HOUSTON — Classes at Houston Independent School District campuses begin Monday. It's the first time students will be in class since the state took over. the district. The state appointed Mike Miles the new superintendent and he's made some big changes that will go into effect for the upcoming school year.
Here's a look at some of those changes.
Houston ISD introduces 'division superintendents' to oversee regions of the district
Houston ISD announced new "division superintendents" who will oversee different regions in the district. The district said the division superintendents will report to Superintendent Mike Miles and are responsible for improved student outcomes in their areas.
HISD says classroom doors in some schools will remain open this school year
State-appointed superintendent Mike Miles has said the new open-door classroom policy at New Education System (NES) schools within HISD will make it easier for administrators to pop into classrooms to watch teachers and coach them. Still, the parents of an incoming second grader tell us they fear it will make students and staff more vulnerable in the event of a school shooting.
HISD swears in first female chief of police
Shamara Garner was sworn in as the first female police chief for Houston Independent School District. Chief Garner, an African-American woman, retired from the Houston Police Department as a lieutenant after 28 years and joined the HISD police force in October 2022.
Some HISD libraries will become 'team centers'
The Houston Independent School District confirmed that the 28 schools under the New Education System will no longer have dedicated librarians. The librarians who did work at those campuses will be able to apply for other positions within the district. Also, some of the libraries at the NES campuses will be repurposed into "team centers" where students who had to be removed from class due to behavioral issues will be placed to watch their class virtually.
HISD adds 57 schools to the New Education System (NES) initiative to receive additional support
Dozens of HISD schools have been added to the list that will take part in the New Education System (NES), Superintendent Mike Miles announced. He said 57 additional school leaders have now opted in for the NES initiative. The HISD leadership team decided to give schools the option to voluntarily join the initiative that Miles said will "transform their campuses" in the upcoming school year. He said they made the move after principals not included in the original 28 NES campuses requested support at their schools.
RELATED: HISD adds 57 schools to the New Education System (NES) initiative to receive additional support
Houston ISD eliminating hundreds of central office positions, superintendent says
Houston ISD Superintendent Mike Miles on Friday afternoon announced the district's plans to eliminate hundreds of positions at its central office.
Miles said around 40 positions in the human resources department will be eliminated and somewhere between 500 and 600 positions, around 30% of the department's workforce, will be eliminated in the chief academic office.
A new law about school safety goes into effect Sept. 1. Here's what that means for HISD
Safety is your top concern, according to our back-to-school survey. So we asked Houston ISD what plans are in place in light of the new school safety law that was created in response to the Uvalde school massacre.
An HISD spokesperson told us each middle and high school campus has always had at least one HISD police officer who was armed. Currently, officers posted at elementary schools are not armed and that is the issue going into this school year.
Help us help Southeast Houston students this school year
One in five kids in Southeast Texas don’t have access to enough nutritious food. Help feed Houston-area students this school year in our Backpack Buddies program. Every dollar counts!