On Thursday, September 9, the Houston ISD Board of Education met for its monthly business meeting. The Board also voted on several items at their agenda review meeting on September 2. These items included altering the Board goal monitoring calendar and several changes to Board policy and constraints. While the regular meeting agenda was relatively light this month, the Board lost ground on their time spent discussing student outcomes, which was down 8% from last month. The majority of the board meeting focused on the police body cameras and software, which is a result of continuing tension around the role of HISD police in the district. After a lengthy discussion, the Board was able to arrive at a compromise and did publicly promise to hold a meeting to consider their overall approach to district police. We look forward to that discussion and hope to see an equitable, student-focused resolution.
Overall Ratings
September 9, 2021
Trustee scores were based on votes and discussion related to agenda items A.2 and the I.1 project for police body cameras and software and assessed using core values for Leadership, Equity, and Impact.
District I: Trustee Santos
Medium
District II: Kathy Blueford-Daniels
Medium
District III: Dani Hernandez
Medium
District IV: Patricia Allen
Medium
District V: Sue Deigaard
Medium
District VI: Holly Maria Flynn Vilaseca Ocampo
Medium
District VII: Anne Sung
Medium
District VIII: Judith Cruz
Medium
District IX: Myrna Guidry
Medium
Key Votes
A.2: Constraint 1 and 4 Progress Monitoring
I.1: Police Body Cameras (Motion for to approve one year)
Trustee Santos
For
Against
Trustee Blueford-Daniels
For
For
Trustee Hernandez
For
For
Trustee Allen
For
For
Trustee Allen
For
For
Trustee Deigaard
For
For
Trustee Flynn Vilaseca Ocampo
For
For
Trustee Sung
For
For
Trustee Cruz
For
For
Trustee Guidry
For
For
Key Votes
Trustee Santos
A.2: Constraint 1 and 4 Progress Monitoring
For
I.1: Police Body Cameras (Motion for to approve one year)
Against
Trustee Blueford-Daniels
A.2: Constraint 1 and 4 Progress Monitoring
For
I.1: Police Body Cameras (Motion for to approve one year)
For
Trustee Hernandez
A.2: Constraint 1 and 4 Progress Monitoring
For
I.1: Police Body Cameras (Motion for to approve one year)
For
Trustee Allen
A.2: Constraint 1 and 4 Progress Monitoring
For
I.1: Police Body Cameras (Motion for to approve one year)
For
Trustee Deigaard
A.2: Constraint 1 and 4 Progress Monitoring
For
I.1: Police Body Cameras (Motion for to approve one year)
For
Trustee Flynn Vilaseca Ocampo
A.2: Constraint 1 and 4 Progress Monitoring
For
I.1: Police Body Cameras (Motion for to approve one year)
For
Trustee Sung
A.2: Constraint 1 and 4 Progress Monitoring
For
I.1: Police Body Cameras (Motion for to approve one year)
For
Trustee Cruz
A.2: Constraint 1 and 4 Progress Monitoring
For
I.1: Police Body Cameras (Motion for to approve one year)
For
Trustee Guidry
A.2: Constraint 1 and 4 Progress Monitoring
For
I.1: Police Body Cameras (Motion for to approve one year)
For
Time Spent on Student Outcomes
Research shows that school boards that focus on student outcomes have a greater impact. The Texas Education Agency recommends spending at least 50% of Board meeting time on student outcomes.
57 Minutes
57 Minutes: 25%
Trustee Comments
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- The Board demonstrated a lack of Impact by only spending 25% of the regular board meeting discussing student outcomes. This is down 8% from last month. While we do not expect every month to be an increase from the last, this is low considering how light the agenda was this month. The trustees must keep best practice and their goal of 50% student outcome time in mind moving forward.
- The Board President publicly agreed to call another meeting or workshop to discuss the role of police in the district. We are encouraged to see this result, considering this meeting was a clear demonstration of why this discussion is necessary. The divisions on the Board concerning the police function have affected their ability to efficiently consider agenda items and comply with state law. The Board did arrive at a compromise that would allow the police access to body cameras and software, while the Board deliberates their plans moving forward. However, most of the time spent on this item was not solutions-oriented, somewhat hindering collaboration.
