Who are the members of the new Houston ISD Board of Managers?
HOUSTON - On a day the new Houston ISD Superintendent Mike Miles is announcing his first cabinet appointments, we're talking with some of the leaders in the district about their plans to turn things around.
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The goal is to turn struggling schools into successful ones, and there are nine members on the Board of Managers who are tasked with helping to do that.
These seats that sit empty in the HISD school board meeting room will be filled by a Board of Managers that some in the community have concerns about because they're not elected but in the state take over they've been appointed by the TEA Commissioner. So, who are they?
"We are the community," says Board of Managers member Cassandra Auzenne Bandy. "We are the very stakeholders that we are representing."
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Bandy and Janette Garza Lindne, another board member, work together and the business professionals each have two kids attending HISD schools.
"I'm a parent of fourth-generation HISD students. So it means everything to my family to be part of driving improvement of student outcomes…we want to see some immediate improvement in those schools that need it the most," says Auzenne Bandy.
"I work in the consulting industry. I'm eager to bring that experience to this work but definitely, as a mother, I bring that energy of wanting to make sure all of our kids are cared for and can learn," adds fellow Board of Managers member Janette Garza Lindner. "I want to make sure we reach especially those students, families, and neighbors who haven't traditionally had a voice."
So the board will host a series of town hall meetings, and they're planning to knock on doors to meet as many HISD families as possible as they take on a big job that impacts not only the district but all of Houston.
"We're talking about the future of our city, and these achievement gaps that children of color have are unacceptable, and we've got to fix that," says Auzenne Bandy.
"We absolutely have to have excellent schools for all of our kids," Garza Lindner adds.
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The board members say they are already receiving phone calls and emails, and they are taking notes to make sure parents’ wants and goals for their kids are known and addressed.