HOUSTON – On the first day after Spring Break, Houston Independent School District’s Superintendent Mike Miles tried to set the record straight, saying the district does not plan to fire more than 100 principals. Some of those principles got notices last week they interpreted as threats that if they didn’t improve, they could lose their jobs.
Miles used a football analogy to explain that this is midseason and he can’s say yet where things will land.
“You want me to hire everybody back mid-season, even though we only played half the games? So that’s how we need to look at it and to characterize and say, well, these, you know, these principals, these high performing schools aren’t going to make they’re going to be fired. It’s like, no, that’s not the case. You know, odds are they’re going to they’re going to have a winning season. And we’re, we’re confident in that,” Miles said.
The district has said that based on performance reviews, 125 principals have demonstrated the leadership qualities necessary to keep their jobs for the next school year.
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At the same time, 117 others, which is nearly half of all HISD principals must show significant improvement to keep their jobs next year, concerning many community members.
“The 117 schools, their principles are making good progress. That’s what we told them. And they just need to continue,” Miles said. “We need another semester. We need the second half of the season. Nobody said they’re not going to make it.”
Mark LeBlanc’s daughter is a student at Meyerland Middle School. The principal there is one of the 117.
“We know that this simply wasn’t just a list, this was ‘get on board or you could be gone,’” he told KPRC 2′s Rilwan Balogun.
Another parent, Delenn Maples frequently speaks out at HISD board meetings. She tells us she’s been hearing from concerned teachers over the last few days.
“I think he’s walking back. He’s feeling the pressure and because he knows his evaluation tool is invalid,” Maples said.
Houston City Council Member at Large Position 4 Dr. Letitia Plummer tells KPRC 2 the focus should be on those leading the classrooms.
“How are principals supposed to do their jobs when you’re hiring teachers that are not equipped to handle a classroom,” she said. “It’s incredibly alarming because I believe the way in which the system is being managed right now is not going to allow us to be successful.”
Ruth Kravetz, a retired administrator and former member of the district advisory committee says she hopes Miles means what he says and doesn’t let principals go.
“There is great evidence and a great body of research that said if you replace principals year over year and you replace teachers, 50 percent and sometimes 80 percent of the teachers are replaced year over year, you negatively influence graduation rates, you reduce literacy and you slow down ways for students to reach their dreams,” Kravetz said.