Houston ISD Superintendent Mike Miles called voters’ rejection of the district’s proposed $4.4 billion school bond — the largest school bond in Texas history — “unfortunate and wrong” in a statement Tuesday.
Miles conceded the bond election after approximately 60% of the roughly 350,000 voters who cast early or mail-in ballots voted against both propositions of the proposal, according to preliminary early election returns from the Harris County Clerk’s Office. HISD has made history as Texas voters have never rejected a proposed school bond measure exceeding $1 billion.
“The politics of adults beat out the needs of our children … but I want to assure you that it will not limit our ability to do the things that our students need,” Miles said in a message to the HISD community Tuesday evening. “I know our most effective principals and teachers can reach students even in the worst of facilities, because they’ve been doing so for more than a year.”
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The bond’s defeat marks a significant public failure for Miles, who had previously said he believed voters would put aside politics during the election and support investing billions into improving school facilities for approximately 174,000 students in the district.
In his statement, Miles said the bond was a unique opportunity for the community to come together, and he is disappointed about the results. He said voters let down schools like Bonham Elementary School, which has 28 “crumbling” temporary buildings that would have been replaced if the bond passed.
“This bond was a unique opportunity for this community to come together on behalf of its children. I’m sure many of you felt the same and are very disappointed in the result,” he wrote. “I share your disappointment, but I also hope you will remain optimistic. Our accomplishments far outweigh our setbacks and most importantly, we have and will continue to put the needs of our students first.”
Miles said, going forward, he could not promise that the district’s aging facilities and systems would not be a barrier to student learning. However, he said teaching and learning will continue, and he would continue to transform HISD for all students.
“We will do our best to keep long-expired heating and cooling systems running, but on very hot or very cold days, we are likely going to have to close campuses to keep students safe,” Miles said. “More frequently, students are going to be forced to learn in conditions that are not ideal, in classrooms that are either too hot or too cold to learn comfortably.”
There’s a companion story about the activists who worked to defeat the referenda that you should read as well. Mike Miles is the reason this vote went as it did, and again I say all this as someone who voted for both propositions. The one thing he has absolutely earned in his time here is that “no trust, no bond” slogan that the opponents successfully used. At every opportunity, he has failed to build consensus and gain support for his actions, many of which are puzzling and alienating to large groups of HISD stakeholders. He F’ed around, he found out. Now he gets to deal with the fallout.
UPDATE: Welp.
Hours after Houston ISD residents delivered the sharpest rebuke to date of Superintendent Mike Miles, shooting down a $4.4 billion bond proposal that became a referendum on his administration, the district’s state-appointed leader made one thing clear.
He’s not bending to voters.
Faced with the clearest evidence yet that a large swath of HISD families oppose his drastic overhaul of HISD, Miles on Wednesday blamed the bond’s resounding failure on his critics, accusing them of “misleading the community” and “intentionally putting politics and other things in the way of kids.”
Miles’ comments followed nearly 60 percent of about 441,000 voters rejecting the bond proposal — a result that two state-appointed HISD school board members described as a “wake-up call” for the district.
“Changing course is not even a question. It’s not even in the cards,” Miles said.
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Yet Tuesday’s bond results leave no doubt that resistance to Miles’ approach extends to tens of thousands of voters across HISD. In interviews Wednesday, school board members Adam Rivon and Rolando Martinez said the bond vote opened their eyes to potential blind spots in their understanding of family concerns.
“I think that there’s something that people are saying that we need to listen to,” Rivon said. “I believe that it’s about how we bring people along, and not drag them along.”
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Judith Cruz, a former HISD trustee who supported the bond and served as a co-chair of an advisory committee that provided feedback on the proposal, said she believes the decisive vote should prompt soul-searching on the district’s part.
“This goes far beyond the folks that show up to board meetings, or are emailing board members or the superintendent. This is a much larger community that is speaking up with their vote,” Cruz said.
“I hope that the district will take the opportunity to take a step back and engage with community leaders and families across the district in a very intentional way of understanding how we all get to our north star, which is making sure that our kids reach their potential.”
Mike Miles is never going to change. That “wake-up call” is not for him.
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