Tag: Government Salary
Texas Watchdog probes Houston ISD’s business ties to friend of trustees’ president
by Lynn Walsh on Jul.24, 2011, under In the News, What's New
A story produced for Texas Watchdog:
Texas Watchdog probes Houston ISD’s business ties to friend of trustees’ president
Friday, Jun 10, 2011, 10:25AM CST
By Jennifer PeeblesAs part of its ongoing look at potential conflicts of interest for people in government, you may have seen that yesterday Texas Watchdog took a closer look the Houston school system’s business relationship with a close friend of the president of the school district’s trustees.
Nonprofit to hire teacher recruiter for Houston ISD while school system lays off nearly 1,000 teachers
by Lynn Walsh on Jul.24, 2011, under What's New
A story written for Texas Watchdog:
Nonprofit to hire teacher recruiter for Houston ISD while school system lays off nearly 1,000 teachers
Monday, Apr 25, 2011, 01:40PM CST
By Lynn WalshHelp wanted: Director of teacher recruitment for a school system that just laid off nearly 1,000 teachers.
A nonprofit that is trying to help improve Houston’s public schools is hiring six full-time employees — including a person in charge of recruiting teachers.
This is the same Houston Independent School District that has notified 950 teachers that their positions are being eliminated next school year, with roughly 75% of them losing their jobs due to massive state budget cuts. (The rest are being laid off for performance issues, the school district says.)
Taxpayers aren’t picking up the tab for the six new hires. They’ll be on the payroll of The New Teacher Project, a New York-based nonprofit that has been working with HISD for more than a year to help fine-tune its hiring practices, which HISD hopes will lead to better teachers.
HISD considers cutting 276 central office jobs to prepare for state budget cuts
by Lynn Walsh on Jul.21, 2011, under What's New
A story written for Texas Watchdog:
HISD considers cutting 276 central office jobs to prepare for state budget cuts
Wednesday, Apr 06, 2011, 06:13PM CST
By Lynn WalshThe Houston school system is poised to cut 277 positions — nearly all of them central office jobs — as it braces itself for massive budget cuts from the state.
Houston Independent School District trustees are slated to vote tomorrow on the cuts, which would save the district more than $17 million next year. But the district is facing up to $348 million in cuts from the state.
“Any more cuts would change the level of service provided to students and schools,” the district’s chief financial officer, Melinda Garrett, told trustees recently. “We can make more cuts, but it would mean eliminating entire departments, which we can do if (the trustees) want.”
The reduction in staff will also result in a central office re-organization, which will lead to the consolidation of some departments.
Houston ISD pays teachers $3.7 million not to teach
by Lynn Walsh on Mar.21, 2011, under Video, What's New
A story written for Texas Watchdog:
Houston ISD pays teachers $3.7 million not to teach
Friday, Feb 04, 2011, 02:07PM CST
By Lynn Walsh
Ending contracts with “low-performing” teachers in Houston schools has cost taxpayers $3.7 million, according to a recent investigation from Fox 26 News.
The Houston Independent School District ended its year-long contracts of 47 teachers last summer, leading to cash payouts for the former employees ranging from $45,000 to $73,000, according to the story.
HISD’s chief human resource officer, Ann Best, told Fox 26 the teachers were let go because they were not high-performing:
“‘We looked at past track records of success so I can assure that these were teachers that were low-performing,’ Best reasoned.”
Best also told Fox 26 that the teachers were let go to help implement the district’s Apollo 20 turnaround program for low-performing schools in the district.
Gayle Fallon, president of the Houston Federation of Teachers, told Fox 26 she doesn’t believe that:
“’Ann Best is lying on that!’ Fallon countered. ‘Quite simply these folks did not have bad evaluations; these folks were in schools that weren’t functioning well.’”
At an HISD trustee meeting Thursday, the district announced there were 89 displaced teachers with continuing contracts next year, and the cost to keep the teachers on the payroll next year is $5.7 million.
HISD Superintendent Terry Grier said the district can’t afford to spend $5.7 million on non-budgeted teaching positions next year.
HISD trustee Harvin Moore described the situation as “a potential rubber room in Houston,” referring to suspended teachers in New York City who continued to be paid despite not having teaching assignments and spending months doing nothing.
The district is just beginning the conversation of what to do with the 89 teachers next year. In a presentation, HISD said, “we want to mitigate the district’s financial obligation while recognizing the staffing flexibilities of individual schools and the disruption that widespread ‘bumping’ could cause.”
