Tag Archives: Rhonda Skillern-Jones

Asking the feds to stop the TEA takeover

Can’t hurt to ask. U.S. Rep Sheila Jackson Lee said Thursday she is seeking federal government intervention to halt the Texas Education Agency’s takeover of the Houston Independent School District. Jackson Lee said she has been in contact with the … Continue reading

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Asking the feds to stop the TEA takeover

Four file for the HCC special election

Monday was the filing deadline. On Saturday, May 7, 2022, Houston Community College System (“HCC”) will hold a special election to fill a vacancy for the HCC Board of Trustees position in geographic district II for the unexpired term through … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2022 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Four file for the HCC special election

HCC special election set

All you need to know. On Saturday, May 7, 2022, Houston Community College System (“HCC”) will hold a special election to fill a vacancy in the HCC Board of Trustee position for geographic district II for the unexpired term through … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2022 | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

HCC will have an election to fill its vacancy

So much for an appointment. Re: HCC Board of Trustees District II Position Residents of District II and the Community At-Large: The Houston Community College (HCC) Board of Trustees remains committed to serving the best interest of the entire community. … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2022, Election 2023 | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

HCC seeks a new Board member

There’s a vacancy to fill now. The Board of Trustees publicly and formally invites qualified members of the public to apply to be considered for appointment to the position of HCC Trustee District II. The Texas Education Code requires that … Continue reading

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on HCC seeks a new Board member

Indictments and guilty pleas in FBI investigation of former HISD officials

Woof. A former top Houston ISD official and vendor were indicted Thursday in connection with an alleged bribery scheme over the last decade that federal prosecutors estimate cost the district millions of dollars and resulted in plea agreements with at … Continue reading

Posted in Crime and Punishment, School days | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

July 2021 campaign finance reports: HCC

PREVIOUSLY: Congress, Harris County, Houston, HISD Last but not least, we have the HCC Trustees, three of whom are on this year’s ballot. HCC trustees serve six-year terms, so one-third of them are up each time around. Monica Flores Richart … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2021 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

More on the Lathan non-hiring

Some sharp criticism from local leaders about the HISD Board’s decision not to hire interim Superintendent Grenita Lathan permanently. About 20 of Houston’s leading Black elected officials, clergy and racial justice advocates called Tuesday for Houston ISD’s school board to … Continue reading

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

HISD and HCC results

From the HISD runoffs: Early election results showed Houston ISD school board candidates Kathy Blueford-Daniels and Patricia Allen with comfortable leads in their runoff races Saturday, as they aim to fill the final two seats on the district’s closely watched … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2019 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Final results are in

Here they are. Refer to my previous post for the initial recap, I’m going to be very minimalist. Let’s do this PowerPoint-style, it’s already been a long day: Mayor – Turner fell short of 50%, landing up a bit below … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2019 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

2019 election results: Houston and Metro

Unfortunately, we have to start with this: Results of Tuesday’s election could take until 2 a.m. Wednesday after the Texas Secretary of State issued a new regulation that upended plans by the Harris County Clerk’s Office to speed vote counting. … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2019 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Endorsement watch: One more HISD, two in HCC

Some pretty easy calls for the Chron here. In HISD VII, they go with Judith Cruz. Houston Independent School District does not need more of the same in its leadership. The embattled district must move away from the dysfunction that … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2019 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Two HISD candidates fail to qualify for the ballot

We revisit a periodic issue. Two applicants seeking to replace Houston ISD Trustee Rhonda Skillern-Jones have failed to qualify for the November ballot, leaving five candidates running for the open seat, according to HISD officials. Michael Maloney, an athletics coach, … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2019 | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Two HISD candidates fail to qualify for the ballot

Why would you run for HISD Board of Trustees this year?

It’s a good question. As she campaigns door-to-door to become the newest member of Houston ISD’s school board, Reagan Flowers is encountering many confused voters. They ask whether school board elections matter this year, given the growing likelihood that state officials will … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2019 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The 2019 lineups are set

Barring any late disqualifications or other unexpected events, we have the candidates we’re getting on our 2019 ballot. More than 125 candidates turned in paperwork to run for city office by Monday’s filing deadline, setting up a packed November ballot … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2019 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

July 2019 campaign finance reports: HISD and HCC

One last look at July finance reports. I’m lumping together reports for HISD and HCC, in part because there’s some crossover, and in part because there’s not all that much to these. As always, refer to the Erik Manning candidate … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2019 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on July 2019 campaign finance reports: HISD and HCC

