Houston Public Media
After the Houston Chronicle published a list of almost 120 HISD principals who received an email warning of their potential removal, students and parents from some of the district's top-achieving schools have more questions than answers.
"It just doesn’t make sense to me why our school would be less-than-proficient or why our principal would be less-than-proficient because our school is running very smoothly," said Comfort Azagidi, a senior at the Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts.
Houston Public Media has been unable to independently verify the Chronicle's list of 117 principals, which the newspaper took down on Friday, pointing to "a tip that the district may have included someone erroneously in its distribution." Miles told principals the district "asked the Chronicle to take the names down or face legal action from us." The list remains publicly available because community members screenshotted and posted it to social media.
Houston Chronicle's Article
In a major reversal, Houston ISD’s state-appointed Superintendent Mike Miles said early Friday that the district’s principal proficiency screener ratings will not be used “in any adverse employment decisions” for campus administrators for the current academic year.
As part of its mid-year proficiency screenings, HISD notified about half of its principals earlier this month that they had not yet met the requirements to guarantee their jobs next year and would have to achieve proficiency under a second screening if they wanted to guarantee their spot during the next academic year.
The Houston Chronicle published the names of 117 principals who received the message, including longtime veterans and new principals in both HISD’s highest- and lowest-performing schools, prompting dozens of Houston ISD community members to attend the school board meeting Thursday and voice outrage over the results of the screening.
Channel 13 Coverage of State of Schools HISD Protests