Houston ISD considers cash rewards to employees who give early warning that they’re quitting
by Lynn Walsh on Mar.21, 2011, under What's New
A story written for Texas Watchdog:
Houston ISD considers cash rewards to employees who give early warning that they’re quitting
Thursday, Feb 03, 2011, 02:22PM CST
By Lynn Walsh
Employees who notify the Houston school district early of their intent to leave their jobs may see cash rewards of up to $2,500 under a new proposal.
The proposal, according to the Houston Independent School District, would allow the district to identify vacant positions and make staffing changes earlier, which would help the school system plan next year’s budget.
HISD trustees were presented Thursday with the plan, which includes cash incentives based on how many years an employees has worked with the district — the more years of service, the higher the incentive.
The suggested cut-off date for notifying the district would be March 1, HISD Superintendent Terry Grier said. Grier also suggested that the proposed program have a spending cap of $2.5 million.
HISD Trustee Harvin Moore said he did not think there should be a cap put on the program and asked Grier why the district would set one.
“That is fine with me,” Grier said. “I was just trying to be frugal.”
HISD’s human resources chief Ann Best said the intent is not to force employees out. “We are not trying to change behavior,” Best said. “We are just looking for early notification if they are leaving.”
Under the proposal, employees with less than four years of service at HISD would receive $500. Those with 5-10 years would receive $1,000; 11-15 years, $1,500; 16-20 years, $2,000; and those who have been with the district for 21-plus years would receive $2,500.
Details like the possibility of a spending cap and the notification cut-off date were not finalized Thursday, but would be worked out before the trustees took a final vote on the plan.
The HISD administration also said it is proposing that the time period when teachers are allowed to transfer to other positions in the district be moved earlier in the year to help the district identify vacancies and help with staffing changes earlier in the budget process. The proposed early transfer period would be moved to March 28-April 23.
Do you think HISD employees should get an incentive for notifying the district early of their plans to leave their jobs? Texas Watchdog wants to hear what you think. Contact Lynn Walsh, Lynn@TexasWatchdog.org, 713-228-2850 or join in on the conversation on Twitter @Lwalsh or @TexasWatchdog.
Nine out of 10 Houston ISD teachers to get bonuses, despite low grades for some schools
by Lynn Walsh on Mar.21, 2011, under What's New
A story written for Texas Watchdog:
Nine out of 10 Houston ISD teachers to get bonuses, despite low grades for some schools
Wednesday, Jan 26, 2011, 05:35PM CST
By Lynn Walsh
(EDITOR’S NOTE: The headline on this story has been changed. The earlier headline may have given some readers the impression that one out of every five schools in HISD is failing. The story has also been updated (below) to state the number of schools rated “acceptable” and “unacceptable.”)
Nearly nine out of every 10 Houston public school teachers are getting performance bonuses this year, even though one out of every five schools in the district has a low academic rating from the state.
Eighty-eight percent of the Houston Independent School District’s nearly 13,000 teachers will receive bonuses for their performance last year, the school district said.
The school system is handing out more than $42.4 million in performance bonuses to 16,500 employees. That includes 92% of its bonus-eligible employees, which include all of the district’s teachers and many non-teaching personnel, including principals and administrators. The bonuses will go to 99% percent of HISD teachers instructing students in core subjects like math, science and reading.
Close to 60 of HISD’s 298 schools received one of the two lowest accountability ratings from the Texas Education Agency last year: “Academically acceptable” or “academically unacceptable.” Students’ performance in core subjects like math, science and reading figure heavily into those ratings.
(UPDATE, 4:15 p.m. Thursday: Twelve HISD schools are rated “academically unacceptable,” and another 47 are rated one level higher, “academically acceptable.” Despite the name, HISD trustees have said in meetings that they cannot consider a school successful if it is merely rated “academically acceptable.)
The bonus program, called ASPIRE, is a key part of having an effective teacher in every classroom, according to a district press release. And having an effective teacher in every classroom is essential to HISD becoming “the best school district in the country,” HISD Superintendent Terry Grier said in the release.
“In order to reach our goal of being the best school district in the country,” Grier said. “We must make sure we have effective teachers like Andres Balp in every classroom…”
Balp, a bilingual teacher at Lyons Elementary, is receiving an ASPIRE bonus of $11,330, the largest teacher award in the district this year, according to HISD. The average teacher is getting $3,614. Lyons, near the Northline neighborhood of Houston, was rated “exemplary” by the state in 2010.
