Houston ISD takeover: TEA fields dozens of questions from board of trustees

HOUSTON - In a marathon meeting Thursday night, the Texas Education Agency went before the Houston Independent School District Board of Trustees and laid out a more detailed plan for the district's takeover, fielding dozens of heated questions spanning more than an hour.

"I am so unbelievably angry that this is where we're at, but this is where we're at," said District 5 Trustee Sue Deigaard.

MORE: TEA Commissioner Mike Morath meets with Houston ISD principals, community leaders

The agency said nearly 400 people have already applied to serve on the new board of managers to oversee the district, but they have extended the deadline to April 20. TEA Commissioner Mike Morath will make the final appointment by June 1.

Even with a new board, there was expressed concern over the possibility of the TEA's overreach into HISD moving forward, to which Deputy Commissioner Steve Lecholop claims they will have no say in the decision-making process once these appointments are made.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX 26 NEWS APP

"Programmatic decisions won't be made by the agency. It is the agency's job to appoint leadership, a superintendent and a board of managers who are going to set the strategic vision for the district and identify among themselves the programs that are going to allow for student outcome improvement," he said. 

First Vice President Myrna Guidry then brought up rumors circulating that the TEA has already selected some of those new board members even though the application window is not yet closed, but Lecholop shut it down adding, "We are evaluating everyone on equal footing with fresh eyes."

MORE: ACLU files federal complaint to Department of Justice over Houston ISD takeover

Lecholop goes on to say, "Trustee [Guidry], I appreciate you asking the question, but there have been no promises made, no commitments made to anyone." 

"I can assure you, sir, that those names are out there," Guidry rebuttaled. "And if those people are selected, there will be some notice to the community."

There was also some insight into how the district can return to local control.

While vague, there are three bullet points outlined in the exit criteria: No multi-year failing campuses, meeting needs of all students including those in special education, and effective board governance.

MORE: TEA meetings end with Houston community members in uproar

It was heavily criticized by the current board of trustees who had very little confidence they can be met with a brand-new board of managers.

"You're not giving us the chance to make sure that these three things are exit criteria," said District 4 Trustee Dr. Patricia K. Allen. "So what makes you think that a board of managers is going to come in and be able to that? They won't even know the systems, they won't know the acronyms."

In terms of a timeline, the TEA will re-evaluate HISD's performance after two school years. If all exit criteria are met, then there's a three-year transition back to local control slowly bringing the democratically elected trustees back in power.

If not, then the TEA can extend the takeover up to two years.