The HISD public meeting room that would normally be filled with chairs and people attending a board meeting.In the past, 400 people or more have filled the board room of the Hattie Mae White center for high interest public meetings but Thursday night that was all set aside in the interest of"order." Most of the 33 speakers signed up for public comment were sent to the Houston ISD overflow room where a mic was installed to handle their one minute of allowed comments.
"No one's going to respect you. You're not going to get the support of the community including myself and others until you meaningfully include the public. This is disrespectful. You've got more room. You've got empty seats here. There are people outside. I'm embarrassed for HISD." Seats were reduced to a bare 35 in the board room with several of those taken by former board members and the incoming staff of Acting Superintendent Mike Miles. Print and online media were given a small number of reserved seats over to one side and risers were provided for the TV cameras. A large area was set aside for a quadrangle of tables and seats for the board members' discussion of the 2023-24 budget.
Normally a story like this would have led with the news about the budget. Right now there's no tax rate increase for the next year. And in another good sign several of the board members did ask good questions about parts of the budget, pushing for specifics and not vague"we think"s. Of particular concern is the ESSER federal money funneled through the state to help out schools because of the pandemic. Those funds will disappear in September 2024 which has been used to hire several employees.