Previous interviews with current candidates

I’ve said a few times that I’m going to be doing just a few interviews this fall. I will start publishing them tomorrow. I may pick up some more for the runoffs, but for now my schedule just does not … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2019 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Previous interviews with current candidates

Initial reaction to the TEA action on HISD

Lots of wait and see so far. Houston-area political and community leaders offered muted response Thursday to a state recommendation issued this week to replace Houston ISD’s school board, reserving judgment until more details are known about a Texas Education … Continue reading

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Initial reaction to the TEA action on HISD

It looks like we’re getting a new school board

What a mess. Texas Education Agency officials have recommended that a state-appointed governing team replace Houston ISD’s locally elected school board after a six-month investigation found several instances of alleged misconduct by some trustees, including violations of the Texas Open … Continue reading

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

An update on the races in HISD and HCC

As you know, there’s been a lot of action not just in the Houston City Council races but also in the 2020 election races. That doesn’t mean things have been dull in HISD and HCC, which of course have elections … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2019 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Superintendent search will continue

For the time being, at least. Houston ISD’s pursuit of a permanent superintendent will continue after trustees rejected a motion Thursday to suspend the search amid a recently launched state investigation into potential violations of open meetings laws. Trustees voted … Continue reading

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

January 2019 finance reports: HISD

Odd-numbered years mean three types of elections in Houston – city, HISD, and HCC. We’ve looked at the finance reports for city candidates, now let’s have a look at the reports for HISD trustees, which I’ve separated into those up … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2019 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

HISD’s last stand

They have their work cut out for them. Houston ISD’s four Hispanic trustees took hold of the school board’s top officer positions Thursday, led by Trustee Diana Dávila winning election as president of the much-maligned governance team. Dávila, who has … Continue reading

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on HISD’s last stand

The 2019 elections

We haven’t forgotten that there are some big elections on tap for us this year, have we? Let’s go a quick rundown. May elections Election campaigns are already in progress in the cities that have May elections, which includes big … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2019 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

Greg Abbott to HISD: Drop dead

I have four things to say about this. A post sent from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s Twitter account Thursday lambasted Houston ISD’s leadership as “a disaster” that has failed children in the state’s largest school district — a rare public … Continue reading

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Orlando Sanchez’s bizarre press conference

What a weird thing. It was an absolutely wild afternoon for Harris County Treasurer Orlando Sanchez. He planned to have a news conference across the street from the HISD administration building, but things didn’t go as planned. Protestors showed up … Continue reading

Posted in Local politics, School days | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

It really is all or nothing for HISD

I hope we’re ready for this. Barring a change to the sanctions law, litigation or a change of heart by the board of trustees — none of which are expected — HISD will learn in August whether the district will … Continue reading

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

TEA offers to lend HISD a hand

Could be a decent deal. A top Texas Education Agency official offered Tuesday to intensively work with Houston ISD’s much-maligned school board to dramatically overhaul its approach to governance, shifting focus toward student outcomes and away from distracting personal agendas. … Continue reading

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Looking beyond HISD’s one year reprieve

As we know, HISD has been in danger of sanctions from the TEA, which could include a state takeover of the district, because of several schools that had rated as “improvement needed” for multiple years in a row. They managed … Continue reading

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

July 2018 campaign finance reports: HISD

Every level of government requires finance reports in January and June, whether or not there is an active election cycle in that year. That includes HISD and HCC, which are the last two groups I’ll be examining. I didn’t get … Continue reading

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on July 2018 campaign finance reports: HISD

Carranza’s parting shot

I’ve been sitting with this for a couple of days, and ultimately decided it was not worth much more than a shrug. Former Houston ISD superintendent Richard Carranza did not mince words in an interview published this week about his … Continue reading

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

“As the Board turns”

deep sigh Houston ISD Trustee Jolanda Jones publicly aired personal attacks and allegations against fellow school board members in online posts this week, chipping away at the board’s efforts to present a more collegial front in the face of administrative … Continue reading

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

HISD gets some public feedback

Needed more opportunities for this from the beginning. Emotions continued to run high Thursday as residents offered both condemnation and support of Houston ISD Board of Trustees President Rhonda Skillern-Jones, whose leadership has been questioned following a raucous board meeting … Continue reading

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on HISD gets some public feedback

Santos calls on Skillern-Jones to step down as HISD President

This happened last week. I’ve been waiting to see if there will be anything more to it. Houston ISD Trustee Elizabeth Santos on Thursday called for school board President Rhonda Skillern-Jones, to “immediately step down” from her position in light … Continue reading

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Santos calls on Skillern-Jones to step down as HISD President