Houston ISD trustee Larry Marshall held fundraiser on Rep. Borris Miles-arranged Costa Rica trip; see photo and source documents
Friday, Jun 17, 2011, 10:50AM CST
By Lynn Walsh and Jennifer Peebles

Houston Independent School District trustee Larry Marshall took up state Rep. Borris Miles’ offer of free trips to Costa Rica and travelled to the Central American nation twice, Marshall told the Houston Chronicle yesterday.

Meanwhile, campaign finance disclosures show that Marshall held a fundraising dinner for campaign donors — in Costa Rica — around the time he told Mellon he was in that country on a trip arranged by Miles, who does business with HISD.

From the Chron story by Ericka Mellon:

Marshall, the longest-serving member of the board, said he didn’t believe he needed to file paperwork to disclose the trips because he was there as a guest of a district vendor.

HISD’s policy, which appears to reflect state law for school board members, says trustees do not have to file conflict disclosure reports if they receive food, lodging, transportation or entertainment from a vendor or potential vendor “as a guest.”

“You treat it as an event,” Marshall said. “I’ve gone to baseball games with individuals, and the lawyers have said, ‘As long as the sponsor’s present, there’s nothing to disclose.’ ”

The “guest” argument perhaps explains why there’s a large blue check mark next to the word “no” on Marshall’s ethics form covering calendar year 2010, right after it asks this question:

During the reporting period, have you received any gift, honorarium, or other payment which was unrelated to services performed or goods furnished by you from any party who did business or who was interested in doing business with the Houston Independent School District? (You need not report food, lodging, transportation or entertainment accepted as a guest or gifts received which have a value of less than $50 each, excluding cash or a negotiable instrument.)

Marshall’s campaign finance reports covering the first part of calendar year 2010 also show he “hosted courtesy dinner for major contributors” on or about April 27 at the White House Hotel Restaurante in San Jose, Costa Rica, spending $246.64 there. He also listed minor expenses for “ground transportation from hotel to airport” and a $26 bank fee at an airport, along with $300 in reimbursement to himself for “miscellaneous cash donations and gratuities in Costa Rica, 04/25-28/10.”

Miles extended his offer to a majority of the Houston ISD trustees, offering to arrange an all-expenses-paid trip to Costa Rica for each of them and a guest, paid for by the Costa Rican government, according to an e-mail obtained by Texas Watchdog. Miles told Mellon that Marshall was the only trustee to take him up on the offer.

Calls by Texas Watchdog to both Miles and Marshall were not returned.

It’s still not clear who else was on the trips other than Marshall and Miles. Miles declined to tell Mellon who else was on the trips, and Marshall’s campaign disclosure form does not specifically name anyone giving him a donation during the time he was in Costa Rica. Marshall appears in group photographs taken on the trip that were posted on Miles’ Facebook page, but most of the other people in the photograph were not labelled.

(The photo appears on this page; if you can identify any of the others in the picture, please e-mail us at lynn@texaswatchdog.org.)

In addition to his service in the legislature, Miles is also an insurance agent who is HISD’s flood insurance vendor. He is a close friend of two HISD trustees, trustees president Paula Harris and trustee Carol Mims Galloway.

The value of an all-expenses-paid trip to Costa Rica is unclear. The e-mail obtained by Texas Watchdog was a reminder e-mail Miles sent to the trustees roughly two weeks prior to the November trip.; it’s not clear when Miles sent the initial invitation e-mail. The lowest available price on Travelocity.com this morning for a coach fare from Houston to San Juan, Costa Rica, for a trip beginning two weeks from today and returning three days later was a $674 flight on Taca Airlines — but that’s also for a trip in June, while the trip including Marshall took place in November.

***
Contact Lynn Walsh at lynn@texaswatchdog.org or 713-228-2850. Follow her on Twitter at @lwalsh. Contact Jennifer Peebles at jennifer@texaswatchdog.org or 281-656-1681.

Houston ISD to roll out ‘framework’ for magnet programs — to principals first, then the public
Wednesday, Mar 02, 2011, 02:12AM CST
By Lynn Walsh

Contact Lynn Walsh at 713-228-2850 or lynn@texaswatchdog.org or Twitter at @LWalsh.

