Houston ISD’s Mike Miles says his team saved the district from falling off a fiscal cliff with tough cuts

HOUSTON – Houston ISD Superintendent Mike Miles did the math Thursday afternoon to show how the district now has a $528 million budget gap and was headed toward a fiscal crisis that his administration rescued with tough choices, including unavoidable job cuts.

He said the previous administration had a bad practice of using COVID money to cover recurring expenses and cover raises for teachers.

“Teachers deserve salary increases, and they deserved the one in 2023,” Miles said, “but at the same time, the district should have cut expenses somewhere to pay for that, but COVID money paid for that as well.”

Miles said the previous administration had the foresight to know the district was headed in a dire direction because student enrollment kept going down. Instead of adjusting by cutting expenses or finding the money elsewhere, they used COVID funds and kept operating above their means.

“The decline in enrollment wasn’t paid for. Expenses went up and that was covered by COVID money. Enrollment went down, COVID money paid for that,” Miles said.

The district gets money from the state, per pupil, and over the last six years, Miles said HISD has lost 25,000 students.

That 1.2 billion in COVID funds the district got over the last three years dries up this fiscal year which ends June 30.

“We will have prevented the district from falling off a fiscal cliff. And that’s one of the most important things we can do.”

“This is painful and if the community feels that pain, some people are going to be angry, and I understand that,” Miles said.

“They’re real people, real jobs, so you can imagine what was going on in this building, this month as we had to lay people off starting this summer.”

Miles said they did keep cuts as far away from the classroom as possible and he doesn’t think students will really feel the difference when they go back to class in the Fall.

“What this team did was find a way to provide the services and get the outcome we want for kids.”

ANGER OVER TEACHER, PRINCIPAL TURNOVER

Protests have picked up momentum over the last week by parents, teachers and students angry with the growing number of teachers and principals losing their jobs. In last week’s news conference, also budget-related, Miles said while there job cuts are hitting every department due to the budget gap going into next year, all the teaching jobs would be filled.

Some teachers and principals, afraid to talk openly for fear of retribution, have told KPRC 2 they were surprised their contracts were not being renewed. Parents have told us not only are their children attached to teachers being let go, they’re also concerned about the district’s ability to fill all the positions with qualified teachers.

Miles said last week that wouldn’t be a problem and the focus is on finding educators with the right mindset for continued improvement.

• Houston ISD Superintendent Mike Miles responds to allegations he diverted Texas school funds to his Colorado schools

QUESTIONS ABOUT FINANCIAL INTEGRITY

The second controversy MIles is confronting bubbled up late last week on the heels of a report by Spectrum News alleging Miles used Texas taxpayer money to help shore up his charter schools in Colorado. One closed, leaving a $5 million dollar bond debt, according to the report.

Miles has vehemently denied he did anything wrong and called the report “irresponsibly inaccurate” and accused the reporter, who covered Miles when he ran Dallas ISD, of working to undermine progress he made there.

“It appears he is resurrecting old tactics that are not worth more time and attention. I do not intend to comment further on these spurious assertions. I am committed to staying focused on the tremendous challenge of improving Texas’ largest district,” Miles said.

Miles explained that the Texas and Colorado charter schools have a centralized office in Colorado that handles administrative oversight and there was nothing amiss, financially.

During his Thursday news conference, Miles said the story had been debunked and “I think we can move on.”

• ‘Grave concerns’: Rep. Sylvia Garcia calls for federal audit into Houston ISD Sup. Mike Miles’ Colorado school

Calls for federal investigations have come from Community Voices for Education, a coalition group of parents and teachers, the Houston Federation of Teachers, Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis and most recently, Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia.