Lynn Walsh

A story produced for Texas Watchdog:

HISD parents and students will learn, then earn
Thu Aug 26 12:48:00 2010 CST
By Lynn Walsh

Some Houston parents and students will get paid for participating in a new academic incentive program after Houston Independent School District trustees approved the $1.5 million privately-funded program Thursday at a board workshop.
Parents will receive $20 up to nine times a year to attend conferences with their child’s teachers, Chuck Morris, HISD’s chief academic officer, said. Students will receive $2 for every objective they complete.

Morris said these objectives will be in the form of homework sheets the student would complete and the parents would sign. If all of the 200 objectives are completed, a student could earn $400. The students’ work will be based on skills measured by the standardized test TAKS, or Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills.

Twenty schools will be selected for the program, which is being funded by the Dallas-based Liemandt Foundation.

Morris said HISD is still working on developing a relationship with a bank or financial institution that would provide financial education to students as well as set up bank accounts for the students’ earnings.

HISD trustees approved the new program with a 7-0 vote. Trustee Carol Galloway was absent, and Trustee Diana Dávila’s seat is vacant.

Trustee Harvin Moore said he was intrigued by the new program.

“I know experts have looked at this, and this is not just an initial idea,” Moore said. “It’s been tried before, so I kind of trust them for the moment.”

Listen to his entire comments in the video below.

Morris said the elementary schools with the lowest math scores in the district will be selected for the program. According to HISD, none of the schools in a separate academic achievement program known as Apollo 20 will be involved. Elementary schools for that program have not been named.

In the planning phases for Apollo 20, Superintendent Terry Grier said students could get paid between $7-$8 an hour to attend tutoring sessions. HISD has put that plan on hold, but Morris said it could be discussed for the 2011-12 school year.

When the option of paying students at the Apollo 20 schools was being discussed in May, Texas Watchdog asked Grier if it was fair to pay some students and not others.

“It would be nice to have money to provide tutoring for everyone, but if you don’t have that type of resource then you have to provide tutoring with the resources you have for the students who need it the most,” Grier said. View his entire comments in the video below.

Do you think HISD should pay students to learn? Do you think parents should be paid to attend conferences with teachers? Let us know what you think. Message us on Twitter, @texaswatchdog or @lwalsh. E-mail Lynn Walsh at lynn@texaswatchdog.org.

A story produced for Texas Watchdog:

HISD alternative school provider Community Education Partners releases 2001-03 contract documents with Trustee Larry Marshall
Wed Aug 25 13:25:00 2010 CST
By Lynn Walsh

Houston Independent School District Trustee Larry Marshall made at least $72,000 over two years from a company that will be paid $13.7 million this year to run an alternative school for HISD, documents show.

Contracts obtained from Community Education Partners show that Marshall worked for Community Education Partners, or CEP, as a consultant earning $3,000 per month from 2001-2003. Marshall’s work was performed under the auspices of his firm M Associates of Houston.

According to Randle Richardson, chief executive officer for CEP, Marshall was also working for the alternative school company in 2000 under similar terms, but he could not locate that document. With three one-year contracts, Marshall would have earned $108,000 from CEP from 2000 to 2003.

The figures conflict with the salary of $72,000 annually reported by the Houston Press in 2006 based on court documents, but Marshall has said the higher figure is incorrect.

The contract documents support Marshall’s earlier statement that he didn’t work on the Nashville, Tenn.-based company’s behalf in Texas, and that he resigned in 2004 when a policy was put in place to bar trustees from earning income from district contractors. In fact, Richardson said Marshall performed no work after the contract term was up in June 2003.

According to the contracts:

“The responsibility of the Consultant shall be to initiate contacts and perform duties requested in the normal course of the Company’s business development efforts. This responsibility only includes efforts outside of the state of Texas.”

Richardson said both Marshall and CEP wanted to make sure that Marshall “didn’t do anything in Texas.”

“At the time everyone patted it on the back for going above and beyond what was necessary,” Richardson said. “Lately when I have been contacted people act like this was a deep dark secret. It was not, we did not go behind closed doors, we disclosed everything to the board and did this in public.”

Marshall has acknowledged working for CEP as a consultant many times. At a board meeting in June, Marshall said he was a “consultant in Atlanta assisting them with business development and helped them to have a presence in Atlanta.” You can view his entire comments in the video clip below.

