Former Houston ISD board members question transparency of new $2.2 billion budget proposal
Houston ISD proposes new budget, how are students impacted?
There were some very tense moments in Thursday night's Houston ISD board meeting as parents were frustrated over the new rules and proposed budget. The new superintendent presented some big numbers and big cuts. FOX 26's Sherman Desselle breaks down how students are impacted.
HOUSTON - Houston Independent School District (HISD) Superintendent Mike Miles presented a $2.2 billion budget to the school board Thursday night, calling for some cuts to central office staff and third-party contracts. However, former board members expressed concern about the lack of transparency in the proposal.
Miles said the budget prioritizes several areas, including quality of instruction, improving special education services, and creating new education systems. He said the district is overspending on vendor and contractor services, and that some central office and chief administrative support staff positions could be cut.
However, Miles said he would not cut salaries for effective teachers in the district's 29 priority schools, which include special education instructors.
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Janette Garza Lindner, an HISD board member, asked Miles how the cuts to third-party contract services would impact students. Miles said the budget would not cut into where those contract services are desperately needed, including things like occupational and physical therapists.
He also talked about the $125 million contract HISD currently has over five years for leadership training for principals.
"We're going to do leadership training for principals," Miles said. "We'll do it well. Probably better than any contracted services. And we will save $25 million a year. That $25 million a year, if you work that out, would be a $2,000 raise to teachers."
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Miles added that the district can cut down on the things that it can do itself and do better, and still have money to do other priorities like raising salaries or putting more programs into schools, or helping its after-school programs. "Things like that we can do," he said.
Former HISD board member Anne Sung said she is concerned about the lack of transparency in the budget proposal. She said that Miles has not been clear about where the cuts will be made and that she is worried that the board will not have enough time to review the proposal before it is voted on next week.
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"I think he's misrepresenting to the board what some of the pots of money are that is found," Sung said. "He keeps saying that, well, we're not cutting, we're just adding to, but budget-wise, that doesn't make sense. You can't keep adding more things to your budget, without cutting specific things. And I don't think the board is getting a granular understanding of it."
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Sung, who also attended Thursday's meeting from the overflow room, is also concerned about the fact that the public was not given an opportunity to weigh in on the budget before it was presented to the board. She thinks the board should be making sure the budget aligns with the community's vision and values.
The school board is expected to vote on the budget next week.