Parents at nine Houston ISD high schools beginning today and throughout the week will hear why HISD believes it’s going to be better for their kids to be bused to the Barbara Jordan Career Center than to spend their entire days at their home schools.
And why they might want to rethink their career paths.
Consolidating CTE classes in a central area for these nine schools means: “Students will have access to state-of-the-art equipment, collaborative learning spaces, and pathways aligned with regional and national workforce trends—ensuring every learner graduates ready to thrive in college, career, and life,” an HISD statement has said.
At the December 11 school board meeting, emphasis was placed on sunsetting certain CTE courses of study at Kashmere, Northside and Heights high schools. These programs, deemed less advantageous as career paths either because of lack of demand or lower pay, are going to be phased out at other schools as well.
Soon to be discarded programs include entrepreneurship, graphic design, web development and lodging and resort management. Critics of the change have said that removing these programs undercuts the schools themselves and means fewer offerings for students who don’t want to leave their home campus.
Tied into this is a criticism of the time spent moving the kids by bus to and from the CTE center each day, although district estimates are that this will take 30 minutes or less on each leg.
If approved, the district plans to approach this as a phased-in transition. That means students already in a program will still be able to complete that course of study. But no incoming students at these schools will be able to start with the discontinued career path.
Parents and interested public will have a chance to hear about the proposed changes in their magnet programs in one-hour meetings held at each of their home campuses from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. on assigned days.
Meetings are scheduled for January 6 at Furr and Heights.
Booker T. Washington, Kashmere and Waltrip meetings are scheduled for January 7.
North Forest, Northside, Sam Houston Math, Science and Technology Center and Wheatley are meeting on January 8.
Micky Leland College Preparatory Academy for Young Men which is entirely a magnet school has been dropped from the original list.
The HISD Board of Managers was originally scheduled to vote on the matter at the December 11 meeting but any change in magnet schools must be preceded by community outreach –hence this week’s home campus meetings.
If authorized, the move will be accompanied by improved facilities at the Barbara Jordan Center. Superintendent Miles has repeatedly promoted the idea that three other CTE centers should be built in other areas of the district.
The ”career clusters” at Barbara Jordan will include:
Health – Diagnostics & Therapeutics, Health Informatics, Pharmacy
Trades – Automotive, Construction MGMT, Electrical, HVAC, Plumbing, Welding
Human Services – Culinary, Teaching & Training
IT – Cyber Security, Networking
Engineering – Manufacturing, Drone (SY27-28), Robotics (SY27-28)
This article appears in Private: Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2026.