According to Marshall and Richardson, before Marshall signed a contract to be a consultant for CEP, it was discussed with HISD lawyers, the district and trustees “in order to avoid a conflict.”

Richardson said HISD lawyers allowed the arrangement as long as “the contract was disclosed openly, Marshall did not vote on anything dealing with CEP and Marshall did not enter into any discussions involving CEP or lobby district staff on behalf of CEP.” The standards are listed in the contracts.

Individuals associated with the alternative school provider — which Superintendent Terry Grier in March said should be cut loose, then a few months later said should be retained — have also donated to Marshall’s campaign. Marshall’s most recent campaign finance reports show that his campaign received $2,500 from individuals associated with CEP during the months of debate over whether to renew the contract. HISD trustees approved the contract in June, 6-1, with Marshall voting in favor. Trustee Anna Eastman voted against the contract renewal, and Trustees Paula Harris and Diana Dávila, who resigned earlier this month, were not present.

“If someone sends us a solicitation, we will send something. If there is a golf tournament and someone asks us to buy a ticket, we will,” Richardson said.

Marshall has said the donations did not create a conflict of interest because it was not the first time CEP had donated to trustee campaigns. Richardson and another executive at CEP gave $1,000 total to HISD Trustee Mike Lunceford, who voted to renew the contract.

Contact Lynn Walsh at lynn@texaswatchdog.org or 713-228-2850. Follow @lwalsh or search #HISD on Twitter for news about the Houston Independent School District.

A story produced for Texas Watchdog:

Video: HISD’s Lee High School shuffles staff, extends class time under program for struggling schools
Tue Aug 24 10:32:00 2010 CST
By Lynn Walsh

The Houston Independent School District is starting the 2010-11 school year with a new program at some high schools and middle schools across the district. Lee High School is part of the Apollo 20 program aimed at increasing academic achievement at underperforming schools in HISD.

Watch and learn what changes students and parents can expect at Lee and how much it is going to cost the district.

A story written for Texas Watchdog:

FOIA: Fun-Ongoing-Interesting-Activities
Aug 09 2010
By Lynn Walsh, Texas Watchdog

With deadline after deadline in a TV newsroom it can be laughable to think anyone would have time to file a freedom of Information act request.

On top of taking the time to file it correctly, there is always the time it takes to find the correct person to send it to, knowing what to ask for and of course waiting and keeping track of the response itself.

While a time crunch is a plausible excuse, it shouldn’t be yours. Here are some tips I have learned along the way on how to use the Freedom of Information Act and state-level public information laws to develop enterprise stories and add some spice to dailies.

1. Prepare Early

This may sound like a no-brainer but sometimes it helps to be reminded. There are certain documents that are filed on the same date every year-campaign finance reports, conflict of interest reports, etc. Keep a calendar of when the documents are due and prepare requests ahead of time that can be sent first thing on the due date.

2. Subscribe to e-mail lists

It can be annoying to have a inbox flooded with newsletters–but remember it only takes one click to delete them. Subscribe to what corresponds to your beat. E-mail newsletters will show you reports that are coming out, big trials, etc. Reports often stem from audits-request it. You may have a summary of the trial but why not request the whole court document?

3. Request Databases

Whether it is a salary database or a contract database, the information listed inside can be invaluable time and time again. Once you put in the request make sure you have access to those databases at all times. Details like salary, hire dates, contract totals a company has with a city or other government entity always add to the story and can help set your story a part from the competition.

4. E-mails/Communication

Was there a little argument at the City Council meeting? Heard rumors about construction bids being approved “in the dark?” Request all communication records: e-mail, written, phone, etc. from the players involved. Don’t forget about personal schedules, calendars, personal cell phones, personal e-mails….

Documents hold information that is hard to refute and they are always “on the record” when attained through FOIA or public information laws. Use this to your advantage!

A story produced for Texas Watchdog:

What’s for lunch at HISD, and who’s chewing on it?
Mon Aug 23 13:53:00 2010 CST
By Lynn Walsh

As students in the Houston Independent School District head back to class this week new items will be dished out on their school lunch trays.
An article in the Houston Chronicle Sunday detailed some of the new items students may choose for lunch:

“Among the items debuting on Houston-area school lunch menus this academic year: yams, Brussels sprouts, acorn squash, edamame and bok choy. Sushi, Cuban pork tacos and spinach salads also will be served up as some area school districts try to meet increasing pressure to offer more nutritious school lunches. Old favorites, such as chicken nuggets and macaroni and cheese, remain on most menus but have been overhauled to be healthier.”

