get tax exemption ... More >>

  • Blogs

    April 1, 2010

    Pre-K In Danger, Tax Rolls Down, HISD Looks For The Rabbit In The Hat

    ​Houston ISD's tax rolls look to be down 4.32 percent in the next year, with a loss of almost $5 billion in assessed values for 2011 over 2010. Most of the lost money is coming from lowered commercial property values, with the least decrease among residential property owners.Things could be even w ... More >>

  • Blogs

    February 1, 2010

    HISD's Terry Grier: Agent Provocateur

    Photo by Margaret Downing​Prediction: In a year, Superintendent Terry Grier will either be a celebrated hero, or the scapegoat for pretty much of everything that goes wrong in the Houston Independent School District.As Hair Balls said before, there doesn't seem to be a go-slow switch in Grier's ar ... More >>

  • Blogs

    January 22, 2010

    Houston Crossing Guards: The Two Million Dollar Question

    The other day, when Hair Balls looked into why the City of Houston hadn't been reimbursing Houston ISD all that it owed it for the work done by school crossing guards, the one question we didn't get answered right away was: exactly how much money was missing anyway? Was this just a petty dispute ... More >>

  • Blogs

    January 21, 2010

    HISD Crossing Guards Will Get Their Due!

    ​The city of Houston is supposed to pick up the tab for Houston ISD's school crossing guards. The state decided this a few years back; in fact, for a while the city operated the program itself, but in a spirit of cooperation (and common sense) it ceded that duty to the school district and then rei ... More >>

  • News

    June 6, 2002

    The Big Deal

    Vending machines are leaving Texas school cafeterias. But the mother lode of "minimal nutritional value" has hardly gone away.

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