Houston ISD makes good on promise to post school construction budgets online
Tuesday, Feb 08, 2011, 03:40PM CST
By Lynn Walsh

Contact Lynn Walsh, Lynn@TexasWatchdog.org, 713-228-2850 or on Twitter @LWalsh.

Houston ISD urged to cut ties with local tech firm connected to figure from e-Rate vendor scandal
Tuesday, Feb 08, 2011, 01:57PM CST
By Lynn Walsh

Contact Lynn Walsh, Lynn@TexasWatchdog.org, 713-228-2850 or on Twitter @LWalsh.

Former principal of Houston ISD’s Yates High, Ronald Mumphery, will not face criminal charges: HISD
Monday, Jan 10, 2011, 02:32PM CST
By Lynn Walsh

The former principal of one of the city’s major high schools will not face criminal charges over allegations that he harassed female employees and once stuck his tongue into the ear of a school cheerleader during an alleged sexual advance, the Houston school district said.

Ronald Mumphery, the former head of Yates High School, will not be prosecuted after the Houston Independent School District’s own police department “found there was not sufficient evidence to support any criminal charges,” HISD spokesman Norm Uhl said.

Uhl said no report has been created on HISD Police’s findings in the case, though one may be written later.

In an e-mailed response to other questions posed by Texas Watchdog, Uhl suggested the news organization file a public information request.

Among the remaining questions is whether HISD police consulted with the Harris County district attorney’s office about Mumphrey.

By policy, DA Pat Lykos’ office does not discuss whether it is investigating a case or whether a case has been forwarded to it for potential prosecution. “We do not confirm or deny whether we are investigating a case until a case gets filed,” Terese Buess, with the DA’s office, said Monday.

A 30-year veteran of the district, Mumphery was reassigned by the district in late September. At that time, HISD said Mumphery had been accused of unspecified “professional misconduct,” without elaborating. He filed paperwork with the school system a few days later to retire.

The allegations against Mumphery date back to the early 1980’s and include allegations of staff members exchanging sexual favors for preferential treatment and overtime pay from the principal and allegations that Mumphery grabbed and sexually touched a 17-year-old cheerleader and student back in 1984.

The sexual harassment allegations were outlined in an HISD investigation report and include multiple witnesses and alleged victims’ testimonies.

There was no answer at Mumphrey’s home telephone listing earlier today.

Mumphery had previously served as principal at Houston’s Cullen Middle School and an assistant principal at Jones High. He earned more than $109,000 during the 2009-10 school year, according to an HISD salary database.

The allegations against Mumphery came to light, records show, after Houston school Superintendent Terry Grier received an anonymous letter in mid-September.

HISD began to investigate, reaching out to numerous former students and employees, including a current HISD employee who said she was accosted by Mumphrey when she was a student of his 16 years ago.

The woman told investigators she was a cheerleader at Yates at the time, and the report says Mumphrey was a teacher and coach there.

According to the report:

In an interview with the school district, the former cheerleader detailed the incident that occurred back in 1984: “She alleged that as soon as she came in the room he started talking sexually to her. She said she was shocked and about to leave when he grabbed her arm, pulled her to him and stuck his tongue in her ear.”

The former cheerleader said she immediately ran out of his office to the principal at the time. According to the report, Mumphery allegedly ran after the young woman, telling her to stop, but she kept running. (To read the full report and details about the other allegations. click here.)

Have questions about the Mumphery investigation or other HISD issues? Texas Watchdog wants to hear from you. Contact Lynn Walsh, Lynn@TexasWatchdog.org, 713-228-2850 or on Twitter @LWalsh.

Keep up with all the latest news from Texas Watchdog. Fan our page on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and Scribd, and fan us on YouTube. Put our RSS feeds in your newsreader.

Houston ISD, others to push legislature for upfront payments for public records
Monday, Jan 10, 2011, 10:51AM CST
By Lynn Walsh

Want public records from your local school system? You might want to be ready to fork over the cash before you get the records.

Houston’s public school system will be among the Texas governments asking legislators to allow them to require people to pay up front for public records requests before the district makes the records public– something not currently allowed by Texas’ open records law.

This isn’t the first time local government agencies in Texas have asked for such a change, an open government advocate said.

