Jennifer Radcliffe, Houston Chronicle
State officials on Thursday once again recommended closing the troubled North Forest Independent School District, whose leaders and supporters immediately vowed to fight the decision.
Texas Education Commissioner Michael Williams recommended that the district of 6,900 students be annexed into the mammoth Houston ISD effective July 1. His statement came just two days after the district said it would seek a partnership with Texas A&M University to assume day-to-day operations of its 10 schools.
Last March, after ordering the district to close, then-Commissioner Robert Scott granted North Forest a one-year reprieve. Scott’s successor, Williams, said the reprieve is over.
“I fully recognize that there have been people in North Forest ISD working hard to turn things around for a very long time, but we can no longer afford to wait,” Williams said in a statement. “More importantly, the students of North Forest can no longer afford to wait for a strong education they need and deserve.”
The commissioner’s recommendation – spelled out in a 93-page letter to the district – will go to TEA Chief Deputy Lizzette Gonzalez-Reynolds, who was designated in 2012 as TEA’s final decision-maker on North Forest. If Reynolds approves the closure, the U.S. Department of Justice must pre-clear the merger with Houston ISD, according to the TEA.
Meanwhile, North Forest leaders have 10 days to ask for the record review to be reopened. They then could appeal Reynolds’ ruling to the State Office of Administrative Hearings, Texas Education Agency spokeswoman Debbie Ratcliffe said.
District spokeswoman Sue Davis said North Forest “will pursue appropriate appeals.” Ideally, the appeals would be complete by June 1 and the annexation effective July 1, Ratcliffe said.
(Read more at Chron.com)
FURTHER COVERAGE:
TEA commissioner recommends closing North Forest-ISD permanently (KTRK 13 News)
North Forest ISD ordered to close (KPRC 2 News)
North Forest-ISD annexation to Houston-ISD imminent (KRIV 26 News)
Timeline of North Forest-ISD’s troubles (Chron.com)
LOCAL AREA HEADLINES:
- HISD board member wants answers about broken school cameras (KHOU 11 News)
- Specialty Courts In Harris County And Texas Under the Microscope (KUHF Public Radio)
- Discovery of contaminated dump site worries residents (KPRC 2 News)
- War vet says he feels let down by HPD brutality (KHOU 11 News)
- Scammers target unemployed with fake check (KPRC 2 News)
- Toddler’s life-saving surgery marks medical milestone (KPRC 2 News)
- Still counting… but Souper Bowl of Caring hits $1.4 mil mark (KRIV 26 News)
- How Culture Can Hinder Fighting HIV Among Houston’s African-Americans (KUHF Public Radio)
STATE, NATION & WORLD:
- Bill Would Strengthen Nurses’ Prescriptive Power (Texas Tribune)
- Texas lawmaker proposes soda tax (KPRC 2 News)
- Cutting Red Tape Between Agencies To Fight Wildfires (KUHF Public Radio)
- Lawmakers Advocate Ending Driver Responsibility Program (Texas Tribune)
- Defying Expectations, Some GOP Governors Embrace Medicaid Expansion (NPR)
- Health Insurance Companies Get in Shape for 2014 (New York Times)
- Business and Labor Unite to Try to Alter Immigration Laws (New York Times)
- Polio vaccinators killed in Nigeria (BBC)