Grier told the Houston Chronicle that the bonus program may be in need of some changes:
“We’ve got to take a hard look at that program, and we’ve got to be willing to change it,” Grier said. “When you have 92 percent of your employees receiving a bonus, you’ve got to ask yourself, ‘Is it really a bonus program, or is it a program where you’re spreading out $42 million?’”
HISD began ASPIRE in January 2007 and, since then, has given out more than $155 million in bonuses, which equals close to 10% of the district’s $1.6 billion annual budget. According to the district, ASPIRE is one of the largest performance pay programs in the country.
As the district prepares for up to $348 million in budget cuts from the state, it gave out close to $1.8 million more in bonuses this year than last year. More than half of the money for the bonuses will come out of HISD’s general fund, and the rest will be paid for using state and federal grant money.
What do you think of the HISD ASPIRE bonuses? Texas Watchdog wants to hear from you. Contact Lynn Walsh, Lynn@TexasWatchdog.org, 713-228-2850 or on Twitter @LWalsh.
Principals at struggling HISD schools may get bonuses of up to $30,000 in incentive-pay plan
by Lynn Walsh on Nov.23, 2010, under What's New
A story written for Texas Watchdog:
Principals at struggling HISD schools may get bonuses of up to $30,000 in incentive-pay plan
Wednesday, Nov 10, 2010, 07:09PM CST
By Lynn WalshPrincipals at some of Houston’s most academically challenged schools may see $30,000 bonuses this school year if trustees approve an incentive-pay model Thursday — one for which the principals helped create the metrics.
The Houston Independent School District principals helm four high schools and five middle schools that are part of the $29.5 million Apollo 20 academic turn-around program launched this school year. The goal of the program is to improve student performance through a lengthened school year, longer school days and tutoring services.
Leading the drive toward academic success are nine principals who, according to HISD, were heavily recruited to bring academic excellence to Lee, Kashmere, Sharpstown and Jones high schools, as well as Fondren, Key, Ryan, Attucks and Dowling middle schools, which make up the first round of the Apollo 20 program. Eleven elementary schools are slated to enter the program next school year.
On top of receiving sign-on bonuses that cost the district more than $49,000 this year, Apollo 20 principals could receive an additional $30,000 at a high school and $20,000 at a middle school if trustees approve the bonus-pay model at the November school board meeting.
HISD Trustee Manuel Rodriguez said he is not sure this is the right time to be “handing out” bonuses. “Not all HISD employees received raises this year, and with the current budget, they may not receive them next year. I am not sure this is the time to be handing out bonuses to principals,” Rodriguez said.
Trustee Harvin Moore disagreed. “We are not handing out bonuses. These principals will be earning them,” Moore said.
On top of this, the principals — as all principals — can earn up to $15,530 a year in bonuses through the district-wide performance pay program, ASPIRE.
According to the agenda for Thursday’s meeting (see item E-4), principals would receive the bonus by meeting a combination of targets related to student attendance, student achievement and graduation, dropout or grade completion rates — all of which were determined through input from the nine principals and using testing and attendance data from previous years.
A detailed description of the incentive pay model can be viewed here.
The maximum total cost of the incentive program if approved would be $239,000 and would be funded through federal money and private grants, according to HISD.
Parent Visionaries, a group of parent leaders representing schools throughout the Houston district, is concerned general funds — the school system’s main checking account — will be used if the district does not raise the $6 million in private funding it still needs for the Apollo 20 program.
According to an e-mail from Michel Pola, HISD Superintendent Terry Grier’s chief of staff, that is not the case.
“General fund is not being used to fund the incentives. The three sources being used are state transformation grants, schools’ per pupil title II allocations (Title II is federal entitlement money for recruitment, retention, and performance); third source is private funds…The HISD foundation is aggressively raising funds for the Apollo program. There are funds set aside for the Apollo program; however, we anticipate raising sufficient private funds.”
The November HISD board of education meeting is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. Thursday at the Hattie Mae White building in Houston. Follow @TexasWatchdog on Twitter for live updates during the meeting.
For a complete look at the most recent Apollo 20 budget, click here.