The nutritional value of the food HISD serves students is not a new issue. HISD trustees regularly discuss food nutrition values at board meetings.

Trustee Anna Eastman has pushed Aramark, the food service company HISD has contracted this year for $5.8 million, to improve food nutritional values and make more food from scratch.

“You guys are looking at making your own yogurt next year, and it would be nice if we did not have the Trix yogurt anymore. Trix are for kids, but it is also sugary,” Eastman said at a board workshop meeting in May.

Earlier in the year, while an expanded breakfast program was being implemented at schools across the district, the debate over healthy food continued.

Eastman again encouraged Aramark to make more food from scratch. View her comments in the clip below.

The debate over healthy food in HISD has not been confined to board meetings and trustee conversations. Two blogs, First Class Breakfast? and The Lunch Tray weigh in on the food being served to HISD students.

First Class Breakfast? provides a history of the expanded breakfast program and pictures of what students are eating for breakfast at schools in HISD. The Lunch Tray, linked today by Off the Kuff and highlighted in the Chronicle story, looks at the nutritional value of school lunches across the country while using the Houston Independent School District as an example in many blog posts.

The debate over nutritional food options in HISD does not seem to be ceasing anytime soon. We want to know what you think. Are the new food options being offered enough?

Contact Lynn Walsh at at 713-228-2850 or lynn@texaswatchdog.org. Follow news about the Houston Independent School District on Twitter, #HISD.

A story written for Texas Watchdog:

Owner of company implicated in HISD E-Rate ethics probe denies giving gifts to employees
Fri Aug 13 14:22:00 2010 CST
By Lynn Walsh

Cell phones, playoff sporting tickets, trinkets and thousands of dollars in personal checks — all allegedly given to Houston Independent School District employees by federal technology program vendors that had a multi-million dollar contract with the Houston district — but the owner of one company says he had nothing to do with it.

Frank Trifilio, head of the now-defunct Analytical Computer Services, said he and his company never gave gifts to HISD employees, beyond an occasional fast-food lunch, and sought to distance himself from one-time business partners in an interview with Texas Watchdog. Trifilio, of Houston, said HISD confused Analytical with his subcontractors in the federal E-Rate program and that his company was the scapegoat in an investigation that resulted in his being banned from doing business with the district.

From 2005 to 2008, Trifilio and his business partners allegedly showered gifts including cash, meals and fishing trips on employees managing E-Rate, an HISD memo detailed by Texas Watchdog last month. Analytical provided $45 million in technology services between July 2005 and June 2009, a district contracts database shows. A federal lawsuit stemming from the improper gifts was settled by the district this year, and HISD has strengthened its ethics policy for E-Rate employees and board members.

Trifilio said he’s also suffered consequences.

“I lost everything, including my family,” Trifilio said. “I went through all of my savings just to get lawyers in Washington to defend me. I had to lay off 200 employees because the company went bankrupt.”
present

Trifilio said ACS, which was the umbrella organization for other technology vendors also implicated in the ethics probe, stopped operating in January 2007.

Analytical Computer Services “gave cellphones to approximately 26 district employees at one time or another from approximately August 2002 to February 2007,” according to the district memo penned by an outside law firm for HISD.

“I never provided phones for anyone at HISD,” Trifilio said. When asked if it is possible that one of his 200 employees could have, he expressed disbelief: “No, I sign off on all of the bills. I would have seen something like that.”

Trifilio said HISD confused his company with subcontractors Acclaim Professional Services, owned by Larry Lehmann, and Micro Systems Enterprises, where Frankie Wong was president. Wong is in prison for his role in a bribery scandal involving the Dallas Independent School District.

“We were the scapegoat” in the controversy because of confusion over vendor identification numbers, Trifilio said. Micro Systems and Acclaim took on some of the contracted work because the district believed the volume was too much for one company to handle, Trifilio said.

“In the E-Rate program, you cannot split up vendor numbers for projects, so HISD put in my SPIN number and my name,” he said. “Our number was being used, but we were not doing the business.”

E-Rate obtain the numbers from the Universal Service Administrative Company, which under the direction of the FCC administers the E-Rate program, said Richard Patton, HISD’s E-Rate compliance official. Patton said he was not aware of any limitations on the vendor ID numbers like what Trifilio described.

