Subject:

Terry Grier

  • Blogs

    July 16, 2012

    Working Together or in Separate Little Cubicles With Only a Computer For Company, HISD Students Post a Lower Dropout Rate, Higher Grad Rate

    The percentage of kids officially dropping out of the Houston ISD decreased from 12.6 percent (Class of 2010) to 11.8 percent (Class of 2011), Superintendent Terry Grier announced today. At the same time, the marker on the graduation rate went up as well from 74.3 percent to 78.5 percent in the sa ... More >>

  • Blogs

    February 10, 2012

    HISD's Grier Scores a Semi-Win in Contract Extension, Three Trustees Search for Their Cojones

    Three abstentions? Really? You're voting on extending the contract of the man who works for you and you opt out? Decide not to have an opinion? Decide not to share your opinion? Certainly it's unlike any job review in the real world. Last night, as expected, five members of the Houston ISD school b ... More >>

  • Blogs

    February 9, 2012

    HISD Board Might Extend Terry Grier's Contract Tonight

    Terry Grier's contract being discussed​Are you ready for some more Terry Grier? Five Houston school board members are, and they are looking to extend the superintendent's contract for another year, to 2014. The move may come as early as tonight, although some are questioning whether doing so ... More >>

  • Blogs

    January 13, 2012

    Mike Lunceford Elected Prez of HISD School Board, Love Boat-Style

    It was a veritable love fest on Thursday night as Michael Lunceford was elected the new president of the Houston ISD school board, nominated by the two trustees who had reportedly been in the running for the position themselves. Greg Meyers nominated and Anna Eastman seconded. The board normally li ... 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 8, 2011

    Terry Grier Doesn't Want To Hire Back HISD Teachers

    Good luck with that mortgage, teachers​Right up to the end of the lengthy budget process this spring, Houston ISD trustees were assured by Superintendent Terry Grier and his administrators that if the district's calculations were off, if HISD got more money from the state than expected, then o ... More >>

  • Blogs

    July 29, 2011

    HISD Test Scores Arrive With a Big But

    Let the spin begin​The news that Houston ISD's number of exemplary schools dropped from 101 in 2010 to 59 in 2011, according to the Texas Education Agency's figures just released at 1 p.m. today, could only add more fuel to the fire of critics who are certain Superintendent Terry Grier is dest ... More >>

  • Blogs

    July 28, 2011

    Terry Grier: He Flips, He Dips, He Does a 180 on Test Scores

    Terry Grier on the high dive​In a startling reversal of previous statements and his own avowed philosophies, Houston ISD Superintendent Terry Grier today released a statement that he will recommend to the school board that teachers not be evaluated by their students' test scores this next scho ... More >>

  • Blogs

    July 21, 2011

    HISD: New STAAR Standardized Test Will Completely Change All Curriculum

    HISD gets tested.​Texas public schools are trading the standardized test they currently use, TAKS, for a brand-new test -- one that's much harder. Said Superintendent Terry Grier, "This is probably the biggest thing that's happened in Texas education in a long, long time." This morning, five ... More >>

  • Blogs

    July 14, 2011

    Terry Grier Says Please, Please Mr. Postman

    ​Houston ISD Superintendent Terry Grier has been busy writing letters, in one responding to state Senator Mario Gallegos, who has questioned whether some people are making money through Apollo 20 who shouldn't be, and a second and more immediate one to counter today's Houston Chronicle banner ... More >>

  • Blogs

    June 16, 2011

    HISD Has More Grads, Fewer Dropouts

    HISD​In a hurry-up afternoon press conference, Houston ISD Superintendent Terry Grier was able to say today that more of the district's students are graduating on time, fewer are dropping out -- and the improvements include every racial and ethnic student group. Grier was referring to data co ... More >>

  • Blogs

    May 27, 2011

    Comment of the Day: HISD, TAKS, Spinning & Responsibility

    ​We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it's time we paid some damn attention to them. So we'll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning, from the previous day's work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula involv ... More >>

  • Blogs

    May 27, 2011

    HISD Lesson for Today: Tutoring Works, Now What Do We Do?