Questions about this story or other education news can be sent to Lynn Walsh, Lynn@TexasWatchdog.org, 713-228-2850, or on Twitter @LWalsh.
Possible summer school cuts looming for Houston ISD as funding is slashed
by Lynn Walsh on Nov.09, 2010, under Investigations, What's New
A story written for Texas Watchdog:
Possible summer school cuts looming for Houston ISD as funding is slashed
Wednesday, Nov 03, 2010, 02:45PM CST
By Lynn WalshHow to pay for summer school next year will be the main issue Houston Independent School District trustees will try to resolve when they meet Thursday.
The school system is bracing itself for millions of dollars in reductions in federal and state funds aimed at boosting achievement among poor students and doled out by the state. In response, HISD administrators have proposed slashing — and nearly wiping out — the budget for summer school, from $21 million to just $1.9 million, and making the individual schools largely pay their own way for summer programs.
Media reports of the expected funding changes to summer school in HISD prompted the district to dedicate a new page to its website called “Myth Busters.” According the “Myth Busters” page:
“It is true that there are fewer federal dollars available for summer school next year. HISD is designing a new, more cost-effective summer-school model and will redirect any unused budget dollars and additional federal and state funds we may receive to these programs. While principals may have to pay for some summer-school costs out of their budgets, it will not be anywhere near the $19 million being reported in the media.”
HISD’s chief financial officer, Melinda Garrett, told trustees, Superintendent Terry Grier and other top administrators in an e-mail dated July 22 that funding from the federal program in question, called Title I, “for 2010-11 is down over $19 million from that of the prior year.”
The e-mail was released to Texas Watchdog following a request made under the state Public Information Act.
The cut in Title I funds was mentioned in a presentation given by a top HISD administrator to principals at a series of meetings held July 23-25, slides from which were also released to Texas Watchdog. For this academic year, one slide said, “schools will be required to fund summer school from their current Title I, Part A allocation or other school-based fund.”
In her e-mail, Garrett said HISD is receiving less Title I money for three reasons:
+ Expected funding from the Texas Education Agency is down $5.7 million.
+ HISD doesn’t expect to have any left over Title I money from the previous fiscal year.
+ A state-mandated transportation fund that normally has extra money left over each year is expected to be dried up before this year’s summer school classes even begin.
This is not the first time HISD trustees have had to find funds to cover the cost of summer school programs. The district had to scramble last spring to fill a $20 million hole to pay for summer school after it didn’t get as much federal and state money as it had expected.
Other HISD Title I funds expecting to see decreases in 2010-11 include:
+Campus allocations, $4.9 million
+Parental involvement programs, $130,000
+General staff development, $100,000
Regular funding is not all HISD will be losing next school year.
According to the July presentation given to HISD principals, more than $92 million stimulus funding the district received ends in September 2011. That means all salaries being paid for with these funds — like elementary school literacy coaches — will be eliminated for the 2011-12 school year.
Stimulus-funded positions are not the only positions that could be cut, either. According to the presentation, district-funded positions like high school graduation coaches and middle school literacy coaches will be eliminated.
HISD currently has more than 25 high school graduation coaches who earn between $53,595 and $68,037 a year. You can view the complete list of coaches, their location and their salary rates here.
Where will the money come from? HISD trustees are expected to discuss that and receive a budget update Thursday morning at a board workshop, more than a month later than originally planned.
A Sept. 30 board workshop to discuss summer school funding was cancelled “due to board members attending a national conference where they are being recognized as finalist for the CUBE award,” according to an e-mail from Grier’s chief of staff, Michele Pola. The Council of Urban Boards of Education recognizes one urban school board a year for district-wide academic excellence.
The summer school funding discussion will continue at 7:30 a.m. Thursday at the Hattie Mae White building in Houston. Follow Texas Watchdog on Twitter, @TexasWatchdog, for live updates during the discussion.
What did you think of the HISD District 8 race? Texas Watchdog wants to hear from you. Contact Lynn Walsh at Lynn@TexasWatchdog.org, 713-228-2850 or on Twitter @LWalsh.
HISD spends $18 million in stimulus cash to pay salaries of 200+ workers it doesn’t need
by Lynn Walsh on Oct.22, 2010, under Investigations, Video, What's New
An investigation for Texas Watchdog:
HISD spends $18 million in stimulus cash to pay salaries of 200+ workers it doesn’t need
Thursday, Oct 21, 2010, 07:22AM CST
By Lynn WalshHouston’s public schools are spending $18 million in federal stimulus money to pay the salaries of more than 200 employees the district admits it doesn’t need.
