Don’t Blame it on Hurricane Harvey

On March 06, 2019 I attended the City of Houston Council Committee on Economic Development’s Subcommittee on Education, and I heard something that not only validated my argument about Alief ISD’s leadership, but it also sickened me to my stomach because the information once again confirmed the level of collusion Alief ISD enacts under the leadership of Superintendent HD Chambers.

Children at Risk’s Director of Early Childhood Education Initiatives, Shay Everett presented data from their “Growing Up in Houston: Assessing the Quality of Life of Our Children” research on Hurricane Harvey and their studies concluded that school districts who are stating that they are still negatively affected by Hurricane Harvey actually were not doing well [academically] prior to the disaster.

In August of 2018 [2018-2019 academic school year] Superintendent Chambers sent Hurricane Harvey waivers to the Texas Education Agency (TEA) in an effort to prevent the state of Texas from taking over the six elementary schools on the TEA Improvement Required (IR) list [Sneed Elementary, Collins Elementary, Landis Elementary, Best Elementary, Bush Elementary, Horn Elementary]. Superintendent Chambers ONLY submitted Hurricane Harvey Waivers for the six schools on IR, yet the alleged affected staff member [no students were affected] would have been throughout the ENTIRE district as many of the teachers and administrators who work in Alief DO NOT live in Alief. 

At the October 16, 2018 board meeting Superintendent Chambers also utilized his Hurricane Harvey Waivers to justify his request to TEA, and the school board to increase class sizes (more students in teacher’s classes for the 6 IR schools).

My first concern is that Alief ISD only missed 4 days of school due to Hurricane Harvey, because our district was not affected at all from the Hurricane. The Children at Risk report is also aligned with the FEMA report that I have reviewed several months ago. 

My biggest concern is that it takes SIX CONSECUTIVE YEARS of failing academic performance for a school to be put on TEA’s Improvement Required (IR) status. As Children at Risk presenter Shay Everett inadvertently confirmed in her research analysis, the six elementary schools which Superintendent Chambers has successfully waved the magic Hurricane Harvey wand over have been failing for several years. Harvey has not been going on for six years!

You can view the entire video of the Children at Risk presentation on the City of Houston’s website.

You can receive a free copy of Alief ISD’s Hurricane Harvey Class Size Waiver submission by making a public information request (PIR) to the Texas Education Agency (TEA).

Alief School Board elections are coming up in November of 2019. Make sure that you vote!

#TrustButVerify #AskHD #AliefProud #AliefParent #AliefTaxpayer #AliefVoter #WhatAboutTheMission