Tag Archives: Alief ISD

HCC special election set

Posted on February 11, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

All you need to know. On Saturday, May 7, 2022, Houston Community College System (“HCC”) will hold a special election to fill a vacancy in the HCC Board of Trustee position for geographic district II for the unexpired term through … Continue reading →

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Filing update: Judge Hidalgo makes it official

Posted on December 4, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

She has filed for re-election, in case you had thought there was some other possibility. Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo announced her 2022 re-election campaign Friday afternoon as she filed paperwork at the Harris County Democratic Party headquarters. Although progress … Continue reading →

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Can we please not screw the schools right now?

Posted on December 6, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Really, we don’t have to do this. Across the Houston region and Texas, school districts that lost enrollment during the COVID-19 pandemic are facing a drop in state funds starting in January if the Texas Education Agency or state lawmakers … Continue reading →

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Remote learning has been hard for many students

Posted on November 22, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

This is a problem that I don’t think we’re prepared to deal with. Students across Greater Houston failed classes at unprecendented rates in the first marking period, with some districts reporting nearly half of their middle and high schoolers received … Continue reading →

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Some superintendents disagree about school opening delays

Posted on August 20, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

It takes all kinds. Superintendents leading 10 Houston-area school districts penned a letter this week opposing Harris County’s recommendations for reopening campuses, arguing that face-to-face instruction should resume earlier than health officials suggest. In their two-page letter, the superintendents say … Continue reading →

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TEA updates its school-opening guidance

Posted on July 19, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

They heard the outcry. Facing growing backlash from teachers, parents and health officials, Texas education officials Friday relaxed a previous order that would have given public schools just three weeks from the start of the fall semester to reopen their … Continue reading →

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The digital divide

Posted on April 7, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Online learning is great, if you can get online. The lack of access to technology among students — commonly referred to as the “digital divide” — has come into sharper focus in recent weeks as school districts across Houston transition … Continue reading →

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The children will count us

Posted on August 30, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Great idea for something that shouldn’t have to be the case. Teresa Flores knows the costs of a census undercount as well as anyone. As the executive director of the Hidalgo County Head Start Program, one of the area’s most … Continue reading →

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What about those constitutional amendments?

Posted on October 26, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Would you like someone to explain to you what those seven Constitutional amendments are about, in painstaking detail, with a recommendation for how to vote on each? Daniel Williams is here for you. It’s that time of the biennium again! … Continue reading →

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More on HISD IX, and a little on HISD VII Alief ISD

Posted on October 16, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

As noted before, I did not do interviews in HISD Trustee races in districts VII and IX. In VII, I did interview now-incumbent Anne Sung and challenger John Luman last year when they were running in the special election to … Continue reading →

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Precinct analysis: HISD and HCC

Posted on November 27, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

I was reasonably confident that the HISD bond referendum would be successful, mostly because there wasn’t any real opposition from officials or constituencies that would normally be expected to support it. It had a much smoother path than the 2007 … Continue reading →

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Interview with Richard Schechter

Posted on October 10, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

The last bond referendum I’ll be discussing is the one that’s received the least attention so far, and that’s the HCC bond referendum. This isn’t terribly surprising, since HCC Trustee elections tend to be low-profile as well, but that doesn’t … Continue reading →

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HCC board approves its bond package

Posted on August 12, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

More bonds for your consideration this fall. Houston Community College trustees voted Thursday to placea $425 million bond referendum on the November ballot. If approved by voters on Nov. 6, the bond would help update classroom technology, build a new … Continue reading →

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Interview with Sarah Winkler

Posted on March 29, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Wrapping up a week of conversations with candidates who hope to succeed Rep. Scott Hochberg in HD137, today we have Sarah Winkler. Winkler has served on the Alief ISD Board of Trustees since 1997 and on the Texas Association of … Continue reading →

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HCC redistricting

Posted on May 27, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Turns out that the HCC Trustees have done some work on redistricting for themselves. Their meeting agenda for May 19 lists “Resolution Accepting Draft Plans for Redistricting of HCCS Board of Trustees Districts and Confirming Public Hearings” as the fourth … Continue reading →

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Lawsuit over grading policies

Posted on April 27, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

A number of school districts, mostly in the Houston area, have a policy of not giving kids a grade lower than 50 in any grading period. The idea is that by setting a floor on grades, it gives kids the … Continue reading →

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The coming train wreck

Posted on April 20, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Two local school superintendents – HD Chambers from the Stafford Municipal School District and Louis Stoerner from the Alief Independent School District – wrote an op-ed for the Chron about the financial catastrophe that school districts are facing. With a … Continue reading →

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The school district squeeze

Posted on March 17, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Everywhere you look there’s bad budget news. “This is the worst I’ve ever seen it,” said Fort Bend ISD Chief Financial Officer Tracy Hoke, who’s worked in school finance for two decades. “I could turn out every light, and we’d … Continue reading →

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Runoff rules

Posted on November 5, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Council Member Mike Sullivan sheds some light on my confusion about runoffs in school board elections. As a former school board member, I know the answer well. In short, in the state of Texas, a candidate for school board has … Continue reading →

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HISD candidate spending

Posted on October 30, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

After all I’ve done detailing how city candidates are spending their campaign money, I’d love to be able to tell how how candidates for HISD Trustee are spending theirs. I’d love to, but unfortunately I can’t, because that information isn’t … Continue reading →

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Interview with Sarah Winkler

Posted on October 21, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

For what truly will be my last interview of the 2009 cycle, I bring you a conversation with Alief ISD Trustee Sarah Winkler, who serves District 6 and is also the President of the AISD board. She has been in … Continue reading →

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