SNL NEWSLETTER
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STUDENTS Need LIBRARIES
in HISD Every Houston K-12 student deserves
a full-time certified librarian in a fully-funded campus library. SNL consistently advocates on behalf of school libraries to the HISD Elected Trustees, Board of Managers, administration, certified library staff, and you, their community of stakeholders. |
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Welcome, SNL members. (Join our mailing list here.) Share with your friends so they can join as well! We promised you periodic information with suggestions of action you might take. Here you go! Download this printable PDF version. Reach out with questions/suggestions: [email protected]
 Calling all parents! It's time to start advocating for next year's staffing of your child's school library. If you are at a non-NES campus, it is the principal who officially makes the decision to staff the library, subject to budgetary limitations. So start speaking to your principal NOW about this important decision. Even if your campus is NES, HISD leadership needs to know that parents want their libraries back! Remember the best staffing choice is a full-time certified librarian who not only checks books in and out to students, but also plans lessons, collaborates with faculty, and works with students on finding that "just right" book. Librarians also plan special events and programming that help develop lifelong readers. Enlist your fellow parents to advocate for this critically important position. The more voices your principal hears, and the earlier in the process he/she hears them, the more likely you are to be successful. Visit our website to find resources you can share with your principals and fellow parents. -Lisa Robinson  Contact your Elected (and Appointed) Gov't Officials Beyond speaking on your own campus, community voices for HISD must continue to speak out in every possible venue. We need to convince legislators to end the takeover. We must object to the many changes in HISD leadership and curriculum that go against successful established educational practices. With that in mind, we offer you this web reference to contact info for HISD Appointed Board of Managers; HISD Elected Board of Trustees; Texas House of Representatives, local and Comm. on Public Education; Texas Senate, local and Committee on Education; State Board of Education, local; TEA Conservators; and Press and Media contacts. Please join us in writing emails and letters and speaking out to end the state takeover and return libraries to all HISD campuses.  What do TEA Conservators do, anyway? With the news that the TEA Conservator for HISD Doris Delaney is retiring on Dec. 13 after over 8 years, first as conservator for Kashmere High School and, since the June 2022 state takeover, for all of HISD, we wonder what her job has been and who will come next; the new name will be announced in January. According to the TEA website, “Like a monitor, a conservator will provide support and coaching to staff, recommend improvement actions, and provide progress updates to the agency. The conservator has the additional authority to direct, approve, or disapprove an action of the board of trustees, superintendent, and/or campus principals. Conservators are expected to help implement and sustain improvements within two years of placement.” In addition to the conservator overseeing the takeover, we also have 2 Special Education conservators with the responsibility to oversee HISD’s efforts to improve its SPED services for students. All the conservators will be in place until HISD meets three exit criteria: compliance with state and federal special education laws, no campuses earning failing accountability ratings and improved school board governance. Seals and Shocklee produce monthly reports outlining HISD’s progress meeting the first criterion and other goals related to special education compliance, while Delaney’s reports focus on HISD’s progress in meeting its goals related to the remaining two criteria. In her Oct. 5 report, Delaney wrote that HISD and the school board were “on track” in meeting nearly all of their goals and progress measures, which include meeting focus for the visions and goals outlined in Lone Star Governance, a state-developed model for trustees to improve student outcomes.  Finding the JOY of Literacy during the Winter Holidays Researcher and author Dr. Brené Brown reminds us, “Joy, collected over time, fuels resilience.” Even as there is no joy in too many HISD classrooms, offer your own students the joys of literacy by including read aloud time. We offer a short list of seasonal books to share with your family.  video link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/12f05bVI0AkvLiMTODU5OJFaBRPVQhFnc/view?usp=sharing This WE LOVE OUR LIBRARIES video is a heartfelt thank you to the librarians and library services department that worked so hard in 2023-24 to support all HISD students. Thanks to Jessi Heiner for compiling the video for us. With the advent of NES under Mike Miles, Students Need Libraries continues to fight for the return of libraries for all those students. Libraries support literacy in all its forms. Limiting students to only test length passages only teaches them to possibly do well on STAAR tests. LIBRARIES help them to better understand their world in order to become the leaders of coming generations. Raise your voices with ours - we will succeed, but it will take time and persistence from every one of us.
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AuthorThis newsletter is primarily authored by Dorcas Hand, with support from others active in SNL. If you have an idea to share, please contact our email below. Dorcas is a retired school librarian who remains active in advocacy for HISD libraries and more. SNL supports increased access to school libraries across all HISD students and campuses. Archives
May 2025
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