Ain’t much, but I guess it’s something.
Houston ISD has quietly published a new document draft that would reduce state-appointed Superintendent Mike Miles’ authority in appointing members to the committee overseeing the potential $4.4 billion school bond if approved.
According to its five-page charter, the Bond Oversight Committee will be responsible for monitoring progress of bond projects, providing regular updates to district leaders, communicating allegations of wrongdoing, potential waste or fraud to the superintendent and other oversight duties if the district’s bond measure obtains voter approval on Nov. 5.
The oversight committee’s charter — which outlines the committee’s purpose, structure, membership, duties and responsibilities and ethics policy — was first completed in July. However, the district published a new draft of the charter earlier this month to expand the committee’s size, reduce the group’s responsibilities and adjust the appointment process.
The initial document said Miles would be the sole person responsible for appointing all members to the committee after consulting with the appointed Board of Managers. Under the new version of the charter, the Board of Managers will be responsible for appointing committee members in a vote at an upcoming public board meeting.
The district’s executive leadership team will still review each applicant’s experiences and qualifications before submitting their recommendations to Miles. However, instead of directly appointing candidates, he will recommend candidates to the board that they will vote on.
The modification to the charter comes after some HISD parents, families and community members had expressed concern about Miles’ sole role in appointing members, due to, in part, a lack of trust in his leadership in the district and the desire for a more independent accountability mechanism.
HISD community member Claire Robinson said it’s “better than nothing” that HISD has modified the charter to reduce Miles’ authority, but she wishes he was not involved in the process at all. She said she’s still skeptical about appointed board members being responsible for deciding on the makeup of the committee, particularly if Miles is recommending the candidates.
“I don’t feel the Board of Managers has a great track record of listening to the community and what our issues are and what our concerns are,” Robinson said. “I feel like, just like they have for the past year and some change, they’ll just approve whatever Mike Miles puts in front of them, and so that’s not satisfactory to me.”
[…]
While most of the committee’s responsibilities from the old charter have remained, the committee is no longer responsible for providing status reports on its activities to the Superintendent or the Board of Managers, reviewing the district’s efforts to maximize bond revenues or visiting facilities or grounds where bond funds have or will be expended.
HISD parent Brooke Bornick said she believes responsibilities should have been added — not subtracted — to the oversight committee’s charter, including the ability to investigate wrongdoing or require audits to ensure that bond funds are spent as planned.
The changes are “all about removing the ability for this appointed committee to have any insight into what’s happening,” Bornick said. “There’s no legitimate reason to remove them from any actual oversight, unless oversight was never the intention.”
Honestly, Claire Robinson and Brooke Bornick speak for me. Robinson’s reaction was almost word for word my own when I first read this story. Maybe the Board of Managers might give some real scrutiny to whoever Miles put before them. But I’m gonna need to see that happen before I believe it.