‘A large amount of money’: HISD bond committee questions $425 million for career centers

A Houston ISD committee advising the district on its proposed $4.4 billion bond is questioning a big piece of the project: investing about $425 million in career and technical education centers.

District officials want to build three new CTE centers and renovate the district’s current CTE center, Barbara Jordan Career Center, which students across HISD visit during the school day for industry-focused classes. The new centers, which would be spread throughout the district, would give students more access to career and technology classes and shorten travel time for students.

But HISD’s bond advisory committee , a group of 28 community members responsible for providing feedback on the district administration’s bond proposal, pushed back in recent days on the plan. Committee members suggested the $425 million could be spent on existing schools, questioned how the centers fit into HISD’s overall CTE plans and called for more details on the proposal.

The committee didn’t oppose building the CTE centers, but it recommended the district consider delaying them until a future bond. The district’s state-appointed board of managers will decide in the coming weeks whether to ask voters to approve a bond package, which would be the largest in Texas history.

“We recommended it primarily because when we looked at the number of them and the amount of the bond proceeds going to the CTE centers, it seemed to be a large amount of money, compared to other priorities of the bond,” said advisory committee co-chair Garnet Coleman, who served three decades in the Texas Legislature.

When voters approve a bond, it allows public school districts to borrow money needed for construction projects, new technology and other expensive projects. The money can’t be used on staff salaries and other day-to-day operating costs. Districts use property tax revenues to pay for bonds.

HISD’s bond proposal includes plans to rebuild old campuses , improve safety and security in schools, update heating and cooling systems, add pre-kindergarten classrooms and expand CTE programs. The district’s plan does not include an increase in property tax rates.

HISD hasn’t asked voters to approve a bond since 2012, largely because residents have been frustrated with the district’s unstable and combative leadership in recent years. Large school districts like HISD typically pass a bond roughly every five years, allowing them to keep campuses and technology up to date.

Too few centers

The district’s bond advisory committee generally supported the HISD administration’s $4.4 billion proposal, but CTE centers were a main sticking point.

The new CTE centers and Barbara Jordan Career Center renovations would mark one of the largest pieces of HISD’s proposal. The facilities would house classes and technology that help prepare students for careers, including manufacturing, health care and agriculture.

Most of the region’s largest districts, including Cy-Fair, Katy and Fort Bend ISDs, have a single CTE center. Houston ISD’s lone CTE center is on the city’s northeast side, more than 15 miles away from some high schools.

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HISD administrators, including state-appointed superintendent Mike Miles, said the district doesn’t have enough CTE centers to prepare kids for high-paying and high-tech jobs in the modern workforce. Most of the district’s high schools have career-focused classes, but few offer expensive technology and specialized training often found in CTE centers.

In a presentation to HISD board members last week, Miles said HISD needs to immediately build CTE centers to give students the resources they need.

"Even if the bond passes, it's going to be three years from that time when the first career tech ed center is up and running,” Miles said. “We're talking about a timeline here. I don't think our kids can wait."

Too many questions

The bond advisory committee, however, said HISD administrators need to present more information justifying the cost of the centers. Committee members said HISD should detail the level of need for CTE centers, what they would offer, where the centers would be located and how the new programs would align with local industry needs.

The committee also floated the possibility of HISD working more closely with Houston Community College and local businesses to offer training opportunities.

"There are so many parts that move in this conversation, so we left space to contemplate moving forward how quickly to pursue (CTE centers),” community advisory committee member Eileen Hairel said.

“I think we all share the vision, and the community supports the vision, to ultimately build out this infrastructure. We know other large districts have it. It's part of a large, integrated plan and conversation. That's where we left it, as really an open question for (the board of managers) to join us in grappling with."

HISD administrators said they are still exploring the potential cost and location for the three new centers, though they’ve publicly proposed building one on the grounds of Jane Long Academy in southwest Houston. At last week’s meeting, HISD Chief Academic Officer Kristen Hole argued community colleges and local businesses aren’t equipped to give kids what they need, particularly given students’ tight class schedules.

“I think that (outside partnerships) would be a huge administrative lift that I don't know that we'd be able to achieve,” Houston ISD chief academic officer Kristen Hole said. “Students have a small block in the day."

HISD’s board of managers hasn’t announced when it will vote on whether to put a bond on the November ballot. A poll conducted earlier this year by Rice University’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research found strong support for an HISD bond that didn’t raise tax rates. However, opponents of the district’s state-appointed leadership are organizing against the bond, rallying behind the slogan “no trust, no bond.”