“In recent years, HISD — and, it’s my understanding, other districts, too — have seen an increase in public information requests, and although we do not have a problem complying, we felt that the district should be adequately compensated to reflect the time and resources we spend on complying with these requests,” Rebecca Flores, the Houston Independent School District’s government relations director, said in an e-mail.

Lawmakers have also asked school districts to identify situations in which the districts are legally obligated to do something, but for which the state does not provide the funding to cover the costs, Flores said. The state legislature convenes next week in Austin.

Right now the law requires a government agency, like HISD, to “provide a requestor with an itemized statement of charges” if the request will cost the district more than $40. This statement, according to the law, is “to be provided before copies are made … the itemized statement must be provided free of charge.

The Houston district also wants the ability to ignore requests from anyone who still owes money from a previous records request.

“The Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas believes there are fair and reasonable cost allowances already on the books,” said Keith Elkins, the foundation’s executive director. “Providing public information should not be about making a profit but about providing quality customer service to taxpayers, who already pay HISD’s bills.”

According to the legislative agenda trustees unanimously approved in October, the school district wants legislators to:

“Allow districts to charge the actual costs for the production of all materials, including the recovery of actual costs of personnel time, to comply with open records requests. Districts should be able to require actual payment of costs prior to compliance and failure to pay after committing to pay relieves districts of any obligation to comply with additional open records requests made by that entity until past balances are paid.”

Right now the Texas Public Information Act requires school districts, like all government agencies, to only charge what the state attorney general allows them to, unless they submit a request for an exemption, said Joe Larsen, a Houston attorney who is also a board member for the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas.

“Governmental bodies must provide a detailed cost estimate for any charges in excess of $40,” Larsen said. “The requestor must either confirm within ten days that he/she will accept the charges or the request is considered withdrawn. As a practical matter, the requestor must pay before he/she gets the stuff.”

Texas public information laws outline specific costs for some items like a DVD, which is $3, and a CD which is $1. Other items like a tape cartridge or magnetic tape can be charged at the actual cost of the item, according to the law.

The law also allows HISD and other government groups to charge for computer programming costs and the labor costs associated with gathering the information.

According to Elkins, this is not the first time government agencies have gone to the Texas legislature to try exempt their records from the law’s cost provisions. “The bill is worded slightly differently each time, but the bottom line is the same: They want to make a profit from the sale of electronic copies of their records to the public,” Elkins said.

HISD is also asking that school districts be allowed the same exemption from infrastructure fees that state agencies colleges enjoy, like the new Houston drainage fee, Proposition 1, passed by Harris County voters in 2010. HISD trustees took a stand against the fee last year and said it would cost the district 70 teaching positions.

The 82nd session of the Texas Legislature is set to begin next Tuesday, Jan. 11.

Do you think government agencies should be allowed to charge upfront costs for public records? We want to know what you think. Contact Lynn Walsh at Lynn@TexasWatchdog.org, 713-228-2850 or on Twitter @LWalsh.

Audit report recommends axing nearly half of Houston ISD’s magnet schools
Friday, Jan 07, 2011, 04:56PM CST
By Lynn Walsh

Almost half of the Houston public schools’ 113 magnet programs have been recommended for the chopping block by an outside group brought in by the school district.

The final report from Magnet Schools of America highlights 55 magnet programs the third-party national education group believes the Houston Independent School District should eliminate — a move that would save the district nearly $8 million in magnet funding. HISD spends $17 million a year on magnet programs.

“This is just a springboard,” HISD Superintendent Terry Grier said Friday. “Trustees and staff have to look at where we are, be honest and analyze that what we are doing is best for all kids in the district. There will be some tweaks to this. These are all just recommendations.”

MSA recommended eliminating magnet programs that do not meet its requirements for a magnet program, schools having limited building capacity and schools that are part of the district’s school turn-around program, Apollo 20.

HISD trustees will ultimately have the final say on what changes, if any, happen with HISD’s magnet program.

MSA recommends that changes start in the 2011-12 school year — during that year, HISD school buses would continue to ferry students back and forth to the magnet programs recommended for elimination, and those schools would continue to receive 40% of their total magnet funding that year. But when that school year ends, all funding to those programs would cease, according to MSA’s recommendations.

(View all of the documents associated with the MSA review here. Texas Watchdog has also created a database with funding information, MSA recommendations and state accountability ratings here.)

