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:

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 the Buckeye Institute:

Food, Family, and A Search Warrant
Monday, April 20th, 2009 By Lynn Walsh

A family living in LaGrange, Ohio likes to know where the food that they eat comes from. That is why they eat all organic, all natural, and locally grown food. Little did they know that by helping their family and friends eat the food that they want they would find themselves facing possible misdemeanor charges. In December of 2008, the Lorain County Sheriff’s Department went through with a search warrant delivered to them by the Lorain County Prosecutor’s Office on behalf of the Lorain County General Health District, and the Ohio Department of Agriculture. Officers with guns drawn entered and secured the property while the family was held in their living room for hours. No one in the home was allowed to answer a phone call or the door.

All of this because the Department of Agriculture thinks the Stowers’ food giving organization, “The Manna Storehouse,” needs to have a retail license in order to continue operation. “Manna StoreHouse” is described by members as an organization that made it easier for them to get the healthy food they wanted to feed their family. Watch the Stowers tell their story and look for more information on this case as it develops.

A story written for the Buckeye Institute:

Police Enter Family’s Home with Guns Drawn, Stowers Part 2
Wednesday, May 6th, 2009 By Lynn Walsh

A family in Lorain County faces possible charges for a third degree misdemeanor for organizing a food co-op for their family and friends. Authorities in Ohio entered their home with guns drawn to “secure the surroundings,” and confiscate all of their food.

The Sheriff’s Department says this is the typical way their police force and most others across the state handles situations in a residential neighborhood.

A story written for the Buckeye Institute:

Food Modernization Act of 2009
Wednesday, May 20th, 2009 By Lynn Walsh

The Stowers case in Lorain, Ohio has raised concerns and worries for gardeners throughout the country. Why? One of the reasons involves “The Food Modernization Act of 2009.”:

A story written for the Buckeye Institute:

Where is the Food?
Wednesday, May 20th, 2009 By Lynn Walsh

Last December the Stowers family had all of their food taken from them. Almost six months later they still have not got it back. The Buckeye Institute’s Maurice Thompson finally has some answers.

An article written for the Buckeye Institute:

Stowers Family Finally will get Food Back
Thursday, October 8th, 2009 By Lynn Walsh

After nearly a year of waiting the Stowers family from LaGrange, Ohio will finally have their food returned to them from Ohio Department of Agriculture and the Lorain County General Health District. The 1851 Center for Constitutional Law won a court order for all of the food that was seized back in December of 2008 to be returned to the Stowers within two weeks.

According to the Ohio Department of Agriculture and the Lorain County General Health District the food has been properly stored in freezers, therefore should still be edible. If the food is determined to not be edible the Stowers will seek compensation. The fight in court will continue later this month when the rest of the case is decided. The complete story can be viewed here.

A family living in LaGrange, Ohio likes to know where the food that they eat comes from. That is why they eat all organic, all natural, and locally grown food. Little did they know that by helping their family and friends eat the food that they want they would find themselves facing possible misdemeanor charges. In December of 2008, the Lorain County Sheriff’s Department went through with a search warrant delivered to them by the Lorain County Prosecutor’s Office on behalf of the Lorain County General Health District, and the Ohio Department of Agriculture. Officers with guns drawn entered and secured the property while the family was held in their living room for hours. No one in the home was allowed to answer a phone call or the door.

The Stowers Story

All of this because the Department of Agriculture thinks the Stowers’ food giving organization, “The Manna Storehouse,” needs to have a retail license in order to continue operation. “Manna StoreHouse” is described by members as an organization that made it easier for them to get the healthy food they wanted to feed their family. Watch the Stowers tell their story and look for more information on this case as it develops.