Thirty-eight Houston Independent School District campuses, including 28 of the city’s high schools, will be rebuilt or renovated under a bond proposition that won voter approval on Tuesday.

The $1.89 billion measure passed by an overwhelming margin, based on early and absentee voting totals released Tuesday night by the Harris County Clerk’s office. Those early returns showed the HISD bond proposition leading with 66 percent of the vote with nearly 200,000 ballots cast.

“Houston voters sent a message today that all children, regardless of where they live, deserve to attend quality school in quality buildings that offer our great teachers the tools they need to prepare students for a successful future,” said Trustee Michael Lunceford, president of the HISD Board of Education.   “The new schools that will be built because of this vote will benefit today’s students, their future children, and even their grandchildren.”

HISD asked voters to consider the bond proposition after an independent evaluation of the district’s facilities showed that the average Houston high school is more than 50 years old and lacks the proper infrastructure to support modern technology and teaching strategies.  The evaluation found that the cost of maintaining these deteriorating schools would soon surpass the replacement cost.  Past HISD bond measures, including the 2007 plan that was passed with 51 percent of the vote, have focused on the district’s elementary and middle schools.

Read full story here.

Election Day results will be released on their site later this evening.

See Early Voting Results.

The $1.89 billion proposition will be used to build, replace and renovate schools in adherence to LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards, created by the USGBC (U.S. Green Building Council) to establish a common standard of measurement for green buildings. These facilities will be energy efficient and environmentally responsible, resulting in lower operating costs for the district. The bond proposition has also been endorsed by the USGBC Texas Chapter.

“EDF applauds the Houston Independent School District’s proposal to build all new schools under the HISD Bond Proposal 2012 according to the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED standards for schools,” said Kate Zerrenner, energy efficiency specialist at the EDF Austin office. “In addition to creating a healthier environment for children, LEED-certified buildings increase overall energy efficiency and cut electricity bills for school districts. We hope other school districts in the Greater Houston region will follow HISD’s leadership.”

The $1.89 billion HISD bond proposal will rebuild, renovate or replace 28 high schools, convert five elementary schools to K-8, build three new elementary schools and rebuild or renovate two middle schools. In addition, all schools district-wide will receive upgrades for technology, safety, security and athletic facilities, along with renovations to middle school bathrooms.  For more information, visit Citizens for Better Schools.

by: Pat Hernandez, KUHF-FM

Houston voters will head to the polls tomorrow to make the final decision on HISD’s nearly 1.9 billion dollar bond proposal. It would help the district rebuild or renovate dozens of schools.

The $1.89 billion dollar proposal would make major improvements to a total of 38 schools in the HISD, many that have outlived their usefulness.

“These high schools are 50+ years old, and there is not a real cheap way to get out of this because we have not updated our high schools in a long time, and they are literally crumbling.”

That’s Houston School Board trustee Paula Harris. She says the measure would also improve conditions for students at all district campuses.

“What we have now are some very old buildings that cannot keep up with 21st century learning, that do not have internet connections or the ability to plug in where everyone can plug in a computer, because our communities and our schools 80 years ago were a lot different from what we are seeing, and needing in our educational systems today.”

Read full article here.

On a recent weekday evening, about 60 grown-ups shifted noisily in the wooden auditorium seats at Westbury High School. Onstage, Houston ISD school board president Mike Lunceford gave a detached analysis of the proposed school bonds, sounding every bit like the engineer that he is. Aided by slides of leaking roofs, cracked floors and flooded walkways, Lunceford reminded his audience of Houston’s mercurial weather, as the images showed the havoc wreaked by hurricanes and drought.

The presentation was skillful and authoritative, despite an annoying buzz on the sound system that competed with Lunceford’s voice.

Someone asked: Would the bonds be used to build a new auditorium at Westbury? Lunceford consulted with a staff member and they both agreed probably not, because the acoustics were still pretty good.

“What? What!” People cried in unison, half in astonishment, and half because they honestly couldn’t hear what was just said.

Welcome to the old-fashioned Town Hall, where neighbors show up and learn about their government in a spin-free zone. Face to face with real elected officials, the folks who participated at Westbury got unfiltered information, undistorted by campaign rhetoric. I came because I was skeptical about HISD’s historic bond request, but I left in awe of the people who rolled up their sleeves to do the hard work required by a democracy.

We live in the Information Age, and yet the bombardment of “facts” leaves us confused. The audience at Westbury High understands this truth: There is no shortcut to being a good citizen. You have to show up.

Read the full article here.

The $1.89 billion proposition will be use to build, replace and renovate schools in adherence to LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards, created by the USGBC (U.S. Green Building Council) to establish a common standard of measurement for green buildings. These facilities will be energy efficient and environmentally responsible, resulting in lower operating costs for the district. The bond proposition has also been endorsed by the USGBC Texas Chapter.