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Served Since: 2018
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Trustee Santos expressed concern about time teachers allocated to student testing and preparation. She was especially focused on special education students and excluding them from testing.
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Trustee Santos opposed the purchase of body cameras and software for HISD police, citing the lack of a definition of safety and the need for other items, like air purifiers. She was the only trustee to vote against the compromise trustees proposed so that they would be in compliance with state law.
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Served Since: 2020
- Trustee Blueford-Daniels asked about providing college credit options for teaching assistants to help fill positions.
- Trustee Blueford-Daniels supported moving forward with body camera and software purchases for HISD police and felt the original police function workshop was biased.
- At agenda review, Trustee Blueford-Daniels pointed out how far behind the Board and district were on goal progress monitoring and the effect the pandemic is likely to have on student outcomes.
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Served Since: 2020
- Trustee Hernandez asked about teacher retention strategies, campuses identified for closer progress monitoring, and how changes to the district’s teacher appraisal system would affect student outcome monitoring.
- Trustee Hernandez moved to postpone the police body camera purchase until after the Board convened another workshop to discuss the police role in the district. The motion failed, but she was still able to secure a public commitment to have a Board discussion about police function.
- Trustee Hernandez expressed concern about the constraint progress measures targeted at ensuring ESL students have high-quality instruction. Specifically, she wanted to postpone approval of the policy language until the administration could clarify the ESL/bilingual terminology and expressed concern about the low targets set for ESL instruction.
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Served Since: 2020
- Trustee Allen initially resisted the idea of an additional Board workshop on policing in the district, but did publicly agree to convene a meeting as the Board President. She supported the police body camera purchase as an accountability measure for police.
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Served Since: 2018
- Trustee Deigaard asked about special considerations for special education students dealing with learning loss due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She also asked about providing professional development opportunities for teachers, supporting them through pandemic burnout, and campuses that were behind in progress for IEPs for special education students.
- Trustee Deigaard opposed moving forward with a large contract for police body cameras and software before the Board could have a full discussion about policing in the district. She offered options for compromise when divisions were clear among the trustees. She moved to postpone the item until the next board meeting and hold a workshop in the meantime, but the motion was not approved.
- Trustee Deigaard expressed concern about the progress measures related to high-quality pre-k seats. She wanted to make sure the administration was looking at expanding pre-k offerings to areas in need and not just increasing enrollment. She supported postponing this policy change so the administration could revisit their targets.
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Served Since: 2017
- Trustee Flynn Vilaseca Ocampo asked about IEP auditing to ensure the district was monitoring progress for special education students. She also asked for breakdowns of campuses who are behind with IEP progress and trends across the district.
- While Trustee Flynn Vilaseca Ocampo supported an additional workshop on police function in the district, she was concerned about making sure the district was complying with state law for police body cameras.
- Trustee Flynn Vilaseca echoed her colleagues concern about the high-quality pre-k progress measures and supported postponing the changes so the administration could revisit their targets.
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Served Since: 2017
- Trustee Sung asked about potential changes to the district’s teacher appraisal system, specifically if the rubric accounted for teacher warmth/comfort. She also asked about disaggregated data for constraint progress measures aimed at special education outcomes.
- Trustee Sung supported a workshop on the police function in the district prior to purchasing body cameras for the HISD police department. She tried to find a time to schedule a workshop before the deadline the district was facing, however, the Board was not able to set a date.
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Served Since: 2020
- Trustee Cruz asked about the timeline for a new teacher appraisal system and how it would be helpful in ensuring students with the most need have access to the highest-quality instruction. She also asked about replicating the success of campuses who are progressing well on IEPs for special education students and recruiting bilingual teachers for special education.
- Trustee Cruz supported an additional workshop on the police role in the district before voting on body cameras and software. She moved to approve a one-year contract with the contractor in order to comply with state law, expecting the Board to revisit the conversation before it came up for renewal again next year.
- Trustee Cruz echoed her colleagues concern about the high-quality pre-k progress measures and supported postponing the changes so the administration could revisit their targets.
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Served Since: 2020
- Trustee Guidry supported moving forward with the purchase of police body cameras and software. She did ensure that the amount designated for tasers at the previous meeting was removed from the proposed vendor contract.