Houston ISD students returned to classes on Monday after the district spent much of the summer implementing reforms made by new Superintendent Mike Miles amid the ongoing state takeover.
Those attending Miles’ 85 New Education System and NES-aligned schools will likely see the most reform. As modifications were made to the curriculum, school hours were extended and libraries across these campuses were converted to team centers – among other changes.
Tensions between Miles, district employees and parents have remained high since the Texas Education Agency first assumed district control earlier this year. Many community members gathered to protest at countless board meetings and community-led events to express their disapproval of the superintendent and his reforms.
The district also faced backlash after terminating 21 contracted special education instructors and diagnosticians and making widespread cuts to their central office, eliminating the autism support team.
More recently, parents of children attending Stevens Elementary School and Garcia Elementary School spoke out against their principals being reassigned just two days before a “Meet the Teacher” event and under a week before school started.
Despite this last-minute staff reorganization, Miles successfully filled all of the remaining teacher vacancies. His announcement came three days before the start of the new year.
This places the district ahead of where it began last year, with over 640 unfilled teaching positions. More than 400 substitute teachers and eight central office staff members took over these roles, and classes were combined or had more students to supplement the lack of instructors.
However, to fill these positions before the first day, the district sought TEA approval of waivers for teachers and assistant principals who still needed their certifications. This decision was another move made by the district largely unsupported by community members. Despite this concern, 87 uncertified teachers and 72 uncertified assistant principals were hired as of mid-August.
Miles had originally planned to implement a school bus schedule, resulting in all NES and NES-aligned campuses’ buses arriving and departing at the same time. However, he scratched this schedule and a plan to implement an Uber-like transportation program.
Instead, the superintendent said he would modify the bus system after monitoring how it functions once school starts.
The first day of school will likely provide Miles with a good indicator of any operational issues and public response from additional students and community members to the changes made during the time off.
Update: 8:41 a.m.
Monday morning at the McCarty transportation center only one bus was reported late, and seven others missed their drop off time but got students there before school started.
Update: 9:35 a.m.
Faculty and staff stood outside Phillis Wheatley High School on Monday morning, greeting and shaking the hands of students who arrived for their first day of classes.
Foot and street traffic picked up around 8 a.m. as bus drivers and parents dropping their children off drove by, and students started to crowd on the sidewalks outside. Despite the busy start of the day, all seemed to be running smoothly.
Members of the Center for Urban Transformation, a local community nonprofit, were outside handing out fliers to family members who brought students to school. These handouts detailed information about the organization’s resources, including help for Fifth Ward families’ educational needs, housing, financial assistance, health care access, and more.
Update: 11:13 a.m.
Domenique Montgomery, the programs director for the Center for Urban Transformation, said the group planned to travel to additional schools within Fifth Ward on Monday to continue distributing the fliers to community members throughout the day.
“We want to let parents know that we are here to support them as kids go back to school to all the changes that have been happening in our district with the TEA,” he said.
When speaking to parents and family members, Montgomery said their primary concerns ahead of the new school year included possible disciplinary actions against students, the district’s ability to provide wraparound services and whether or not the administration will pass down transparent information.
“For the most part, they are concerned about what seems like a lack of communication, which creates a level of confusion about what’s going to happen in the school year,” he said.
Update: 1:21 p.m.
Administrators had projected that HISD would have about 185,000 students this year, but early tallies showed more than 189,000 students enrolled. Many registered in the last week and were still enrolling on the first day of classes, with more expected this week.
Hot weather played havoc with the A/C systems at several of the schools HISD technicians were sent out to the different campuses involved to restore cooling air.
Parents should be aware that bus routes may be added or changed in the next two to three weeks. Parents will be notified directly but should also check Find My Route or call 713-556-9400 and press 2 to get the latest information of their child’s bus route.
Update: 1:32 p.m.
Superintendent Mike Miles spent the morning touring three schools in the North Forest feeder pattern, observing how the first day was going and offering advice based on those observations to principals. He reiterated that while teachers may fine tune the day’s lesson, they are required to cover the objectives laid out in the district’s lesson plant. For the first month, Miles said, he will be spending his time observing these schools and will start traveling to the non-NES schools later.
We’ll be updating this story throughout the day with the latest events.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2023.