    Margaret DowningTerry Grier stays on TAKS. ​It was a masterful performance. At the start of his press conference Thursday in which he announced gains in math and science student test scores, Houston ISD Superintendent Terry Grier announced that "We're not going to talk about accountability rat ... More >>

  • Blogs

    May 25, 2011

    Number of HISD Exemplary and Recognized Schools Drops in Preliminary TAKS Results

    HISD results go backwards​Houston ISD has fewer exemplary and recognized schools, stayed exactly the same in the number of acceptable schools and increased in the number of its unacceptable schools, according to state accountability ratings based on preliminary TAKS results. Houston ISD Super ... 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 29, 2011

    Grier Calls 1st TAKS Tests for Apollo "Progress, Not Victory"

    Spinning the TAKS results​Superintendent Terry Grier released Houston ISD's first-round state test scores for fifth and eighth graders on Thursday, acknowledging at the start of the press conference that the results for middle school students in the Apollo 20 pilot project were of the most int ... More >>

  • Blogs

    April 14, 2011

    HISD Thinks Too Many African American Kids May Be in Special Ed

    Margaret DowningTerry Grier thinks more changes are needed for special ed in HISD.​Houston ISD Superintendent Terry Grier has reason to believe his district has tagged too many African American students with mental retardation and emotional disturbance labels, and that it may be underserving ... More >>

  • Blogs

    April 12, 2011

    HISD Eyes More School Closures, a Hike in Lunch Prices, UPDATED

    Dollars: HISD ain't got `em​Update:HISD spokesman Jason Spencer sent us a note that these schools are now up for closure and/or consolidation: Elementary schools: Memorial, Paige, N.Q. Henderson, Port Houston, Gordon, Pleasantville, Stevenson, Houston Gardens, Burrus, Rhoads, Grimes, McDade, a ... More >>

  • Blogs

    March 8, 2011

    Mario Gallegos Goes Off on Terry Grier at Senate Education Hearing

    Mario & Terry: Can two grown men share a city without driving each other crazy?​Houston ISD Superintendent Terry Grier went all the way to Austin to testify before the Texas Senate Committee on Education, only to be ripped apart by Sen. Mario Gallegos, who continues to not like much of anythi ... More >>

  • Blogs

    March 7, 2011

    Grier Backs Off From His Controversial Magnet Changes

    HISD magnet changes won't come anytime soon​After a marathon meeting of parental dismay with proposed changes to the Houston school district's magnet program last week, superintendent Terry Grier has waved the white flag and postponed any action until next school year. District spokesman Jaso ... 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 17, 2011

    Terry Grier Girds His Loins And Wants You to Do the Same

    Photos by Margaret DowningFormer Governor Mark White with Terry Grier​Declaring "we can't afford to press the pause button on our children's education," Houston ISD Superintendent Terry Grier vowed to continue doing the things he believes have to be done, even if the Texas economy is in the cr ... More >>

  • Blogs

    February 11, 2011

    Apollo 20 Picks Up 11 Elementaries, But Not Without a Fight

    Board reluctantly endorses Grier's plan​It took three sets of votes, but in the end Houston ISD trustees in a 5-4 vote gave Superintendent Terry Grier the go-ahead on his proposal to expand the Apollo 20 program to 11 elementary schools next year. The debate was long, with passionate argument ... More >>

  • Blogs

    February 10, 2011

    What Texas Needs: Armed School Board Members

    This'll liven up a dull school baord meeting​Last December, a man named Clay Duke achieved brief national fame for video footage of him pointing a gun at the members of a Florida school board. The pantywaists up north might not know what the solution is to such a problem, but here in Texas at ... 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 31, 2011

    Apollo 20 Pluses and Minuses at Mid-Year

    Photo by Margaret DowningApollo 20 in action at Ryan Middle School​During Saturday's tutoring session for 6th to 8th graders at Ryan Middle School, students were first asked to fill out a multiplication grid table going from 1 times 1 on up. Claudia J. "Coach" Sylvester told them it was "not c ... 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

    January 14, 2011

    Oh Brother Grier, Where Art Thou?

    Photo by Margaret DowningTerry Grier: Wheatley parents complain about his absence​Thursday's Houston ISD school board meeting was packed and a significant portion of the crowd included those who wanted to talk about the recent removal of Wheatley High School assistant principal Sandra James Wa ... More >>

  • Blogs

    January 11, 2011

    HISD Trustees Wrestle With Their Magnet Report

    A lot of questions about the future of HISD's magnet program​In a three-hour session Monday devoted to a review of a just-released report on what should be done about magnet schools in the Houston ISD, trustees discussed changing how kids are picked for magnet schools by next fall (Superintend ... More >>

