Grier's exit looms over HISD board races

With Superintendent Terry Grier leaving in March, the HISD board faces a big decision in choosing his replacement.

Voters can help to determine who makes that decision, with four of nine trustee seats on the Nov. 3 ballot.

At least one trustee will be new, as Paula Harris is not seeking re-election. Yet some familiar faces - a former trustee, a past city councilwoman and three repeat candidates - are vying to help govern the nation's seventh-largest school district.

Grier, by announcing in September that he would resign six months later, removed his future in the district as the top campaign issue. However, his rapid rollout of programs and high staff turnover loom on the trail with candidates calling for more stability in the Houston Independent School District.

HISD's reliance on student test scores to award bonuses and to evaluate teachers also could be at risk. Several candidates said they oppose the statistical measure used in both, and the board's decision last week to continue the $10 million bonus program was narrowly split - a 5-4 vote.

At a recent forum sponsored by the research and advocacy group Children at Risk, chief executive Bob Sanborn noted that HISD won the top prize for urban school districts under Grier and asked whether the candidates would rehire him if they could. None of the candidates in attendance said they would do so.

Trustee Manuel Rodriguez Jr., vying to keep the District 3 seat he has held for a dozen years, said he believes HISD is in better condition than when Grier arrived in 2009. However, Rodriguez said, "What we need is someone who can stabilize the district."

Rodriguez, a small business owner, has promoted dual-credit programs, enabling high school students to take community college courses. He also successfully pushed in 2013 to increase funding for struggling schools.

In 2011, Rodriguez drew criticism for his campaign ad noting that Ramiro Fonseca, his challenger then and now, was gay. Rodriguez won by 25 votes. This time, the two have another opponent: Jose Leal, an assistant principal at the charter school Houston Can Academies, started as a janitor and retired from HISD in 2011 as a dean.

Looking ahead, behind

Fonseca, 58, works as a program manager for Project GRAD, helping first-generation college students. He previously led Houston Community College's minority male initiative. Fonseca's campaign had raised more than twice as much money as that of Rodriguez, 64, in the last reporting period. Leal, 58, trailed far behind.

The District 8 race pits trustee Juliet Stipeche against Diana Davila, who resigned from the seat in 2010. At the time, Davila cited "family issues" and said her exit was not related to revelations that she tried to name her husband, Abel Davila, to the citizen committee over the bond construction program.

HISD's then-inspector general concluded the appointment would have been a conflict of interest. Davila said that she had gotten the OK from legal counsel but sought the second opinion.

At a September candidate forum, Davila said she was "one of the culprits" who hired Grier. She said she was running again because District 8, which includes the East End, has schools that are struggling academically. She is a former teacher with two children in HISD.

"How can I continue to sit at home and not do something about it?" asked Davila, 42, whose husband is running for the City Council, and whose brother, Art Aguilar, is running for the Houston Community College board.

Stipeche, 41, who chairs the board's audit committee, launched audits of the 2012 bond program and defended a recent critical report that Grier's administration called "reckless and irresponsible."

She has lobbied for the "community schools" model, which emphasizes social services for students and families. She is an attorney and works for Rice University's Richard Tapia Center for Excellence and Equity. Stipeche noted that she left the board room and did not vote in February when HISD contracted with the center for a math and science program for students.

During the last reporting period, Stipeche raised more than $21,000, and Davila had lent her own campaign $10,000.

The other races, with four candidates each, may head into runoffs.

The District 4 contest to replace Harris, who typically supported Grier, involves retired principal and former candidate Davetta Daniels, 63; attorney and ex-City Councilwoman Jolanda Jones, 49; teacher Larry McKinzie, 48; and University of Houston education researcher Ann McCoy, 52. Jones, who cites her political experience as key, and McCoy, who focuses on her data skills, were the top fundraisers as of the last reporting period.

Experience, advocacy

Daniels touts her education experience and community ties, while McKinzie notes he has two school-age children and regularly speaks out at board meetings.

Board president Rhonda Skillern-Jones, a longtime parent volunteer, is vying for a second four-year term to represent north Houston's District 2, which includes Kashmere High. She cites her advocacy for more state funding and efforts to prevent school closures in her area, but she laments sluggish academic results.

Youlette Jayne McCullough touts her four decades working for HISD, including stints as a vocational teacher and curriculum supervisor.

Pastor Larry Williams said his two prior campaigns for the seat show he is "serious about education and helping our children."

Recording artist Darlene "Koffey" Smith has been outspoken against HISD following a dispute she and her husband had with the district over their T-shirt business. The district acknowledged in 2012 that it wrongly sent the Smiths a letter saying they were banned from selling shirts to HISD schools, public records show.

The Houston Federation of Teachers, which opposes the bonus and evaluation systems, endorsed Skillern-Jones, Fonseca, Jones and Stipeche.

Stipeche and Fonseca also drew endorsements from Community Voices for Public Education, a local advocacy group that opposes high-stakes standardized testing. The group endorsed McCoy and McCullough as well.