HISD superintendent releases report that he says shows years of wasteful spending, calls for change

Houston Independent School District Superintendent Mike Miles has unveiled a startling report revealing what he describes as years of excessive spending within the district.

Since assuming his role over six months ago, Miles expressed a desire to scrutinize the district’s operations, including aspects such as bus services, staff overtime, and school maintenance.

During a recent announcement, Miles shared insights from the comprehensive 31-page report, which delved into various areas of HISD’s operations, including overtime, teacher absenteeism, contractor expenditures, consultants, and staff monitoring. He highlighted instances where the district was spending disproportionately high amounts in each category.

For instance, the report revealed instances where individual employees accrued $90,000 in overtime pay, while nearly a thousand teachers took excessive days off without facing consequences. The district’s expenditure on consultants, totaling $300 million seven years ago, raised eyebrows, constituting almost a tenth of all spending.

While Miles provided figures on certain expenditures, he admitted uncertainty about the extent of wasteful spending.

The report also focused on the efficiency of the district’s bus services. Miles highlighted that HISD spends $6,400 per student but only sees an average of 17 riders per bus. He also pointed out the acquisition of $20 million worth of buses two years ago, which he deemed unnecessary given the surplus of over 200 backup buses.

To address transportation inefficiencies, Miles proposed route adjustments to potentially double average ridership from 17 to 34 per bus, potentially resulting in $25 million in savings. However, concerns about longer commute times for students were raised.

Miles also advocated for increased accountability for teachers with excessive absenteeism and suggested better tracking of hourly workers to reduce overtime costs.

However, some, like Houston Federation of Teachers union president Jackie Anderson, felt that Miles overlooked certain items, such as excessive spending on events like convocations and library closures resulting in book disposals.

While Miles asserted that teachers seemed content based on survey responses, concerns were raised about potential negative impacts on the work environment and the possibility of a teacher exodus to neighboring districts.

While some recommendations from Miles, such as reducing reliance on contractors in favor of in-house staff, garnered support, others suggested alternative approaches, such as expanding programs to different parts of the city to cut transportation expenses.

Miles emphasized that implementing changes would be gradual and not immediately noticeable to HISD students and stakeholders.