Last week, HISD bulldozed Grimes Park in Sunnyside, reducing its basketball court and a $1.3 million, city-funded renovation completed in 2023 to a pile of rubble. Click here to view a video of what is left of Grimes Park.
On Thursday, the appointed board is going to vote on a $92.4 million construction contract for a new HISD Career & Technical Education Center (CTE) on the site of Grimes Park. It will be funded through Lease Revenue Bonds issued by the newly created Houston ISD Public Facilities Corp (PFC). Its board members are HISD Board of Managers, Campo, Lindner and Colon.
Unlike traditional school building bonds, these Lease Revenue Bonds will be repaid directly from Houston ISD's General Fund via lease payments to the HISD PFC. Since construction costs will be from the general fund, every brick, every timber, and every shingle will be one less dollar that could have been allocated for teachers to reduce class size, maintenance workers and HVAC.
HISD cannot afford a $180 million dollar project, of which $92.4 million are construction costs. HISD is struggling to fund even basic custodial services because of accelerating enrollment losses and because Mike Miles has treated HISD like a district to be stripped for parts, not a public institution to be protected. In September, principals were instructed to slash their budgets through layoffs and program cuts. How can it afford a new $180 million CTE Center?
Can you speak at the HISD board meeting about your vision for a better HISD and against this project? Sign up by Wednesday at noon [LINK.] Here are step-by step instructions to register. Agenda packet here. Choose agenda item 15 (consideration of minutes from previous board meetings or agenda item 5 (the $92.4 million launchpad construction contract.)
Ric Campo said to the Texas Tribune last week that “What we really want to make sure happens is that we have a great, smooth transition, and that the elected trustees, when they do come back, are prepared and have the information they need to do the best job they can.”
Remind Ric Campo, the appointed board, and Mike Miles: A “smooth transition” does not mean saddling Houston taxpayers with more bad decisions and debt at the expense of our children.
The appointed Board of Managers should think carefully about their potential legal liability. They should vote no to this boondoggle and quietly exit stage left. Our schoolchildren deserve better than this parting shot.
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