‘Houston ISD Proposition A and B are vital to ensuring our kids are in a safe and healthy learning environment,’ Executive Director Veronica Garcia said. ‘Kids can’t wait while partisans play politics.’
HOUSTON – September 30, 2024 – Harris County Democratic and Republican parties recently voted in favor of resolutions opposing Houston ISD’s $4.4 billion school bond, a move Houstonians for Great Public Schools (Houston GPS) called ‘completely political at its worst, negligent at its best.’
“We’ve all seen the headlines exposing dilapidated school conditions. There is lead in the water, mold in the classrooms, and the Houston Chronicle reported that almost every HISD school fails to meet some indoor quality standard,” Houston GPS Executive Director Veronica Garcia said. “Students find no relief from Houston’s scorching summers and endure freezing conditions in the winter because air-conditioning and heating systems repeatedly fail. Equally concerning – in today’s day and age – is the fact that not every school campus has the necessary school safety measures in place to keep our kids and school staff safe. Props A and B would put students first and address all of these needs. To actively work against the bond is choosing to keep our children in these conditions and is choosing politics over kids.”
A political precinct chair cited negative sentiment surrounding Houston ISD’s current superintendent as the reason for presenting the resolution opposing the bond.“This isn’t a vote in a popularity contest. This is a vote for parents to know kids are safe every time they walk through the school doors,” Garcia said.
“The 2012 bond took multiple years for implementation and during that time there were several superintendents and a myriad of school board leaders,” Garcia said. “Third party regulators and outside committees ensure the money is spent the way voters approved on the ballot, regardless of who is in charge.”
It’s common for comparable ISDs to present a bond to voters every four to five years. It has been over 10 years since Houston ISD’s last bond, and that was for high schools, nearly 20 years since a bond election was called for elementary and middle schools.
“Our kids can’t wait. Students shouldn’t be pawns in political games, that is why I believe Houstonians will put children first and vote for HISD Propositions A and B.”