The news that several popular and well respected principals in the Houston ISD have been told their services are no longer wanted, has enraged several HISD school communities, at least two of which plan protests Monday morning at the start of the school day.
Usually the end of a school year is a time for final grade anxiety for some, but mostly a big sigh of relief for teachers, principals and students looking forward to the summer break. And congratulations all round for getting through another year.
That has been upended in recent days as pink slips handed out this past week included teachers and principals previously rewarded with high praise by the district itself. And, as has been pointed out several times, the bad news coincides with National Teacher Appreciation Week.
So expect Monday morning protests around at least two schools — Crockett Elementary and Meyerland Middle School Performing and Visual Arts Magnet — as you drive to school or work. And more to come in the days ahead. The last day of classes is June 5.
Crockett Elementary School’s Dr. Alexis Clark Vale won’t be the principal any more at her arts magnet and parents there are not happy either. The school located in the First Ward area, offers free music practice sessions two days a week after school. The protest there is scheduled for 7:15 a.m. at 2112 Crockett Street.
Protesters are also asking parents to keep their children home from school that day at Crockett to make a statement about the non renewal of their principal’s contract.
At 7:30 a.m. Monday one protest will begin at Meyerland Middle School, 10410 Manhattan Drive. Principal Auden Sarabia who was named HISD’s Middle School Principal of the Year in 2023, has said he was asked to resign by HISD.
If he doesn’t resign, he can appeal his case to the state-appointed Board of Managers that if not in lock step with Superintendent Mike Miles, rarely diverts from his plans. Whether a teacher or principal got a renewal of contract notice this year appears to depend in large part on whether they can get with the major tenets of Miles’ New Education System.
To be fair, any time a new superintendent tries to introduce change in a district, particularly if he or she targets long standing curriculum and personnel decisions, they are in for a bumpy ride. Employment decisions are the trickiest since by law, someone’s personnel file cannot be opened up for public consumption. At the same time, it’s this very lack of transparency that makes school communities less than trusting about the actions an administration has taken.
In the case of HISD, the criticisms are mounting on any number of fronts.
“Parental frustration over broken promises made by Superintendent Miles about his plans for HISD following the TEA takeover has been brewing the last few months. Each month hundreds of parents and students have signed up to speak at board meetings about how his non-proven NES policies are destroying what is working within the district and demoralizing our educators,” said 2022-23 Meyerland PTO president Amanda Sorena in a press release.
“Parents will be lining the sidewalks to circle the school with a show of solidarity for teachers, students, and admin who are being unjustly treated,” she wrote. Protesters believe that HISD protocols were not followed in the educator dismissal.
Actually, members of the HISD have their pick of protests to attend all over the district in coming days..
A protest is planned for 10 a.m. Saturday, May 18 at Houston City Hall in opposition to Miles with a walk around the block after speakers are heard from. Briargrove Elementary is leading the charge for this one.
And then there’s the ongoing protest by The Houston Stitching Together crochet group, which has been churning out distinctive large scale crocheted messages protesting Mile’s policies all over town.
In addition, Neff Elementary Principal Amanda Wingard named HISD’s 2023 Elementary School Principal of the Year was forced to resign.
In Sarabia’s case, Sorena said three data points that went into his termination:
“1. STAAR score decline (they declined for all schools)
“2. MOY MAP data (Miles said this would not be a matrix held against principals AND MPVA was without heat in several classrooms on testing day)
“3. Spot Check Dashboard and not hitting “Campus Goals.” (This one is even more perplexing. The dashboard is not transparent. When it rolled out in the Fall, four MPVA admin were tasked with doing their six Spot Checks a week. Three weeks into the school year, one of those administrators was moved by HISD to another campus. The dashboard was not updated.”
Sorena wrote that another administrator was not assigned to pick up the work from the one moved to another school. All of the assigned spot checks which she was no longer making were scored as zeroes. Sarabia reported this to the people in charge of this but nothing was ever done to correct it, according to his supporters.
Unknown how HISD’s administration will react to protests and kids not showing up for school. They weren’t too happy about the Madison High School walkouts earlier in the school year. Weather predictions call for the possibility of heavy rain Monday which could put a damper on the planned proceedings. But probably not a lasting one on the groups who increasingly feel HISD has gone off course.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2024.
