HOUSTON – Members of the Houston Independent School District board said Tuesday they are weighing their options regarding the future after Superintendent Richard Carranza’s departure was announced.
Meanwhile, Carranza announced Monday that he is leaving Houston to become the chancellor of New York City’s public schools.
HISD board President Rhonda Skillern-Jones said all but one of the members attended an emergency meeting to discuss options for filling the future vacancy.
Skillern-Jones said the board has three options moving forward: appoint a short-term interim superintendent, appoint a long-term interim superintendent or post the position and immediately hire a replacement.
The full board will meet Thursday and decisions about the process will be made then, Skillern-Jones said. She said that while Carranza is still the superintendent of the district, he will likely not be involved in the decision-making process.
The board, local, state and U.S. leaders stood alongside each other at Tuesday's news conference, saying that unity would be the most powerful driving force to success.
"The superintendent and cabinet are tasked with the how, but our vision has not changed," Skillern-Jones said.
Mayor Sylvester Turner also attended the news conference.
"I encourage the school board to name an interim leader or whomever they so desire who will navigate through the challenges that the district is facing," Turner said.
1. Budget and education funding reform
"This district is not predicated on the success on any one person," Turner said. "I am willing and prepared to join the board, HISD, the teachers, the parents, the state and the business community to help stabilize HISD financially and to ensure that every child receives a quality education that he/she deserves."
The district is working to overcome a $115 million budget deficit.
"I want the public to understand that there is not a magic pot of money and in the end we're going to be saved," said Carranza at the State of the Schools in February.
Carranza had talked about the district's collective vision to beat deficit. The district said then it needs to streamline costly inefficiencies. It is taking a comprehensive approach to addressing the budget.
Though a majority of the students at HISD are economically disadvantaged, HISD is still considered "property-wealthy." HISD has to pay more than $200 million back to the state for recapture, a practice required for "property-wealthy" districts to send millions of their local property taxes to the state to distribute to poorer school districts.
"Ironically, if we did not have a recapture payment and the state of Texas would step up to its constitutionally required duty to properly fund public education, we could eliminate the deficit at HISD and have additional funds to provide resources for our students in the communities that need it most," Carranza said.
"It's not a secret that the public funding system for education is broken in the state of Texas."
The new superintendent would have to jump in to do what the district had intended--pushing local leaders who are advocating for a change in the way schools are funded. Carranza had made the argument that property taxes were just not enough.
"We need a funding system that doesn't heavily rely on local property taxes. We continue to do more with less, and the state isn't doing anything to help all school districts," said Carranza.
At Tuesday's news conference, however, Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee need party and hometown called upon the local business community to raise the $115 million for HISD.
"(It would be) a very good use of those dollars. Parents work at these corporations. (This) would be this one-time infusion of those dollars for this one-time crisis," Skillern-Jones said.
2. Underperforming schools
Ten schools remain on the list of chronically underperforming schools that have failed to meet state standards for five or more years. Those schools face closure or having their leadership turned over to a board of managers appointed by the TEA.
Carranza said he would not let schools close or have outside leadership take over.
"I, as your superintendent, will not allow our schools in our historically underserved neighborhoods to be closed," Carranza said in February at the State of the Schools. "We as a district are exploring options as a campus that could prevent their closure. SB 1882 gives us a few options, one that allows us to partner with outside organizations like a nonprofit or college or university. We need your support and enlightened conversation around saving our schools," he said.
It will be a new superintendent to help lead the conversation. The district also had plans of revamping educational programs for the next school year to bring up scores. Skillern-Jones expressed confidence that her team had the capability of executing the collective vision despite who took Carranza's spot.
"The work of this district doesn't just revolve around the work of the superintendent. The board drives the vision for the district and we have competent staff who are at every turn meeting the needs of the district," Skillern-Jones said.
3. Harvey and plans for rebuilding
Hurricane Harvey cost the district $70 million. Some effects of the storm are a significant drop in student enrollment for the next school year, a trend they saw following Hurricane Ike.
The district also expected property values would drop by 3 to 5 percent, translating to millions in lost property tax revenue, which would go to funding the district. However, the district has drastic plans to innovate education at schools to make for higher-quality education despite the deficit.
“Now, you might be reading or hearing that there’s no possible way for us to be successful in the face of our challenges. I defy that,” Carranza said in February. “But, I have seen firsthand the strong spirit of the Houston community, and I know that we can live up to the promise of equity.”
The new superintendent would have to work with the board to address the needs of the district to voters in the future potential referendums.
After the 2012 Bond Program, the district has opened 13 schools since September and the district is on track to finish almost 20 more by the end of 2018.
The district announced a 20-year campaign that outlines all school and facility replacements and district needs -- a key to anticipating and being prepared for years.
The campaign would call for four "thoughtful" bond referendums over the next two decades.
The money would be used to create 21st century learning facilities.
4. Magnet school program
HISD is looking at dividing the district into quadrants and offering the same magnet themes in each of the four quadrants. Unique magnets like Carnegie Vanguard and HSPVA will stay unique, but may not receive the same kind of funding they have received in the past.
“Much of what they reported back to me and my staff does not surprise me. Our magnet and school choice program, as it exists right now, has inequities. It has inequities in funding. It has inequities in staffing, It has inequities in where our top programs are located," said Carranza then.
The new superintendent would have to work on the "how" portion of this project to fit the board's vision.
The plan would move from a decentralized model where schools receive funding and decide how to spend it, to a centralized funding model called the Full-Time Equivalent model, or FTE.
That could mean that funding will go to the district and the district would, for example, tell principals how many positions they can hire based on enrollment.