Some Houston school district trustees are questioning whether the time is right to spend $1.6 million on proposed “career academies” at four high schools that would allow students to earn both their high school diploma and an associate’s degree in just five years.
As the Houston Independent School District prepares to lose $160 million in state funding next year, the school district is also proposing to launch the career academies at Furr, Sterling, Kashmere and Scarborough high schools through a partnership with Houston Community College.
“I truly believe in infusing resources where they don’t already exist,” HISD Trustee Anna Eastman said at a recent school board meeting. “But I am concerned. As we are talking about cutting programs and talking about possibly closing schools, while opening three new schools … now this. How are we going to sustain this while we are making cuts? No one wants to stop offering excellence to our kids, but it seems contradictory.” (View her comments in the video below.)
Trustees Mike Lunceford and Juliet Stipeche also voiced concerns this week over the cost of the programs.
The proposal involves offering the students a mix of face-to-face and online classes that the district calls “hybrid learning.”
“The model that we are talking about here, hybrid learning, is going to become the delivery model for education,” HISD Superintendent Terry Grier said during a recent school board meeting.
The total cost of the four programs would be $1.66 million. Grier says the cost for the programs is between $200,000-400,000 per school, depending on how many students participate. HISD says that figure represents the upfront costs to get the programs started.
HISD’s head of high schools, Aaron Spence, said that while the programs may be “expensive,” they are still worth the money.
“During tough budget times, you don’t want to stop innovating and going away from our strategic plan,” he said. “I think this is a way -- it’s expensive, but I think this is a way for us to go to different schools and offer them a chance to have access to college.”
Spence said the $1.6 million “is the minimum amount” HISD thinks it can invest to create the academies. HISD Chief Financial Officer Melinda Garrett said most of the money would go to cover the costs of working with HCC. The rest of the money would pay for furniture, training and technology.
In February, when HISD discussed launching the program, it was considering a partnership with Lone Star Community College, not HCC, Texas state Sen. Mario Gallegos told Texas Watchdog. Gallegos, a Houston Democrat, also sent a letter to Grier and others criticizing the district for not considering HCC.
Eastman asked Spence at a recent school board meeting about the switch in partnership from Lone Star to HCC.
“HCC indicated it had an interest and desire to work with us,” Spence said. “Which was, perhaps, not our initial understanding.”
The proposal would create learning tracks for students, including general education, career-focused education and a focus in business, information technology, engineering technology, emergency medical technology or pharmacy technology. Most of the courses would be taken on the high school campuses. The program would take five years to complete, a year longer than the traditional four-year high school program.
HISD Trustee Manuel Rodriguez said he “likes” the proposal and would like to see the program expanded to more schools in the district. (Find out why Rodriguez supports the career academies in the video below.) And trustee Larry Marshall said the district needs to invest in training students for medical technology jobs.
Grier said HISD “decided to start with these four schools because these schools have the space for the students to come back for that extra year.” Grier also said the district would not be opposed to expanding the program in the future.
Spence said he is still working out concrete cost details with HCC and expects the overall cost of the programs to decrease after the first year.
HISD trustees will have to approve the proposal before the academies would open next school year.
“I truly believe in infusing resources where they don’t already exist,” HISD Trustee Anna Eastman said at a recent school board meeting. “But I am concerned. As we are talking about cutting programs and talking about possibly closing schools, while opening three new schools … now this. How are we going to sustain this while we are making cuts? No one wants to stop offering excellence to our kids, but it seems contradictory.” (View her comments in the video below.)
Trustees Mike Lunceford and Juliet Stipeche also voiced concerns this week over the cost of the programs.
The proposal involves offering the students a mix of face-to-face and online classes that the district calls “hybrid learning.”
“The model that we are talking about here, hybrid learning, is going to become the delivery model for education,” HISD Superintendent Terry Grier said during a recent school board meeting.
The total cost of the four programs would be $1.66 million. Grier says the cost for the programs is between $200,000-400,000 per school, depending on how many students participate. HISD says that figure represents the upfront costs to get the programs started.
HISD’s head of high schools, Aaron Spence, said that while the programs may be “expensive,” they are still worth the money.
“During tough budget times, you don’t want to stop innovating and going away from our strategic plan,” he said. “I think this is a way -- it’s expensive, but I think this is a way for us to go to different schools and offer them a chance to have access to college.”
Spence said the $1.6 million “is the minimum amount” HISD thinks it can invest to create the academies. HISD Chief Financial Officer Melinda Garrett said most of the money would go to cover the costs of working with HCC. The rest of the money would pay for furniture, training and technology.
In February, when HISD discussed launching the program, it was considering a partnership with Lone Star Community College, not HCC, Texas state Sen. Mario Gallegos told Texas Watchdog. Gallegos, a Houston Democrat, also sent a letter to Grier and others criticizing the district for not considering HCC.
Eastman asked Spence at a recent school board meeting about the switch in partnership from Lone Star to HCC.
“HCC indicated it had an interest and desire to work with us,” Spence said. “Which was, perhaps, not our initial understanding.”
The proposal would create learning tracks for students, including general education, career-focused education and a focus in business, information technology, engineering technology, emergency medical technology or pharmacy technology. Most of the courses would be taken on the high school campuses. The program would take five years to complete, a year longer than the traditional four-year high school program.
HISD Trustee Manuel Rodriguez said he “likes” the proposal and would like to see the program expanded to more schools in the district. (Find out why Rodriguez supports the career academies in the video below.) And trustee Larry Marshall said the district needs to invest in training students for medical technology jobs.
Grier said HISD “decided to start with these four schools because these schools have the space for the students to come back for that extra year.” Grier also said the district would not be opposed to expanding the program in the future.
Spence said he is still working out concrete cost details with HCC and expects the overall cost of the programs to decrease after the first year.
HISD trustees will have to approve the proposal before the academies would open next school year.
***
What do you think about the proposed career academies? Contact Lynn Walsh, lynn@texaswatchdog.org, 713-228-2850 or on Twitter, @lwalsh.
What do you think about the proposed career academies? Contact Lynn Walsh, lynn@texaswatchdog.org, 713-228-2850 or on Twitter, @lwalsh.
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Diploma photo by flickr user _rockinfree, used under a Creative Commons license.
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