Criticism over the amount of money HISD spends on magnet programs — some of which are at failing schools — coupled with the overall effectiveness of the programs and the funding discrepancies between the programs prompted the MSA review process, which began in October.

“We have magnets that were never authorized to be magnets,” Grier said Friday. “I believe to be a magnet school, you ought to be an exemplary school.”
Houston ISD 2011 magnet school audit documentstexaswatchdog

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HISD MSA magnet review Individual School Summaries From: texaswatchdog Reads: 104
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Outside Consultants Suggest Plan for HISD Magnet Schools From: texaswatchdog Reads: 112
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Houston ISD 2011 magnet audit – current proposed magnet schools 2011 From: texaswatchdog Reads: 65
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Houston ISD 2011 magnet school audit — attachment Phase I/Phase II/Interim From: texaswatchdog Reads: 46
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Houston ISD magnet school audit final report Jan. 6, 2011 From: texaswatchdog Reads: 56
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Houston ISD 2011 magnet school audit Magnet Demographics Charts From: texaswatchdog Reads: 48
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Houston ISD 2011 magnet school audit principal’s meeting briefing From: texaswatchdog Reads: 46
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HISD 2011 Magnet School Audit School Feedback Form From: texaswatchdog Reads: 26

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Grier also said that some of the schools are spending magnet money on non-magnet expenses like school nurses. When asked how this could have happened, Grier said he wants to focus on the future.

“We need to develop a better accountability system, and we will do that,” Grier said. “MSA recommends a magnet review every five years. Frankly, I think it should be every three years.”

This MSA review cost the district $269,000, the school district said.

Grier said some principals have said the information and data used by MSA was inaccurate. While he does not suspect widespread data problems, Grier said there could be some.

“Help us correct it,” Grier said. “Let us know so we can fix it.” Most of the errors, he said, were due to incomplete data and data-entry flaws.

According to HISD, 42,000 students are enrolled in magnet programs this year. HISD says it plans on holding community forums in different areas of the city to obtain feedback from parents and community members.

HISD trustees are also set to discuss the magnet review at a board workshop Monday. Follow @TexasWatchdog on Twitter for live updates during the meeting or search for #HISD.

Is your child’s magnet school one of the 55 on the list recommended for closure in the new magnet audit? Texas Watchdog wants to hear from you. Contact Lynn Walsh, Lynn@TexasWatchdog.org, 713-228-2850 or @LWalsh on Twitter.

Local Democrat questions GOP turkey-and-bike give away at Houston public school
Thursday, Jan 06, 2011, 05:55PM CST
By Lynn Walsh

A program by local Republicans to give free turkeys and bikes to kids at a Houston elementary school crossed the line into a political event and should be stopped, a local Democratic activist and blogger says.

The Harris County Republican Party has donated turkeys to students at J.R. Harris Elementary in southeast Houston for the past nine years, according to a complaint filed with the district by John Cobarruvias of Houston.

“There needs to be an investigation,” said Cobarruvias, who has filed a formal complaint with the Houston Independent School District. “Bringing candidates into a school and having the students make banners for the Republican candidates is not OK.”

According to county GOP newsletters, more than 200 bicycles were given to third, fourth and fifth graders who passed all three sections of state achievement tests. The bikes were distributed in May 2009.

In December 2009, the party continued its “tradition of donating holiday turkeys to economically disadvantaged families” at Harris, according to one newsletter.

“First and foremost this activity must stop immediately,” Cobarruvias wrote in a letter to HISD trustees and Superintendent Terry Grier. “Partisan political activity in a public school is illegal. And second, I am requesting the HISD board to call for an investigation into this activity to determine if rules and/or laws were broken with appropriate action being taken.”

HISD Trustee Manuel Rodriguez said he has been told by the district that nothing was against the law.

“After checking with the district, there was probably some gray area, but nothing that was illegal,” Rodriguez told Texas Watchdog. “They were not handing out GOP literature. They made posters, but that was not, per se, a political event.”

Cobarruvias, who blogs at Bay Area Houston, disagrees. “We cannot have them listen to the president of the United States, but they can bring their candidates into the school and everything is OK?” he asked, referring to how some parents in Houston and elsewhere objected to allowing public school students to hear a live talk by President Obama on the importance of education in 2009 . “It’s about more than political differences.” (For an opposing blogger viewpoint on the giveaways, here’s a piece sharply critical of Cobarruvias at Rhymes with Right.)

