Houston Independent School District

The Houston Independent School District is the largest public school system in Texas and the seventh-largest in the United States. HISD operates schools in most of Houston in all portions of the cities of Bellaire, and West University Place. The district also takes students from Southside Place, the Harris County portion of Missouri City, a portion of Jacinto City, a small portion of Hunters Creek Village, a small portion of Piney Point Village, and a small portion of Pearland. HISD also takes students from unincorporated areas of Harris County. HISD covers 300.2 square miles of land.

Related Topics:
School District - Public school - Texas - United States - Houston - Bellaire - West University Place - Southside Place - Harris County - Missouri City - Jacinto City - Hunters Creek Village - Piney Point Village - Pearland

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HISD once served the Harris County portion of Stafford, but the portion went to the newly established Stafford Municipal School District in 1982 when that district started to serve the entire city of Stafford.

Related Topics:
Stafford - Stafford Municipal School District - 1982

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All of the HISD area is part of the taxation area for Houston Community College System.

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Former HISD superintendent Rod Paige pushed the district into new heights with the PEER Program. Improving scores from its schools have caused a lot of praise from others nationwide. Kaye Stripling took over when Rod Paige headed to Washington, DC as part of United States President George W. Bush's Bush Administration cabinet. After Stripling stepped down as the interim Superintendent, Abelardo Saavedra became the superintendent of the district.

Related Topics:
Rod Paige - Kaye Stripling - Washington, DC - United States President - George W. Bush - Bush Administration - Cabinet - Abelardo Saavedra

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HISD is highly regarded in the bilingual education of its predominantly Hispanic student body (including recruiting teachers from Mexico, Spain, and Central and South America) and its magnet (Performing Arts, Science, Health Professions, Law Enforcement, etc) High Schools are considered a model for other urban school districts as a way to provide a high quality education and keep top performing students in the inner city from fleeing to private schools or exurban school districts.

Related Topics:
Bilingual education - Hispanic - Mexico - Spain - Central - South America - Private school - Exurb

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There is recent controversy over HISD over a 2003 New York Times report that alleges that HISD is not reporting school violence to the police.

Related Topics:
2003 - New York Times

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A 2003 state audit of HISD's performance caused more controversy. One of the district's most publicized accomplishments during the Paige era was a dramatic reduction in dropout rates. When 16 secondary schools, including Sharpstown High School, were audited, it was found that most of the students who left school from those schools in 2000-2001 should have been counted as dropouts, but were not. It was found that the administrators at Sharpstown deliberately changed the dropout rate at the school. The Sharpstown controversy resulted in a recommendation to label the entire HISD as "unacceptable." Former Sharpstown assistant principal Robert Kimball asserts that HISD coerced administrators at many schools to lie on dropout rates. HISD asserts that the fraud is only contained to Sharpstown, and that the false statistics at other schools were caused by confusion related to the state's system of tracking students who leave school.

Related Topics:
2003 - Sharpstown High School

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Houston ISD's current administration building, the Hattie Mae White Administration Building (located at 3830 Richmond Avenue), was labelled the "Taj Mahal" due to the confusing layout of the complex. The administration will move into a new complex in northwest Houston (located at 4400 West 18th Street) in spring 2006. The old complex was sold and will be demolished.

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In 2005, HISD enrolled evacuees from the areas affected by Hurricane Katrina who were residing in Houston. The Houston Astrodome, a shelter for the refugees, is located within the HISD boundaries.

Related Topics:
Hurricane Katrina - Houston Astrodome

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