“EDF applauds the Houston Independent School District’s proposal to build all new schools under the HISD Bond Proposal 2012 according to the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED standards for schools,” said Kate Zerrenner, energy efficiency specialist at the EDF Austin office. “In addition to creating a healthier environment for children, LEED-certified buildings increase overall energy efficiency and cut electricity bills for school districts. We hope other school districts in the Greater Houston region will follow HISD’s leadership.”

The $1.89 billion HISD bond proposal will rebuild, renovate or replace 28 high schools, convert five elementary schools to K-8, build three new elementary schools and rebuild or renovate two middle schools. In addition, all schools district-wide will receive upgrades for technology, safety, security and athletic facilities, along with renovations to middle school bathrooms.  For more information, visit Citizens for Better Schools.

###

Environmental Defense Fund (edf.org), a leading national nonprofit organization, creates transformational solutions to the most serious environmental problems. EDF links science, economics, law, and innovative private-sector partnerships. See twitter.com/EDFtx; facebook.com/EnvDefenseFund; and http://blogs.edf.org/texascleanairmatters/

Contact:

Expert contact: Kate Zerrenner, kzerrenner@edf.org, 512.691.3423

Media contact: Erin Geoffroy, egeoffroy@edf.org, 512.691.3407

While all eyes are on the presidential race, we would like to remind voters that some of the most important issues for Houstonians aren’t on the first page of the ballot or covered by selecting straight-ticket voting (which we don’t advise in any case). Way down the ballot, Houston voters will find a list of bond propositions, and we encourage everyone to vote yes on all of them.

These bonds will raise money for necessary and appropriate civic programs that will help the city provide essential functions, help the Houston Independent School District build or refurbish schools and help the Houston Community College System train students and workers for our growing economy. The city of Houston bonds are even structured in a way that will fit payments into current budget projections, with no need to raise taxes. Like a business taking out a loan for a capital project, a vote for these bonds is a vote to invest in Houston. And that’s certainly a worthy investment.

Read full story here.

Students are rallying support for a $1.9 billion dollar bond issue that would rebuild and renovate 28 Houston high schools.

Elissa Palmer is a student at HISD’s Young Women’s College Prep Academy. The school is only two years old, but the building they’re in was built in 1925. Along with substandard science labs and overcrowded classrooms, Palmer says the building has other problems that often make it hard to learn.

“We have no heat in the entire school. So during the winter you’ve got to bring extra jackets and stuff because we have no heat at all, so it gets really cold.”

Palmer was one of the students at HISD headquarters speaking in support of the Houston Schools Bond proposition. The bond issue would fund new campuses for 20 high schools.

It would also pay for the partial replacement of four high schools and renovations at four others. Revenues would also fund work at several elementary and middle schools, as well as technology upgrades systemwide.

Carla Sarno is a student at Madison High School. That’s one of the schools set for replacement.

“We have over 2,000 students, and the facilities that we have right now are not really made for such amounts. The classrooms are overcrowded. Our fine arts department, sometimes we don’t have room. We don’t have room for other after-school activities.”

Read the full story here.

Students’ dance called “a welcome addition to the process of voting”

Click here to watch the Zombie Thriller Flash Mob

Houstonians voting early at the Metropolitan Multi-Services Center got a special treat this Halloween as students from HSPVA dressed up as zombies and performed a spectacular “Thriller” flash mob to entertain those waiting in line.

“I just caught the end of the flash mob, and I wasn’t expecting it,” said Catherine Yuksek, who came out to early vote at the West Gray polling location. “I thought it was a welcome addition to the process of voting.”

Joining the dancing zombies were 100 or so of their HSPVA classmates who lined the streets along West Gray holding “Zombies Finish the Ballot” posters. Lamar cheerleaders, also dressed up as zombies, handed out “Zombies Vote Early” stickers to those leaving the polling location.

Watch Zombie Flash Mob

Read the full story and see the video on the HISD website here.

See the news story from KHOU here.

As Baylor College of Medicine Distinguished Service Professor Kenneth L. Mattox has noted, “It is through the legacy passed to one’s trainees that greatness is achieved.” Harris County voters will soon decide if our community should make an investment that will ensure opportunity for the achievement of greatness. Twenty-four Houston Independent School District high schools stand to receive vital funding for renovations and rebuilding to prepare students to become viable college candidates. As Chronicle education reporter Ericka Mellon has written, the current proposal reflects a practical and forward-thinking strategy of rebuilding or significantly remodeling schools, rather than relying on continual minor fixes (“HISD bond would rebuild schools after long wait,” Page B1, Oct. 21).

Among these schools is the DeBakey High School for the Health Care Professions, which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. DHSHP reflects the ethnic make-up of the Houston community. It is consistently rated as Exemplary by the Texas Education Agency and as one of the top schools in the nation. One hundred percent of its graduates go on to enter college programs. DHSHP provides 20 scholarships each year with a path to theUniversity of Houston and then a medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine, which had a role in the school’s formation. In a national environment in which we face the retirement of up to 30 percent of physicians over the next decade, hundreds of DHSHP graduates have gone on to become highly regarded physicians, dentists, biomedical engineers and other health care professionals.

Read full story here.