In an e-mail to Cobarruvias, Sam Sarabia, head of HISD’s elementary schools said:

“There was no such activity this year at JR Harris. As you are aware, we do accept partnerships which are willing to assist our children. At no times do we allow political banners inside the school or promote one political party over another one.”

“No turkeys were given out this school year,” Sarabia told Texas Watchdog. He said HISD would accept bicycle donations from the county GOP again this year or in the future.

Dem Cries Foul Over Free GOP Turkeys: MyFoxHOUSTON.com

“At this point, yes,” Sarabia said. “This is a 10-year partnership. If they were to offer any incentives for student performance, we would accept them. It is almost like a scholarship for these students,” he said.

In the past, he said, the bicycles were handed out during school assemblies. But because of a new state law, now and in the future, the bike donations or other incentives for students in HISD would be handled with a voucher system.

“If there are 100 students at the end of the year that qualify for an incentive, each would receive a letter and a coupon for the bike in a sealed envelope,” Sarabia said. “In the past, yes, there was an assembly, but not anymore.”

At press time, neither the Harris County Republican Party nor the principal of J.R. Harris Elementary responded to phone calls from Texas Watchdog. However, blogger Rhymes With Right has published here a spirited defense of the GOP incentive program.

Do you think it’s acceptable for a local political group to give turkeys and bikes to elementary school students? Texas Watchdog wants to hear from you. Contact Lynn Walsh, Lynn@TexasWatchdog.org, 713-228-2850 or on Twitter @LWalsh.

Student performance rates high in criteria used to evaluate Houston ISD chief Terry Grier
Tuesday, Jan 04, 2011, 04:10PM CST
By Lynn Walsh

Improving student dropout rates, increasing college readiness and improving the public’s confidence in the school system are some of the criteria used to evaluate the top official at the Houston school system.

In the Houston Independent School District, the top official, Superintendent Terry Grier, is evaluated by the board of trustees.

For Grier, most of the criteria he is evaluated on focus on increasing student achievement. Specifically, trustees evaluate his effectiveness at improving dropout rates, increasing the number of students taking and scoring high on Advanced Placement exams and preparing students for college, according to HISD.

View the complete appraisal HISD trustees use to evaluate Grier here.

The school board most recently evaluated Grier several months ago. HISD released the criteria used in his evaluation to Texas Watchdog following a request under state public records laws.

About 30 percent of HISD’s Class of 2009 failed to graduate, according to a 2010 district report, with a dropout rate that year of just under 16 percent — a figure that HISD has worked to decrease over the past few years.

Grier arrived at HISD in September 2009. He had previously headed the San Diego, Calif., public schools.

Under Texas law, the evaluations completed by trustees are not considered public information but the criteria used to evaluate a superintendent are. Those criteria are approved by the board of trustees.

Other categories in which Grier is evaluated are improving the quality of teachers and principals, providing a safe environment, increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of district management, improving the public’s support and confidence in HISD schools and his ability to create a positive district culture.

How would you evaluate Terry Grier based on these criteria? Texas Watchdog wants to hear from you. Contact Lynn Walsh, Lynn@TexasWatchdog.org, 713-228-2850 or on Twitter @LWalsh. For the latest Houston school news, follow #HISD on Twitter.

Boxes of Houston ISD records yield additional details about gifts, freebies in E-Rate controversy
Monday, Jan 03, 2011, 03:04PM CST
By Lynn Walsh

Top technology employees at the Houston school system were privy to friendly lunch invitations, happy hour parties, sporting event tickets and after-hours smoking meet-ups courtesy of vendors doing $75 million in business with the school district, documents show.

A happy hour at Dave and Busters, a baseball game invitation, a secret gift to one employee and requests for trinkets are the latest examples to be revealed of the gift-giving culture between Houston Independent School District employees and vendors through the federal E-Rate program, which funds computers in schools.

The gifts — which began as early as 2005 and were provided as late as 2008 — cost the school system $105 million in federal funding, plus an additional $1 million in direct costs.