That’s because the Houston Independent School District is getting more federal money than ever for special education, even though it has nearly one-quarter fewer special ed students than five years ago.
Much of the extra special ed money HISD is getting from the federal stimulus program — starting last school year and running through next year — is paying workers such as teachers’ aides and occupational therapists for special ed students.But while the number of special ed students plummeted in the past few years, mirroring a national trend, HISD didn’t cut employees’ jobs, leaving roughly as many people working in that department today as there were in 2005, when the district had nearly 5,000 more special ed students.
Fever charts“Perhaps that was something that was not looked at over the last several years, and we are trying to straighten that out,” said Sowmya Kumar, HISD’s new assistant superintendent for special education. She spent more than a dozen years as a regional administrator for HISD’s special ed programs before being promoted this summer.
“We have a fresh new team here and some fresh new eyes,” she told Texas Watchdog. “When you take a fresh new look at things, you start to ask questions about data.”
The 200-plus workers will be laid off at the end of this school year, she said. A district-wide special education audit, intended to identify the overstaffing, is underway and is expected to be completed by December.
“We need an overhaul in our special ed department, and we need to be a lot more receptive to what parents need,” HISD trustee Manuel Rodriguez said.
Federal law prevents the school district from spending the extra $18 million on anything outside special education — a sadly ironic situation for school employees, as HISD earlier this year laid off employees in other departments. And a program to try to fix the system’s most troubled schools, called Apollo 20, is still short by $6 million, forcing HISD officials to ask for donations from private foundations.
Kumar isn’t the only HISD official saying that some workers should have gone years ago. HISD’s top financial officer, Melinda Garrett, gave school system trustees a presentation in June, saying stimulus funds would pay for positions in special ed “which should have been reduced based on prior years’ declining enrollment.”
While HISD administrators say the 200 workers aren’t needed, to people in the special education community, having additional staff on hand these past couple of years has been helpful.
“Some people may say it is a waste of money, but these 200 teachers are a drop in the bucket,” said Jimmy Kilpatrick, a member of a Houston-based group that provides national advocacy and research on special education issues.
“You need quality teachers, especially with special-needs children, and it presents an opportunity for less of a workload for the teachers … The problem is, sometimes an autistic child needs three adults around them at once, and that requires a high level of expertise.”
Said Rodriguez: “These past two years have been relatively quiet. I have not been getting the calls from parents who think their child is not getting the proper special education services they need. It could be that the parents have moved on, but I hope it is that the situation has been alleviated.”
More than $11 billion of federal stimulus money went to the states for special ed programs. Calls to the federal Education Department, which distributed the funds, were not returned.
However, DeEtta Culbertson from the Texas Education Agency — which was in charge of funneling the federal education stimulus money to the individual school systems — said the amount of money HISD received was based on a formula set by the feds, not by the state.
(See the HISD presentation on federal funds. June 2010,)
“In looking at the funding that HISD received, it is pretty much based on a formula that was laid out by the stimulus,” Culbertson, a spokeswoman for TEA, said. “We had to just provide the money as it was dictated to us.”
The Houston district’s drop in special ed enrollment, now at about 16,500 students, didn’t factor into it either, Kumar said.
“It is based on the population and poverty of the district,” she said. “Every district across the state received stimulus money; it was a big pot of money that was awarded to the state.”
Nearly four out of every five of HISD’s 202,000 students are considered economically disadvantaged, which the school system defines as qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch.
HISD has not been able to create new jobs using the stimulus funds, but as Kumar is quick to point out, creating jobs was not the only goal of the stimulus.
“We were able to save jobs with the money,” Kumar said. “The two goals of the stimulus were to create or save jobs.”
Fewer students in HISD and across the country are being enrolled in special ed programs today, in part because of better screening procedures. At the same time, more federal cash is flowing in to the district’s special ed programs than ever before, Garrett said.
The school system is also using some of the stimulus money to buy big-ticket technology items, like a new computer system to manage special ed student data and white boards.
“We’re buying things that, after we are done buying them, they will continue to create dividends for the district,” Kumar said.
The new computer system will manage student evaluations and assessments made by psychologists, Kumar said. It will be updated and tracked through a student’s entire career in HISD and will help the school system submit necessary data to state and federal education authorities.