“I became the umbrella organization because ACS was the only company with a SPIN number,” Trifilio said. “We (Micro Systems) were archenemies. The relationship was nothing but a title.”

Professional basketball suite tickets appear to be the most valuable of the gifts that HISD lawyers found came from Trifilio’s company. Then-Superintendent Abelardo Saavedra “and a guest attended three Houston Rockets playoff games in the Analytical Computer Services Inc. (‘ACS’) suite in 2005,” apparently NBA playoff games 3, 4 and 6 against the Dallas Mavericks in the playoffs’ first round.

In an earlier interview with Texas Watchdog, Saavedra said he was invited to the games by HISD trustees, took his wife, but didn’t realize it was a vendor’s suite. He said he subsequently sent Trifilio a check for $300 to cover the costs.

Trifilio said he cashed the check, which was accompanied by “a very nice letter.”

Trifilio said the suite at the Toyota Center belonged to him and ACS but downplayed the appearance of a cozy relationship between his company and the district.

“The suites were mine,” Trifilio said. “Trustees were probably invited by a general manager. There were as many ACS employees there as there were board members.”

Other allegations outlined in the memorandum include gifts from ACS of fanny packs and koozies, or foamlike beverage containers, to HISD. Trifilio denies that ACS ever provided such items unless HISD employees picked them up at a convention.

Why would HISD employees and trustees attend a basketball game at an E-rate vendor’s suite?

Trifilio said the fact that board members were there is irrelevant because “the board members have zero influence in us getting any E-Rate contracts. The procurement is done on a lower level.” Board members vote on contracts or sign off on them after they are approved by district staff, depending on their value.

Trifilio said Analytical and district staff had a “camaraderie” with each other, which led to some district employees also attending games in the company suite.

“We had people (at HISD) all the time, at least eight people there, 40 hours a week,” Trifilio said. “They became friends with people over there. They had their own badges. They felt as if they were employees at HISD.”

Trifilio said when his company took HISD employees out to lunch, which he said happened a handful of times, the conversation was focused on current work.

“We didn’t talk about upcoming bids,” he said.

Former district technology employees William L. Edwards, Steve K. Kim and Laura M. Palmer were the primary recipients of the gifts and meals, the memo from HISD firm Bracewell & Guiliani said. Their names were closely guarded by the school district for years and were only released after a Texas Watchdog public information request that the district challenged to the attorney general’s office.

According to the memo, Edwards and Palmer accepted a ride on Wong’s fishing boat, the “Sir Veza” — the same name of a $305,000, 46-foot yacht connected to the E-Rate scandal in Dallas. Dallas ISD’s technology chief, Ruben B. Bohuchot, is in a federal prison in Fort Worth after being found guilty in the bribery and money laundering scheme.

Wong created a company to maintain the “Sir Veza,” according to the Justice Department.

“We worked together, but we hated each other with a passion,” Trifilio said, even though he mentioned he had taken his sons fishing on the boat. “We did north side, they did south side and that is that.”

Trifilio cooperated with the grand jury in the Dallas investigation, even though there was no information he could contribute, he said.

Trifilio said he had not talked to Lehmann. Texas Watchdog has attempted to contact Lehmann multiple times but has been unable to reach him.

Trifilio said he owns a rehab and renovation company.

“I am 65 years old, and I am cleaning toilets,” he said, adding that he works alone.

“No more subcontractors.”

Contact Lynn Walsh at at 713-228-2850 or lynn@texaswatchdog.org. Follow news about the Houston Independent School District on Twitter, #HISD.

A story written for Texas Watchdog:

HISD says travel policy revisions still on track for start of school; timeframe won’t allow for required board approval
Thu Aug 12 16:40:00 2010 CST
By Lynn Walsh

While the Houston Independent School District has nearly doubled its payments to a local travel agency this year compared to 2009, a district official’s promise of a new district-wide travel policy by the start of the school year has not held true.

UPDATE (5:07 p.m.) But that official still maintains the revisions will be ready next week.

Poor planning, a preferences for costly direct flights, agency fees for flight bookings and a toothless travel policy have led to unnecessary costs for district travel, a Texas Watchdog investigation found.
Texas Watchdog has been asking HISD administrators and Superintendent Terry Grier about the high travel costs and sometimes disregard of the travel policy’s preference for driving short distances.

