This letter went today to all candidates for open School Board seats, as well as to all sitting Board members and to the sitting Board of Managers.
The candidates are: Savant Moore (unopposed, D2); Dani Hernandez (D3); Fe Bencosme (D3); Pat Allen (D4); Meg Seff (D4); Placido Gomez (unopposed, D8).
        
Dear HISD School Board Candidates, 
Students Need Libraries in HISD is organized for the purpose of raising awareness among HISD leadership, parents, and community about the importance of strong school libraries. We want all students to be successful in life. Reading is an important factor in their success. We know that presently the district leadership has lost sight of that understanding by closing libraries in some schools, but we believe that the Board of Managers and the elected board can provide the needed correction to develop proficient readers district-wide, a correction that should include campus libraries district-wide. HISD has many fine library programs and top-notch library professionals across the district. 
 
Research tells us that schools staffed by certified school librarians are better able to raise literacy rates and standardized test scores. “…[T]he benefits associated with good library programs are strongest for the most vulnerable and at-risk learners, including students of color, low-income students, and students with disabilities.” (Lance, Keith Curry and Debra Kachel. “Why School Librarians Matter: What Years of Research Tell Us.” Phi Delta Kappan, 26 Mar 2018.) Additionally, “A 2022 study by Rutgers University found 1st-year college students who had prior high school research experience, especially those from schools with certified librarians, felt more confident in their academic research skills.” (Philadelphia students navigate school without access to school libraries. Pennsylvania Capital Star, 24 Oct 2023). 
 
SNL is led by Debbie Hall, a retired HISD librarian; Dorcas Hand, another retired school librarian from Houston but not HISD; and Lisa Robinson, a former HISD teacher turned library staffer and now retired. We represent a grass-roots organization of HISD school library supporters from across the district. Our membership includes active duty librarians, parents, community activists, retired librarians, and others who support school libraries. We have seen the impact that strong resources and programs organized by trained professionals can have on students hungry to learn, both in and beyond the classroom. We are working toward the goal that all students in all HISD schools will benefit from an active, engaging library program which will allow them access to resources they need to grow as readers and learners.
 
Our SNL website is packed with information for you as Board candidates and members, as well as for all advocates for and stakeholders in HISD school libraries. Today, we offer you current and retrospective data about library staffing in your Board district. We know how hard you will work for students in our district, and want to help you have accurate information about ways to help them even more. Thank you for all you hope to do as an HISD Board Trustee.
 
The graph below offers you an overview of current staffing compared to last year and to 2019. We note that in 2022, library staffing and libraries were reactivated in most campuses that had been without. Most of the 2022 staffing were certified librarians or teachers. This year, under Mike Miles, most of that progress has been lost - especially in low-income neighborhoods of color, areas where students are least likely to have ready access to a convenient public library or other book sources, areas likely to be considered “book deserts.” Given that raising literacy skills and scores is a top priority of the district, this loss of access to a variety of age-appropriate books to support student interests and academic needs is heartbreaking and counterproductive. We also remain concerned about the $1.4 million in ESSER funds invested in these reactivated library programs, funds  that are now unaccounted for on too many campuses.

The numeric data that supports this graph can be found by scrolling down on the Houston Independent School District School Board page. If you are interested in the details for each elected Board district, please click on the appropriate district on that same page. You may also want to “Choose Your Own Adventure - you can Discover 10 Ways Effective School Librarians Support HISD Students.” Read one or several, in any order. Short reads, every one.
​
We look forward to meeting you, to answering any further questions you may have, and to building a relationship that will serve the students of HISD well after you join the elected Board in January to support the Board of Managers in deeper understandings of the role libraries could play in improving student STAAR scores. We welcome you to advocate with us whether you are elected or not.
Respectfully,
Dorcas Hand 
Debbie Hall ​

Debbie Hall sent this letter to the state-appointed HISD Board of Managers a few days ago. I am sharing it here so that all our Students Need Libraries readers are aware of the snow job that is happening in TEA. We must all continue to speak up at every opportunity. There are no roses to be found in the chaos that Mike Miles is instigating. Our HISD students across the district are subjected to unreasonable education methods. 
 
I saw that Mr. Morath recently gave the SBOE an update on the Houston ISD takeover. I am sure you are aware of the fact that this takeover by TEA has received national attention and generally it has not been viewed by the public favorably. I wanted to clarify the remarks he made to you. We do not need more misinformation. 