Some of the E-Rate swag available to HISD workers, including offers of personal loans and trips to Las Vegas, had already been made public. However, Texas Watchdog turned up these additional details by using state public information laws to gain access to boxes and boxes of e-mail correspondence between HISD employees and E-Rate vendors and documentation associated with the investigation into the gift-giving.

The more than 25 boxes of documents show friendly and sometime flirtatious e-mails between HISD employees and E-Rate vendors, countless invitations to sporting events, lunches and happy hours and careful and precise control over communication with federal E-Rate officials.

The investigation did not yield criminal charges for anyone involved in HISD but did in the Dallas Independent School District. A DISD official is now in a federal prison in Fort Worth, and the former owner of one of the vendor firms is being held at a federal facility in Bastrop.

Three companies were at the center of the federal investigation involving HISD: Analytical Computer Services, Micro Systems Enterprises and Acclaim Professional Services. From 2000 to 2006, ACS earned more than $68.4 million through E-Rate, and Micro Systems received more than $9.8 million from 2000 to 2003, documents show.

Allegations of accepting gifts, sporting tickets and lunches were included in the Sept. 3, 2008, memo from Bracewell & Giuliani lawyers to officials with the Federal Communications Commission. Texas Watchdog’s most recent review of documents found e-mail correspondence related to some of the gifts described in the memo, including:

* Fanny packs: HISD employee Lori Cummings sends an e-mail to both Laura Palmer, an HISD assistant superintendent of technology, and Scott Blankenship of Micro Systems, asking when more free fanny packs will be available. “Scott, when can we expect 100 of the above? Laura spoke with you last week regarding this. We to stuff items into them …”

* Rockets suite tickets: Among the thousands of pages of documents made public to Texas Watchdog was a copy of the $300 check then-HISD Superintendent Abelardo Saavedra wrote to ACS owner Frank Trifilio to reimburse the firm for tickets to a Houston Rockets playoff game. Along with the check was Saavedra’s letter to Trifilio, saying: “Thank you for your hospitality during the recent Rockets playoff games. As you know, I cannot accept gifts from vendors. I am reimbursing $300 for the three playoff games that my guest and I attended in your suite. If this does not adequately reimburse the value of the tickets, please let me know so I can ensure full reimbursement.”
* Free cellphones: E-mail correspondence included a list of Nextel phone numbers and the corresponding HISD employee using those phones. The Bracewell & Giuiliani memo had said E-Rate vendors had provided HISD employees with free Nextel phones to use.
* Trinkets: In an e-mail, Palmer asks about “trinkets” from Micro Systems: “I need some trinkets…do you have left from the stuff Lori gave you?” HISD employee Andrea Teasley replies, ”just the drink holders from MSE. I ran out of my little gifts…”

Along with Palmer, William Edwards, then HISD’s assistant superintendent for technology, and Steve Kim, then HISD’s head of computer networking, were accused of accepting gifts from E-Rate vendors, documents show. None of the three currently work for the school system.

Close-up of box

Invitations to lunch and social events from the E-Rate vendors were common, the documents show. An e-mail from Palmer to fellow HISD technology employees thanks them for attending a party at Collina’s restaurant.

On another occasion, Heather Konlande, an employee at ACS, emailed Kim, Edwards and other HISD employees, inviting them to an “HISD appreciation Happy Hour at Dave and Busters.” The goal of the social hour, according to the e-mails, was “to have fun as well as have casual discussion on how we at ACS can improve and ultimately make your jobs easier by providing even more services.”

Kim was invited to a baseball game via e-mail by Allan Folz of ACS but turned it down, saying, “On any other day I would have jumped at the opportunity. However, I have plans tonight that I cannot break. Please let me know if this happens again.”

Another e-mail shows Kim agreeing to a lunch invitation from a Hewlett-Packard representative, the turning the invitation down saying, because it is “RFP season…” The representative responds by inviting Kim to drinks after a Rockets game: “Boo. OK, how about drinks after the Rockets game tomorrow?” Kim does not respond.

In November, HP was forced to pay more than $16 million to the federal government and people in Houston and Dallas in the aftermath of allegations of fraud in a federal program supplying computers to the Houston and Dallas school districts.