Grier has said the district would carefully look at “any issues you have with travel” and declined further comment. Responses from HISD administrators have generally been via prepared statements that leave some questions unanswered.

One thing HISD Chief Financial Officer Melinda Garrett did tell Texas Watchdog in June is that a new policy would be in place by the start of this school year.

“As a result of the new organizational change and elimination of the regional offices, many policies and administrative regulations are being reviewed. This includes travel. The district will have updated travel guidelines ready for schools and departments prior to the start of school.”

The start of classes for some schools is Monday.

The August board meeting for HISD trustees is tonight, the last opportunity before the start of school for trustees to approve a new policy. The agenda contains no mention of such.

Texas Watchdog asked both Garrett and Grier’s Chief of Staff Michele Pola about the approval of the new policy. Neither has responded.

UPDATE (5:07 p.m.): Garrett said in an e-mail this afternoon that the district is still on track to update travel guidelines in its finance procedures manual for distribution next week. But it’s unclear how they can do so without board approval tonight. These “travel policies are established and approved by the Board of Education,” the document says.

The meeting begins at 5 p.m. at the Hattie Mae White Educational Support Center, 1800 W. 18th St.

Texas Watchdog will be there and will again ask about the status of a new travel policy.

Follow @TexasWatchdog on Twitter for live updates from the meeting tonight or search #HISD on Twitter.

Editor’s note: Texas Watchdog published a brief item about Garrett’s statement around 4:45 p.m. That item has been incorporated into the update paragraphs above.

A story written for Texas Watchdog:

Students at some HISD schools to win prizes for attendance this year
Thu Aug 12 14:32:00 2010 CST
By Lynn Walsh

Aug. 16 marks the first day of classes for some students attending Houston Independent School District schools, and just by showing up they could win tickets to sporting events and restaurant certificates.

The school year for HISD Apollo 20 schools starts a week earlier than the rest of the schools in the Houston district. The Apollo 20 program is an initiative to increase student achievement at some the lowest-performing schools in the district.

Due to the early start date, HISD wants to remind parents to register their children for classes. In an e-mail to the media, HISD media spokesman Norm Uhl said, “Every year we have parents registering late which leads to unnecessary lines and waiting. Parents can minimize the wait by acting now. They can register their children at the school they are to attend.”

To encourage attendance at schools across the Houston district, HISD said it is implementing a new program that will reward students who show up at school every day with tickets to sporting events, restaurant certificates and more.

The program is first being implemented at the Apollo 20 schools. Each day a student shows up for classes their name is entered into a drawing for the prizes.

Uhl said that all of the prizes have been donated to the district, and none of the donations or tickets come from vendors in the E-Rate technology program. Gift-giving from that program has been banned, following alleged ethics violations on the part of former HISD employees who worked with E-Rate vendors.

On top of the early start date, students attending the Apollo 20 schools will see longer school days and additional tutoring services.

The Apollo 20 schools are Key, Ryan, Fondren, Attucks and Dowling middle schools and Jones, Kashmere, Lee and Sharpstown High Schools. Elementary schools are to be added to the Apollo program for the 2011-12 school year.

The rest of HISD’s schools open on Aug. 23.

Contact Lynn Walsh at 713-228-2850 or lynn@texaswatchdog.org. Follow news about the Houston Independent School District on Twitter by searching #HISD.

A story produced for Texas Watchdog:

Video: Lee High School’s $1 million repair project
Thu Aug 12 10:42:00 2010 CST
By Lynn Walsh

Take a video tour inside Lee High School, where a library addition has settled and shifted away from the rest of the school. Houston Independent School District trustees gave the OK last month for up to $1 million in structural repairs, to be managed by Matrix Structural Engineers.

A story written for Texas Watchdog:

HISD employee double-dips with contractor to earn $187K a year; Grier: ‘Probably an ethical issue’
Wed Aug 11 05:03:00 2010 CST
By Lynn Walsh

A Houston Independent School District administrator has had a lucrative side job for at least three years — running an education nonprofit that has a nearly $2 million contract with HISD, something Superintendent Terry Grier says is “probably an ethical issue.”

Ann Stiles’ job at HISD in recent years has been overseeing the school system program coordinated by her own group, Project GRAD Houston, which tries to prevent low-income children in HISD from dropping out of school. Project GRAD has a $1.86 million contract with the Houston district, which school trustees renewed in June.