1. Mr. Morath stated incorrectly that HISD was beginning the year with no vacancies. That is highly questionable. Looking at the HISD website, numerous positions are being advertised. We have seen multiple instances of inaccurate information being reported by this administration. Miles is working hard to fill the teaching positions even as he has made cuts in the Personnel department. At least one hired teacher was escorted off campus when the district realized that individual failed the background check. Mr. Miles is insisting on moving as quickly as possible and this is definitely putting students at risk. A number of teachers have been hired that are not certified. Putting unprepared, untrained staff in schools is disturbing. Currently the district is advertising and looking to hire more hourly lecturers who will not be certified educators.
2. At least 28 libraries have been converted to discipline/study centers. The contents of the libraries are in disarray due to accommodating large numbers of desks. Some of the library shelving and books have been removed from schools and sent to the warehouse to make room. These items were on the campus inventory and part of a school’s capital outlay. It is unclear if this is being accounted for. One of the constraints on school policy is a focus on equity which is not being considered. Currently it is estimated that about 1/3 of HISD schools no longer offer library services. Most of the schools where libraries are being eliminated are in minority communities.
3. Much money is being spent on desks, additional support personnel, and administrative support. Reading is supposed to be a major focus which is understandable. What is not clear is why Mr. Miles is targeting libraries and removing the services of a librarian on campus. The teacher is responsible for students learning to read. The library is responsible for inspiring kids to want to read as well as teaching research skills to enable students to effectively search for information online and within a library collection.  It makes no sense to close libraries when you are trying to increase reading scores. 
4. The appointed Board of Education is merely a rubber stamp. TEA has instituted an autocracy. There is no accountability for Miles' spending or policies.
5. TEA should enforce standards in schools like having certified personnel. Mike Miles is an uncertified superintendent. What does that say about the decision to put him in charge of the largest school district in the state? 

The long term effects of the takeover are huge. All Texas schools are currently struggling to hire teachers. This takeover is going to make it worse. No one is going to want to teach in Houston under this administration.  We need a state board that will work to improve education for students, teachers, and our communities. Allowing Mike Miles and Mike Morath to be unaccountable is a travesty and will ultimately add to the teacher shortage problem statewide. 
 
Sincerely,
Deborah Hall
Education Advocate
Retired Educator

by Lisa Sandoz Robinson

When former Texas State Rep. Matt Krause released his list of 850 titles* that he felt needed to be investigated, I read through page after page with growing alarm. An informational text on how to avoid bullies? A history book about the Trail of Tears? A book discussing a resistance movement among Afghani girls? But what really shocked me was seeing a book that I myself had purchased for my elementary school library just a few years ago: Separate Is Never Equal by Duncan Tonatiuh.

When I selected this nonfiction title, I was impressed by its numerous awards. I was also hopeful that my mostly Hispanic students could relate to the story since the case involved Sylvia Mendez’s fight to desegregate her California school for children of Mexican heritage. When the book came in, my students were excited to hear about a girl with whom they had so much in common. It reminded me that diverse stories matter for our students who need to see themselves in the books that they read. It also reinforced my belief that one of the most important tasks that a librarian can do is share those individual stories of history that the classroom curriculum is sometimes too rushed to cover. When diverse books and books telling an uncomfortable or difficult story from history are removed from library and classroom shelves, these goals cannot be realized.

I am the co-moderator of a new Facebook group called the Banned Book Club. We have read some great banned and challenged books in the last few months. In honor of National Children’s Picture Book Day on April 2nd, our April Zoom session will be the first time we focus on picture books. These wonderful books, which are usually geared towards younger readers but are really for anyone who loves a great story accompanied by a wealth of illustrations, have also been targeted by rightwing extremists in their zeal to “cleanse” our schools and public libraries.

We cannot continue to let them get away with these book banning efforts which are happening across the country at all grade levels. Too much is at stake. As Kentucky nurse epidemiologist Beverly May wrote in an October 2021 op-ed for the Lexington Herald Leader, “the cost of acquiescence is steep: our kids have lost essential reading, and useful tools have been taken from teachers. Now emboldened, the parent/censors will return, and not just to Floyd County. They are part of a national trend of online organizing which seems to have the unspoken objective of removing literature written by or about black and brown people, as well as any other work that doesn’t affirm their narrow world view, from our schools.”

We must speak up and speak out loudly at every opportunity.

*https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/94fee7ff93eff9609f141433e41f8ae1/krausebooklist.pdf

By Dorcas Hand
This may be an off-year for school board elections, but political rhetoric for all other races is heating to a fever pitch. Education issues have become pawns as some try to say schools are not doing their job properly. We are all watching as K-12 curriculum and libraries have both taken heat.

