Community Leaders Meet with HISD Superintendent of Schools

Over 20 HISD community leaders met Friday morning with Dr. Abe Saavedra in the superintendent’s conference room at HISD. Representing Wharton were Ken Macpherson and Alex Farinas. Dr. Saavedra prefaced his remarks by saying that the consolidation of William Wharton and J. Will Jones into Gregory-Lincoln Education Center may be delayed from 2009 to 2010 because of potential over crowding. Please review the attached HISD maps of the Wharton and Jones school closure proposals.

Imelda Alamia, Principal of Wharton Elementary, says once consolidated Wharton ES (378 students) and Jones ES (250 students) will merge into the new Gregory-Lincoln Education Center with 1,188 students from kindergarten to the 8th grade.

Many of the leaders in attendance were African American pastors of churches from the affected areas. One of them eloquently charged HISD with at least passively adding to the gentrification of neighborhoods by selling school properties to developers who put up tin can townhouses. Dr. Saavedra said that open enrollment, around for 10 years, and magnet schools, around for 30 years, have led to the underutilization of some school properties. He said currently HISD has to subsidize small schools. He said even with property taxes going up, due to values going up, state equalization formulas have kept HISD from receiving higher revenues. Sheila Jackson Lee had a representative come to the meeting and he reported that she is opposed to any consolidations or closures.

One administrator when asked about the Neartown Little League Hilton Field at Wharton said coldly that HISD signed a contract with them in 2005 for 10 years and the contract has a 120 day notice out clause.
A grandmother of a child who attended Gregory-Lincoln said she was in the old school and has been in the new school and said she liked the old building better. She said the old school had many things that the new building does not include like a theater! One leader opined that the way HISD has executed changes without input from the community is like taxation without representation. Another pastor, who is alarmed at the number of elementary schools HISD is closing, said the district should be spending 51 cents of every dollar on elementary school education.

HISD said the notes specific to all school closure and consolidation meetings held by McConnell, Jones, Lanier and Murphy will be posted to the HISD website. A pastor said there is a perception that the Greater Houston Partnership runs HISD and developers run the GHP.One involved parent and community leader from Sharpstown said their Parent Teacher
Organization includes any concerned member of the community, not just parents. She encouraged extended community involvement. One leader said HISD trustees need to be in their district and they need to be seen.

Ms. Imelda Alamia says parents of Wharton students want the school to stay open and remain where it is. Since HISD cannot close Wharton based on performance or utilization they have targeted it because of its size. As a parent would you want your 5 to 11 year old going to a 400 student school or a 1,200 student campus with 12 and 13 year olds too? If this shocks support our efforts by contacting us at contact@friendsofwharton.org.