Houston ISD staff preparing transition package for trustees

You know, the end may be in sight for the state's takeover of Houston ISD. Last night, the state-appointed district board met where they confirmed they are targeting January for the transition back to local control. Andrea Rodriguez is live outside the HISD admin building. Andrea, good morning. What's the latest? Hey, good morning, Denise. Yeah, we know that Governor-elect Gina Raimondo ran on several different items. And of those you might remember, she said that on day one, she would fire the current TEA Commissioner Mike Morath, which would get rid of the state takeovers throughout the state of Texas. Now, like you said, during an HISD board meeting, this happened just Thursday night, we heard from the Houston Independent School District's Board President Rick Campo He stated that the district staff are assembling a comprehensive transition package that would cover everything a trustee would want to know about the district, including operations, budgets, finance, more, so that when trustees return to their elected positions, they'll have the information they need to do their best work. We will not try to codify any reforms implemented during the takeover. Those decisions belong to whoever governs next, which will be the elected trustees. We will respect whatever decision the governor elect and the next education commissioners make about the timing and the structure of the transition. Our commitment does not change. The transition must never come at the expense Of Houston students and their and their pursuit for for greatness. Now, just as a refresher, this is who will be taking over in January. Three of the nine members of the elected Board of Trustees will be serving their first term as they were only recently elected back in 2025, right after the state takeover that happened in 2023. Parents who spoke out last night say they want Governor-elect Gina Raimondo's words to hold true. Now what gives me hope? I stepped into a classroom for the first time in August of 1992, and Ann Richards was the governor. Public education was at the forefront of her agenda. And for the first time in 34 years, we witnessed a candidate for governor put public education front and center, and she won. That gives me hope. Six of the elected trustees have taught in a public school classroom. That gives me hope. And voters across this state have affirmed that public education is a human right, That Democrat and Democratic control of our public schools matters, that gives me hope. Now, I suspect tonight we'll hear plenty of I told you so's. Emotionally, I understand that. Intellectually, it's time to turn our attention toward the daunting work ahead, because our kids need us to be better. Now, until Hinojosa officially is in power in January and removes the current TEA commissioner, Mike Marath, we do know that the current HISD board will remain in control until January. Denise, back to you. We'll have to wait and see how this all pans out. Angie, thank you.