We want to thank the HISD School Board and administration for standing by the solid policies and procedures already in place to manage requests for reconsideration of materials, rather than acting on demands from the loud and passionate speakers who attend SB meetings to request that books be banned. The restoration of library services to all campuses this year is further support of this effort to offer our students a wide range of reading materials to accommodate their ages, abilities, interests and academic needs. HISD demonstrated in its budget decisions that we value our teachers, and are working hard to pay them what they are worth. Thank you for also respecting them as the professionals they are and for the expertises they hold. 

We are here today to remind you that a majority of voters prefer that libraries and classrooms continue to offer readers of all ages access to information that will help them explore their world, and fiction that will excite their imaginations and strengthen their literacy.* These mainstream voters want to make sure that children in families struggling to make ends meet can get the same good education as children in wealthy families, and that quality public education grounded in respect for each person is available to every student. 

Many voters are confident that the democracy defined by our Constitution will keep us steadily moving into the future. But it is the voices in the minority, loud and demanding, who want to control not only what their own children read and learn, but what all children read and learn - and they do it for political clout, rather than for the children. They have generally not completely read the books in question, but focused on words and phrases taken out of context. The so-called Parental Rights they fight for already exist, and schools listen to them. Every parent has the right and responsibility to play the lead role in the education of their own children, but they do not have any right to deny other families the same right to offer their children more open access to information.

How can our students learn to lead this democracy as adults if they cannot read about our history - even unpleasant, messy, unfortunate historical events - to see attitudes and actions they want to prevent from happening again? How can they appreciate the lives, cultures and experiences of our diverse city and world without exposure to all of that? How can our students learn to manage their own human development and understand people around them if those topics are not available? All kids deserve to feel safe to learn and thrive at school. Removing resources that make a few uncomfortable leaves many more students with limited academic resources that would honor their cultural awareness. In America, we celebrate free speech and independent thinking. Trying to limit or remove those freedoms is censorship. 

Thank you for continuing to support Superintendent House and the amazing well-educated, hard-working teachers and administrators HISD has hired as they work with our awesome and diverse students. We are relying on these students to understand their changing world as they become Houston voters and leaders. They will need broad knowledge, confidence in their abilities to collaborate with many, and insightful creativity to solve the problems we already see and the new ones we don’t yet imagine. And you are the current School Board we rely on to continue your support of a great HISD education. Thank you for your service. Students Need Libraries in HISD stands by you to defend our students’ right to read.

*“New ALA Poll Shows Voters Oppose Book Bans.” American Libraries, 24 Mar 2022. “The poll was conducted by Hart Research Associates and North Star Opinion Research on behalf of ALA. It included 1,000 voters and 472 parents of children in public schools. The sample is demographically and geographically representative of voters and parents in the US. Additional survey findings and methodology can be found on the ALA website.”

by Debbie Hall
Library Services are administered at the district level under the auspices of various larger departments. In some districts, the library manager reports to the director of technology, school support services, or curriculum for example. It is sometimes difficult for the managing department to be responsive to the needs of libraries because they are not well-versed in the unique needs and functionality of school libraries. Here is what I recently shared with members of the HISD leadership team about problems I have observed with how Library Services is being managed. This is especially critical due to the recent resignation of the HISD Library Services Manager.

LETTER
As a retired HISD library administrator, I watch with interest and concern for events that potentially impact library services to students. Recently, the manager of HISD Library Services resigned. The job was posted on January 20th. When I saw the job application online, which gave almost no mention of school library administration, I became concerned. The present job description for the Library Manager is entirely about the duties of a curriculum manager and barely mentioned libraries.
 
It is my observation that the decline of library services to students in HISD has escalated under the supervision of the Department of Curriculum. Under the Curriculum Department's control, the manager of Library Services has changed four times in ten years. All the clerical and secretarial personnel have been eliminated and the remaining professional staff has been called upon to perform copyright checks for curriculum projects in addition to their library services duties. Library Services has been used to the advantage of the mission of the curriculum department with little or no support of their own departmental mission. Prior to 2011, HISD had placed Library Services under School Support Services which allowed the department to work collaboratively with many other HISD departments. Library Services personnel routinely provided services to school libraries like cataloging, processing donated materials, inventory, and other help as needed. I urge you to reconsider where Library Services belongs on the organizational chart. It needs to report to a department that believes libraries are essential to public education. 
 
