Texas Might Take Over Houston ISD: Here’s What We Know

A possible state acquisition looms for Texas’ largest school district, Houston ISD.

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said he spoke with Texas Education Agency (TEA) Commissioner Mike Morath about rumors of impending HISD intervention. According to Turner, during their conversation, Morath said his department would give the school district two options: close Whitley High School or take control of it entirely.

“I decided to call Commissioner of Education Morath and directly asked him if any of these rumors were true,” Turner said.[Morath said] “There are two options: I can close the school or take over the district. What would you prefer?”

Turner says the call ended with him urging Morath to return to the state legislators and rethink his plans for the county.

“If the state is going to take over the largest school district in the state of Texas, the state needs to stand up and be upfront and transparent,” Turner said. “Let people know who you’re talking to and what your plans are.”

Superintendent of the Houston Independent School District On Friday, Millard House II gave a speech on the state of the schools. after Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner addressed rumors at a city council meeting that the Texas Education Agency was planning to take over the county as early as this week, saying the idea was “completely unsettling.”

“While we are proud of the way we have come this way, we still have a lot of work to do and focus on,” Millard said, speaking to several county employees and officials. “There is uncertainty looming over possible TEA intervention and I will be honest with you. I don’t know what the future will bring, but here’s what I know. Together, we have shown that public education can transform with the right support, students can better achieve the academic achievement we know they deserve.”

Millard continued by saying, “Our students need you, they need you all to be vital partners on the road ahead for this school district.”

In a statement released Saturday, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said the potential acquisition is “outrageous at best and a thinly veiled threat to democracy at worst.”

“From the denial of elections, to serious proposals to take control of our district elections, attempts to limit our budget, and now this attempt to take over the eighth largest school district in the country, the state is going too far in politics and working to limit democracy and established rights of our citizens,” Hidalgo said.

According to KPRC, in March 2022, HISD Superintendent Millard House II said he understands the challenges, calling solutions opportunities.

“This will require serious work. This will require some bold decisions. It will also require money, at the same time it will have to cut costs, but it is necessary,” House said.

House outlined these needs in HISD’s five-year strategic plan. He also described the county’s relationship with the Texas Education Agency as positive, including reactions to its five-year plan. But earlier this year, the Texas Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Texas Education Agency’s potential acquisition of the independent school district of Houston, which has about 200,000 students and 276 school campuses.

State education officials say the district is suffering from mismanagement and poor performance at one of its high schools.

TEA Commissioner Mike Morath took over the district’s school board for the first time in 2019 in response to allegations of administrator misconduct and years of underachievement at Phyllis Wheatley High School.

Houston ISD sued, and in 2020 the Travis County District Judge stopped Morata’s plan, granted a temporary injunction. An appeals court upheld the injunction, but TEA took the case to the state’s highest court, where agency lawyers argued last year that a 2021 law, enacted after the case was first brought to court, allows the state to take over.

The Texas Education Agency released the following statement for KPRC 2:

“TEA continues to review the Supreme Court’s decision to determine the next steps that will best support students, teachers, parents, and the Houston Independent School District school community.”

KPRC and the Texas Tribune contributed to this story.

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