Like many Houstonians, I look forward to Houston ISD returning to local control under elected trustees. However, rejecting HISD’s Bond Propositions A & B on the November 5th ballot as a referendum on the state’s takeover of HISD or on the current administration does not serve our students or Houston.
HISD schools are in urgent need of capital improvements. Most school districts have a bond election every four to five years. However, HISD’s last bond was in 2012. Since then, neighboring districts have invested $19.8B in their schools while HISD has invested nothing – $0. The class of 2025, graduating next May, started kindergarten in August 2012. That is an entire generation of neglect.
Because of the overall state of HISD infrastructure, and chronic deferral of maintenance, the 2024 bond proposal is unique in that it addresses safety and security issues at every campus. Too many of our kids are learning in unsafe environments with malfunctioning HVAC systems, out-of-date security protections, lead in the pipes, mold in classrooms, and vermin in the walls. There are thousands of our students who attend classes in insecure, unsafe, and unhealthy “temporary” buildings – some dating back to the 1960s and 70s, leading to the HISD moniker “permanent-temporary buildings.” This bond will reduce t-building use by 38%. In a post-Uvalde and Santa Fe world, we know that secure learning environments require multiple layers of protection including perimeter fencing and a single point of entry. Over 70% of HISD campuses do not have these basic protections. Propositions A & B would address these critical security, safety, and health needs on all campuses.
Former Superintendent House and the board appointed Capital Planning Steering Committee prepared a robust proposal in 2022, but no bond was offered to voters. If it had been, we would not be having this discussion today. However, the data and analytics from that proposal provided the foundation for the creation of this 2024 bond offering – but conditions on our campuses have only grown more dire for the waiting.
We do not know how long HISD will be under state intervention. We do know rejecting this bond will not change the intervention exit criteria, and because a bond is not an exit criterion, this administration is unlikely to offer another bond proposal. Meanwhile, our students will rely on the safety and security protocols and provision of the 2007 and 2012 bonds. Students and teachers will lose more days to illness from mold and failing cooling and heating systems. The budget will be handcuffed by rising maintenance costs. And future construction costs will increase from inflation and worsening infrastructure.
Implementing this bond proposal will be a decade-long process. The 2012 bond projects were completed over eleven years, spanning four HISD administrations and several school boards. The proposed 2024 HISD Bond is slated for implementation over eight years. (Superintendent Miles’ contract concludes in August 2026.) Houstonians are being asked to make a long-term investment in our children and our city: if the age of our current infrastructure is any indication, we are building for the next 50-100 years.
Some will say, ‘The State must do something about this! The Texas Legislature must increase public education funding!’ I agree! However, an increase in state funding would not be enough to cover HISD’s deferred maintenance expenses and would do nothing to address our construction needs. Furthermore, advocating for increases in education funding in the 2025 legislative session will be more difficult if Houstonians refuse to support a bond for our kids in our city.
Without bond funding, our HISD community is on a completely unsustainable and unhealthy path for our students The $700M budgeted in the bond proposal for vital HVAC repair and replacement is approximately one-third of HISD’s $2.1B annual operating budget. And the 43 “Renew Houston ISD” campuses – those with the most desperate, highest need – are not budgeted in that $700M. With an annual maintenance and operations budget for the entire district of $180M (and fielding an average of 51 HVAC work orders a day) we will never be able to address the needs of students without additional funding provided by a bond.
The chronic, persistent denial of infrastructure funds – rejecting HISD Propositions A & B – is the literal destruction of our public schools. On November 5th, we have the power to be the cavalry for HISD students at the ballot box by voting FOR HISD Props A & B. No one else is coming to save our schools.
Eileen Hairel is the parent of two current HISD Students, an active member of their Parent-Teacher Organizations and campus Shared Decision-Making Committees. She is also a member of both the HISD District Advisory Committee and the 2024 HISD Bond Community Advisory Committee.