In addition to the $42.7 million in stimulus funds, which must all be spent by December 2011, HISD is getting unusually big checks from the main federal program that helps school systems pay for special ed, known as IDEA. This year, the handouts from IDEA are currently running about $1.5 million more than last year.
But the district suggests that the extra federal money will, in the end, save HISD taxpayers money.
In addition to the federal and state money HISD gets, the district regularly uses some local money — largely from property taxes — to cover special ed expenses. Under the law, a school district cannot cut its local funding for special ed unless it loses special ed students or gets a boost in its IDEA funding — both of which have happened.
Aside from the 200 workers being laid off at the end of the school year, there are also 40 positions in special ed currently being funded by stimulus money that Kumar says will be needed next school year — when their costs will be borne by the district and its taxpayers.
Contact Lynn Walsh, Lynn@TexasWatchdog.org, 713-228-2850 or on Twitter @LWalsh.
HISD’s Apollo 20 program needs to raise just $6M more — but cost is up $9M
by Lynn Walsh on Oct.18, 2010, under Investigations, What's New
A story written for Texas Watchdog:
HISD’s Apollo 20 program needs to raise just $6M more — but cost is up $9M
Thursday, Oct 07, 2010, 09:11PM CST
By Lynn WalshThe Houston Independent School District is $6 million short in the private donations it must raise to fund a program to reform failing schools — meanwhile, the estimated cost of the program is now $9 million more than the school system originally said.
HISD has secured more than $23 million for the Apollo 20 program to target 20 troubled schools — including $10.45 million just since August, school officials said.
That month, the district gave Texas Watchdog a cost estimate of $20.2 million for Apollo 20.
Now, HISD Chief Financial Officer Melinda Garrett says the overall cost of Apollo 20 is $29.5 million this year, and that the district still needs to raise $6.1 million in private donations.
Why the difference? Garrett said it is simply a misunderstanding.
“The total cost associated with the school programs is $20 million,” Garrett said. “But when you add in the central office costs, close to $9 million, the total comes to $29.5 million for this school year.”
The central office costs include overhead administration costs like money spent on the overall planning of Apollo 20, training costs and the addition of two new positions — a school improvement officer and a secretary for the new SIO position.
Those costs weren’t accounted for when district spokesman Norm Uhl answered Texas Watchdog’s questions in an e-mail Aug. 3: “The high schools are costing $11.4 million for 2010-11. We have to raise an additional $120,000. The middle school cost is $8.8 million, and we have to raise an additional $7 million,” Uhl said then.
This is not the first time HISD has reported discrepancies in estimated costs for various projects. Last month HISD Superintendent Terry Grier said a district-wide construction program was $39 million over budget. On Thursday, a private consultant working for the district said the same program was $4 million under budget.
The Apollo 20 program includes 20 high schools, middle schools and elementary schools that HISD has identified as under-performing. All of the money HISD has received will pay for longer school days, a longer school year, tutor salaries and transportation costs.
The program has already launched at Lee, Kashmere, Sharpstown and Jones high schools, as well as Fondren, Key, Ryan, Attucks and Dowling middle schools. Eleven elementary schools are slated to enter the program next school year.
Where the money is coming from
When asked for the most recent funding numbers associated with Apollo 20, district spokeswoman Sarah Greer pointed Texas Watchdog to HISD trustee Harvin Moore’s recent blog post on donations to the program.
That post details $9.5 million in grants and private donations for the 2010-11 Apollo 20 program since Aug. 3:
* $28 million three-year Title 1 Priority Schools Grant from the Texas Education Agency awarded Aug. 12 to six Apollo 20 schools. That is $9.3 million annually.
* $100,000 private donation from Bank of America on Aug. 27.
* $100,000 private donation from Wells Fargo Bank on Sept. 22.The district also received an additional $950,000 from the Brown Foundation last week, for a total of $10.45 million.
HISD had secured $13.08 million in funding prior to Aug. 3, bringing the total amount raised to $23.5 million.
Greer said the HISD Foundation, the district’s nonprofit fundraising arm, expects more grants over the next two years. “Because corporations and foundations have different times when their boards meet or when they do their annual budget, it is a continuous, ongoing process,” she said in an e-mail Friday.
Reach Lynn Walsh at lynn@texaswatchdog.org or follow her on Twitter at @lwalsh or @texaswatchdog.
