HOUSTON – Houston ISD’s new Superintendent Mike Miles answered questions from the community for the first time since he was appointed to the top spot in the state’s largest school district.
On Tuesday night, dozens of people showed up at Forest Brook Middle School to hear about his vision for students. HISD parent Kimberley Mitchell said she wasn’t supportive of the changes until she heard the superintendent explain his New Education System (NES) plan herself.
“At first, I didn’t know what to expect and I wasn’t really for it,” said Mitchell. “I felt it was informative. I felt that it was much needed,” she added.
It’s the first of eight public community meetings that the district will hold this summer. The atmosphere was much different at the event compared to the often-contentious moments in recent school board meetings. There were actual cheers and applause in support of the superintendent’s plan.
“You can see that people came with good questions and we had a great dialogue,” said Superintendent Miles.
Under NES, Miles said HISD will align its resources and its most effective teachers and principals to better serve students in underserved communities.
“I think it will be interesting to see what real change happens and what this means in terms of substantive change in HISD,” said community member, Jasin Oliver.
Superintendent Miles said with more conversation will come more understanding, which he hopes leads to more support.
“I think the more we talk about it in an informed way, and we provide the details, I think more and more people will see the plan for what it is. We are actually trying to support underserved communities,” said Miles.
“We just got to be optimistic and let them do their jobs. I’m all for it,” said Mitchell.
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