The manager of Library Services is an important school leader who can make a significant difference in the ability of libraries to provide for the needs of all students. The person holding this position needs to have experience in managing libraries and a thorough understanding of the mission of the district’s library program. It is for this reason that the selection committee should include people who are familiar with the skills and experience needed to run a department in a large school district. Considering the current state of HISD’s libraries (so many vacancies and closed libraries), the next library leader should be one who has the vision to restore libraries across the district by implementing a boldly designed plan over time with the support of HISD’s leadership. For this reason, the selection process should include (as it has in the past) library leaders from outside the district as well as HISD librarians. HISD leaders should also take part in the selection process, but a committee without library expertise will not be likely to ask the questions needed to determine a candidate’s suitability. I am concerned that the district will move too quickly on the selection of the next library administrator.  Applications are collected until a specified date and then the interviews begin. The current ending date for applying is March 28th. It would be standard procedure to make an announcement that would go out to the Texas Library Association and the American Library Association to attract the best candidates. This has not been done. I just saw the announcement online and posted it on the Texas Library Association Jobline a few days ago.
 
If the HISD wants to see students served by libraries, it starts here with this job. Get the best candidate and don’t rush the process.

By Dorcas Hand 
On its face, Site Based Management seems like a good thing. It puts the decisions about how a campus budget is spent entirely in the principal’s hands: who to hire, what positions to fill, what extras to offer, etc. HISD is the only district in Texas to still use this method; it was a trend for a while, but other districts realized they needed to exercise some central control while still giving schools some local control over decisions and budgeting. They, for example, require a nurse, counselor and/or librarian on each campus – and they adjust campus funding so that these roles are centrally funded leaving the campus to decide the rest.
Several things have affected the HISD culture around libraries, but I want to focus on two.

• State funding cuts: When the state cut their portion of school budgets dramatically in 2010 and subsequent years, the site managers (read HISD principals) were left to sort out how to balance their own budgets. With little time and inadequate advice, libraries took a huge hit, and the trend has continued.
• District culture: Since before the era of Terry Grier (2009-2016) , the district has not actively supported school libraries – and it has gotten worse over time. When principals get advice from the HISD Office of Budgeting and Financial Planning, those advisors know nothing about education or the benefits of libraries to academic success. They see an extra line item that could be cut. And those principals – many of them inexperienced - have had minimal interaction with strong school librarians either in their certification process or in their own K-12 years decades ago. They don’t know how exciting libraries are in 2021; they only know the stereotypical shushed rooms we see in films. 

Fast forward to 2021, with only 55 certified librarians in 280 schools. Turning that around has been and remains challenging. It is not a change that the School Board can decree, although the School Board can contribute to a change in district culture that honors school libraries for their support of literacy skills, critical thinking applications, and enticement to love learning in school and beyond. 

The decision lies with HISD administration and will require careful thought and a slow timeline that includes educating all HISD principals to the benefits of having a school librarian and a fully funded library on every campus as well as an in-house Alternative Certification Program to train librarians for the positions that job insecurity over the last 15+ years has vacated. 

The ESSER money being spent this year and next to update the book collections of all campuses not meeting the state definition of “Proficient.” [Wait, you say? There are Texas Standards and Guidelines for School Libraries? Why yes, there are. These include recommended quantities of books per student among other definitions - see p.43.] Having books on the campuses that are current, include popular titles, and are ready to inspire even reluctant readers at all grade levels to read for pleasure as well as for information. And that is only one aspect of the impact school libraries can and do have on the students who use them. Students who graduate from schools served by school libraries with certified staff are more successful in college. [Farmer, Lesley J. and Skyler Phamle, “Transitioning to college: Impact of high school librarians”] 

Our job as advocates of school libraries is to speak up often to campus administrators and district staff, including our Superintendent, and to our SB members, asking why students in the most challenged areas of the district have the least access to library resources and staff to help them grow as learners. While SNL does this often, we need parents and community members to speak up, too. It is your children that are in school now and will soon be heading to jobs, trades, the military or college. Every one of those students deserves a fully stocked and fully funded school library staffed by a certified librarian.
​
Takeaways from this post:

• Site Based Management has many good components..
• Some roles (librarians, nurses, counselors) need to be required of all campuses, even under Site Based Management.
• The decision to restore libraries to all HISD schools belongs to Superintendent House and his team of experts, but the School Board can play a strong role in stressing that all HISD students require a fully funded, fully stocked library staffed by a certified professional to achieve their best academic growth.