In another e-mail from May 2002, Mark Jones from Micro Systems invites Kim to smoke with him at the Downing Street Pub, a haven for Scotch and cigar lovers on Kirby. Jones writes:

Just an FYI that I’ll be at Downing Street tonight from around 6:30-10:00ish. I didn’t bring anything to smoke so I will be getting some local stuff. Let me know if you’re coming and I’ll pick out something nice for you to smoke.”

According to the documents, other instances of lunch invitations and gifts include:

* Discussion about a “secret gift” given to Kim by Frankie Wong, the owner of one of the E-Rate vendors being investigated. Wong is currently in federal prison.

* In one e-mail, Blankenship, of Micro Systems, offers to repair a broken HISD computer for free. Palmer refuses the offer, saying, “regarding your question to request a gratuitous repair; I do not plan to set such a precedent. The vendor won the bid due to low and fair pricing. I have no reason to take advantage of this.”
* In another e-mail, Palmer declines a congratulatory gift from a vendor associated with Classroom Connect.
* Wong asks Kim to have lunch with vendors from NetBotz in another e-mail.
* An invitation from Wong to Kim, Edwards and Lehman to attend a Micro Systems happy hour.

Several e-mails showed trouble with communication between HP, ACS and Micro Systems. E-mail correspondence shows HISD employees had a hard time getting in touch with Trifilio and Wong when a service problem came up.

While the amount of money the companies collected piled up, the relationships between the companies and HISD employees became more friendly. HISD documents show:

* Friendly e-mailing back and forth between Karyn Dubose of Micro Systems and Steve Kim. In an e-mail Dubose said, “hee hee! This is from yesterday morning! You are working way too late! I believe he left you a message. Karyn.” Kim responds in an e-mail, “interesting. I didn’t get it until 12:38 am. I’m going to blame your mail server = ).”

* A vendor requests an HISD e-mail address and access to other accounts that would have provided the vendor access to student data. Palmer submits the request through e-mail to Kim who said, “I will leave this one to your decision, however, I do have some very strong objections to this.” It is unclear whether the person ever received the access requested.
* Friendly e-mail correspondence between Wong, Blankenship and Kim, including some inside jokes.
* In December 2001, Wong asks Kim if he would serve as a reference in Wong’s bid to do business with the Clark County, Nev., school system in Las Vegas.

QUESTIONS ABOUT ID CODES

In an interview several months ago, Trifilio said his firm was wrongly connected to Micro Systems because some of HISD’s E-Rate paperwork used the same identification code for both ACS and Micro Systems.

The 25-plus boxes of documents Texas Watchdog reviewed strengthens his argument.

E-mails suggest HISD employees were unclear as to whether ACS and Micro Systems had separate E-Rate codes.

In a 2005 e-mail, HISD procurement specialist Ken Phillips asks: “So, is ACS named on the E-Rate extension request and we are only required to have extensions with that company or is it ACS and MSE?” The response from project manager Jacqueline Martin: “It is ACS only.”

Almost a year later the issue comes up again — this time, about whether or not multiple vendors can use the same ID number. The conversation is stopped by Palmer who writes, ”please set up a meeting. This is not an e-mail topic.”

“We were the scapegoat” in the controversy because of confusion over vendor identification numbers, Trifilio told Texas Watchdog. 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.

E-Rate obtains the ID numbers from the Universal Service Administrative Co., which administers E-Rate under the direction of the FCC, said Richard Patton, HISD’s internal E-Rate watchdog. Patton said he was not aware of any problems with the vendor ID numbers like what Trifilio described.

Confusion over how to process E-Rate vendors and trouble communicating with them was not all the HISD documents show. Other e-mail correspondence shows Palmer trying to control what was shared with E-Rate auditors. In an June 2005 e-mail, Palmer chose a shorter response, instead of a longer one with more details, to be sent to E-Rate auditors who had posed questions to the district:

“I would [send] the short one because it does not cause someone (like an E-rate auditor) to it a second thought. Sometimes you just do not want to draw attention…I think my language, below, is all we need to satisfy the E-rate administration. If they saw a lot of additional language, it may obscure the issue….”

The e-mail is in response to an E-Rate official asking HISD’s legal department for contracts associated with ACS in June 2005.

Do you have more information about what’s going on in HISD? Contact Lynn Walsh, Lynn@TexasWatchdog.org, 713-228-2850 or on Twitter @LWalsh.

Photos by Lynn Walsh/Texas Watchdog staff.