  • Blogs

    December 16, 2010

    HISD Takes Beginning Steps Towards "Right-Sizing" Schools

    Tough times are ahead for HISD. ​Near the end of today's meeting about "right sizing" schools in Houston, Houston ISD board president Greg Meyers summed up just about everything we know about the proposed changes:"I'm not sure how much clarity has been given at this point," he said. That was after ... 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

    December 6, 2010

    HISD's Magnet Schools: Independent Reviewers Weigh In

    Magnet School reviewers wondered if they were seeing the real thing​Magnet school principals resent unequal resources, are a little unsure of the independently contracted magnet school review process now going on and best practices aren't shared across the Houston ISD, according to a review of ... 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 >>

  • News

    October 21, 2010

    Aggies Go Big

    Build largest college-football statue ever.

  • Blogs

    October 15, 2010

    Terry Grier's AP Tests Could Also Stand for Auto Power

    Photo by Margaret DowningTerry Grier has a chart for success​In Greensboro, North Carolina, Terry Grier was known as that (crazy) guy who gave a car away every year.Grier, now slightly more than one year into his superintendency in Houston, used that dramatic, crowd-pleasing technique to up the nu ... More >>

  • Blogs

    October 13, 2010

    The Magnetism of Superintendent Terry Grier

    Some magnets are in the crosshairs​The great magnets of the Houston ISD -- DeBakey, HSPVA, Carnegie Vanguard, T.H. Rogers -- have nothing to fear from any remodeling of the district's magnet program, Superintendent Terry Grier declared at a media roundtable Tuesday.Schools that make him go "wow" a ... More >>

  • Blogs

    October 8, 2010

    Terry Grier Ready to Whack H.P. Carter

    Carter will be closed​It was only a month ago that Houston ISD Superintendent Terry Grier brought up the issue of H.P. Carter Career Center, the school housing just 54 students that costs at least $2.86 million to run. Well, that won't be for a whole lot longer, apparently. One of the budget item ... More >>

  • Blogs

    October 8, 2010

    Bad Teachers Consigned to the Flames in Fiery Manifesto Signed by Terry Grier

    Terry Grier goes national ​In a story already online and due to come out in the Sunday print edition of the Washington Post, our own Terry Grier joins other superintendents in blaming teachers (well, the bad ones) for the poor state of our schools and children.He also pushes charters and endorses ... 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 23, 2010

    HISD Puts Magnets Under the Microscope

    Terry Grier stirs up a hornet's nest​Houston ISD may move to a lottery-only system in applications to any of its 113 magnet school programs. "We're allowing principals to decide who gets in and who doesn't. We accuse some of our charters of skimming. Well frankly, we're doing some of the same thi ... More >>

  • Blogs

    September 23, 2010

    Money Rains From the Skies For HISD

    Photo by Margaret DowningTerry Grier: Always nice to announce new money coming in​Houston ISD got a double dose of good news today when it learned it's getting $31.5 million in Teacher Incentive Fund grant money (spread out over five years) to help enable it to continue paying bonuses to teachers ... More >>

  • Blogs

    September 6, 2010

    Terry Grier Takes Aim at Cutting Beauty-School Classes at CLC

    HISD has got `em​Are classes in hair cuts and skin care -- especially if students are not actually going to pursue that as a career -- really the best use of a kid's high school years?Houston ISD Superintendent Terry Grier asked that question at last week's workshop agenda, focusing on the cosmeto ... 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

    September 2, 2010

    The $700K Gap At H. P. Carter In HISD

    Carter Career Center: An impressive-looking building​There's a three-story school in Houston ISD, named H.P. Carter Career Center, that houses just 54 students and costs $2.86 million a year to run, Superintendent Terry Grier said at a board workshop meeting this morning. Break it down and that' ... More >>

  • Blogs

    August 26, 2010

    HISD Magnet Schools to Get the Once Over, Trustees Decide

    Magnets, you are officially under review​Houston ISD trustees decided to bravely step into the middle of a whole pile of poop passion today when they voted 7-0 to authorize the administration to hire an outside firm to do an audit of the district's magnet school system.The discussion began with a ... More >>

  • Blogs

    August 17, 2010

    HISD Kicks Off Its Apollo 20 Program For Troubled Schools

    Photos by Christopher Patronella, Jr.HISD's Terry Grier with a student at an Apollo 20 school​As if surrendering your long, lazy summer to the start of another tedious school year is not hard enough, students from five HISD middle schools and four high schools are making that plunge an entire week ... 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 >>

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