As HISD teacher specialist for Project GRAD, Stiles is a full-time HISD employee, earning a salary of $67,318 this year plus benefits, district spokesman Norm Uhl said.

But that’s not her only source of income. Stiles is also the executive director for Project GRAD Houston, where, according to the group’s IRS form, she earned $120,201 in 2008 and listed an average 40 hours of work per week. The total paycheck for the two jobs comes to more than $187,000 annually.

Stiles’ moonlighting was revealed Monday by Grier to school system trustees and the public. “I want to bring it to the board’s attention as it is probably an ethical issue that should be discussed,” Grier, who took over as the school system chief last September, told the group. He didn’t elaborate.

However, school officials had previously known of Stiles’ two jobs, Uhl said, though he did not elaborate on how long the district had known.

Asked whether an HISD employee is allowed to also work for a nonprofit that contracts with the district, Uhl said in an e-mail, “there does not appear to be a violation of any policy and it was known that she worked for the district. I just don’t think the question of the possible appearance of a conflict had been asked until now.”

Project GRAD Houston’s IRS form and its Web site list HISD Trustee Paula Harris as one of the group’s board members. Her name appears on the group’s IRS form on the same page as the one identifying Stiles as executive director. Harris and another HISD trustee, Anna Eastman, had questioned Grier about Stiles’ dual employment at the Monday meeting, but Harris did not volunteer publicly that she is a Project GRAD board member.

Stiles has submitted a resignation letter to the school district, effective Aug. 31, Uhl said. A school district staffer told the trustees Monday that the resignation had been turned in, though it was unclear exactly when it was submitted.

HISD salary records show Stiles has been a district employee since August 1993. She was initially hired as a teacher at Jefferson Elementary School, Uhl said.

The first reference to Project GRAD in Stiles’ employee file at HISD is in 1997, Uhl said, where Stiles is listed as a math teacher at the now-closed Lamar Elementary serving as a “Teacher Trainer under Project Grad.”

She began working as Project GRAD’s teacher specialist for HISD in August 2000, earning a salary of more than $40,000, Uhl said. Salary records show her HISD pay increased each year, up to the $67,318 she earned last year.

It was not clear at press time when Stiles became an employee of the nonprofit organization Project GRAD. IRS forms for the nonprofit were available online as far back as 2006, and all three years’ forms describe Stiles as the executive director.

Texas Watchdog called the Project GRAD Houston office number, asking for Stiles. A receptionist said Stiles was in a meeting and took a message. As of print, Stiles did not return the phone call.

HISD’s headquarters at 1800 W. 18th St. is 8.5 miles away from the Project GRAD office at 3000 Richmond — a 25-minute drive in traffic, according to Google Maps.

According to its website, Project GRAD (Graduation Really Achieves Dreams) Houston is part of a national program that works to increase high school graduation and college attendance rates for low-income students. The national program grew “from a scholarship program which began in partnership with (the) Houston Independent School District in 1989.”

The group was founded by former Tenneco oil chief James Ketelsen and his wife, Kathryn; James Ketelsen is Project GRAD Houston’s president and board chairman, while Kathryn Ketelsen is one of Harris’ fellow directors. HISD named an elementary school after James Ketelsen in 2002.

In June HISD trustees approved a renewal of the contract between the Houston district and Project GRAD Houston. The agreement for the coming school year, for $1.86 million, includes work at three high schools — Jefferson Davis, John Reagan and Jack Yates — and five elementary schools, Thomas Jefferson, James Ketelsen, Adele Looscan, Clemente Martinez and Sidney Sherman.

The possible addition of a ninth site, Phillis Wheatley High School in northeast Houston, prompted Grier’s mention of Stiles’ dual employment at Monday’s school board meeting. The addition of Wheatley and the additional costs of $59,221 associated with it are up for approval by school trustees Thursday (agenda item D-4).

Do you think HISD should have a policy that prohibits an employee from receiving a taxpayer-funded salary from the school district while at the same time working for a business or nonprofit that contracts with the district?

Let Texas Watchdog know what you think. Contact Lynn Walsh, Lynn@TexasWatchdog.org or 713-228-2850. On Twitter, @TexasWatchdog or @Lwalsh, and follow #HISD for stories, meeting highlights and more on HISD.