Houston ISD Superintendent Mike Miles smiles during the district’s Board of Managers meeting at the Hattie Mae White Educational Support Center in Houston, Thursday, May 8, 2025.
Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer
Houston ISD waited nearly a full school year to seek a state waiver, allowing appointed Superintendent Mike Miles to lead the district for 11 months without a required superintendent certification, state records show, even after the district’s state-appointed board authorized administrators to apply for one the previous June.
The Texas Education Agency approved the waiver on June 4, the last day of the 2025-2026 school year, making it retroactive to cover the months Miles had already served without an active certification or a waiver. The new waiver covers three school years, starting with the 2025-26 school year.
Nearly all of the state’s 1,000 traditional public school superintendents hold the superintendent certification required by state law to lead school districts. A small number receive waivers for up to three years from the state, often while they work toward certification or when districts face unusual hiring circumstances.
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In Miles’ case, HISD applied for his waiver after most of the school year had passed, and his application did not lay out a clear path for him to obtain the credential. While the state has approved a handful of other waivers in recent years — including some for other state-appointed superintendents — few came as late in the school year and almost all of them included detailed plans to obtain certification.
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“Approving a waiver for a school year on the last day of that school year inverts the logic of this rule, and waivers are supposed to authorize something before it happens,” said Texas Tech University professor Jacob Kirksey. “So, a retroactive grant raises some basic accountability questions rather than answering them.”
In a statement, the TEA said Miles’ waiver covers the entire school year and that the agency has “broad discretion” under Texas Education Code to grant waivers. State law permits retroactive waivers.
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“This is an existing practice that is not unique to HISD,” according to a Texas Education Agency statement.
Neither HISD nor Miles answered questions about what caused the delay in filing his waiver application, his plan to obtain certification or whether he intends to remain uncertified for the entirety of the state intervention.
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The district instead sent a statement on behalf of HISD Board President Ric Campo, who said Texas law has a pathway for the board to hire a superintendent who doesn’t have a certificate through a waiver.
“The Board has utilized this option because we are confident in Superintendent Miles’ leadership, experience, and proven ability to deliver results for Houston ISD students,” Campo wrote in the statement. “The Board believes Superintendent Miles has demonstrated the qualifications, effectiveness, and track record necessary to continue leading Houston ISD’s progress.”
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State records show that the TEA approved eight superintendent certification waivers, not including HISD’s, for the 2025-26 school year.
Of those districts, three — Beaumont, Fort Worth and La Joya ISDs — have state-appointed superintendents. All of them detailed steps toward certification or accountability to their boards for certification progress, and La Joya’s leader earned certification in May.
“My thought is if there was an elected board … I would be pushing for finding somebody with the qualifications to lead our school district,” said Maria Benzon, who was elected to the HISD board of trustees in November but does not hold power under the takeover.
What the state requires for superintendents
To be certified as a superintendent in Texas, applicants must hold a master’s degree from an accredited university, according to state law. Candidates must also have a principal certificate or some equivalent from another state or country — or submit a superintendent certificate application; complete a preparation program; and pass a state exam, according to the TEA.
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Miles has bachelor’s degrees from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and the University of California, Berkeley, according to his recent waiver application and the institutions. He also has a master’s degree in international affairs and public policy from Columbia University, the application shows.
However, Miles has no out-of-state or in-state education certifications or professional licenses, according to his recent waiver application.
Miles has an expired superintendent certification, according to the State Board for Educator Certification. He told ABC13 in 2023 he will not seek to reactivate it, and TEA told the outlet that “he has already successfully led a Texas ISD and Texas public charter schools.”
“Certification requirements are meant to establish minimum training needs, and he has already surpassed any competencies addressed by the certification,” the agency said at the time.
How to apply and obtain a waiver
To obtain a superintendent certification waiver, a school district must apply to the state. But first, a district must get board approval.
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HISD’s newly state-appointed board gave that approval two weeks after the state named Miles HISD superintendent on June 1, 2023, as part of its takeover. The TEA approved that request days later, granting Miles a waiver through 2024-25.
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As that waiver neared expiration, HISD’s board voted in June 2025 to authorize a new application.
But district administrators did not start the waiver application until nearly a year later. State records show HISD started Miles’ new waiver application on May 19, 2026. The TEA received it the following day, according to state records and a TEA statement.
Two weeks later — on June 4, the final day of the school year — the agency approved a waiver covering the 2025-26 school year retroactively and extending through 2027-28.
“Three years have gone by,” trustee Benzon said. “He could have gotten it done within the three years. Now we’re asking for another extension.”
The law covering waivers does not limit the number of applications or approvals, and it does not include a penalty for a superintendent leading without a certification or waiver.
No details on path to certification
Miles’ latest waiver application raises another question: whether he intends to obtain a Texas superintendent certification at all.
To obtain a state waiver, applicants must detail if the superintendent is enrolled in an educator preparation program; how the district will evaluate their performance during the waiver period; how the district will monitor progress toward certification; and what the district’s back-up plan is to ensure it has a certified superintendent by the waiver’s expiration.
The board updated Miles’ contract last year and extended his tenure through June 2030. His two waiver applications project a certification date of Dec. 29, 2028, and Jan. 1, 2030, respectively.
Neither application, however, details how Miles will obtain certification by those dates.
In its latest application, HISD answered “Not applicable” to questions about how it would monitor Miles’ progress toward certification, leaving those plans unclear.
The district cited the fact that “Floyd Mike Miles was appointed by the TEA Commissioner” in response to several questions about meeting district needs and the search process that led to his hiring.
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David DeMatthews, a professor of educational leadership and policy at the University of Texas at Austin, said Miles’ application raises questions about state-appointed leaders because waivers are supposed to be justified.
“If the state appoints a superintendent and then waives the certification requirement without a concrete compliance plan, the public may reasonably wonder whether the rules are being applied consistently,” DeMatthews said in an email.
HISD’s board believes Miles has the qualifications and track record to lead the district, according to Campo’s statement.
“Our focus remains on ensuring students, educators, and families benefit from the strong leadership and continued academic success,” Campo wrote.
Waivers for state-appointed superintendents
Miles’ application differs from other state-appointed superintendents who have recently sought certification waivers.
Beaumont and Fort Worth ISD’s leaders are working towards certification, according to the TEA.
Sandi Massey, Beaumont’s new state-appointed superintendent and HISD’s former chief of schools, still must pass her test but completed a certification program, according to her May waiver application and Beaumont ISD. Her waiver was approved for the 2025-26 and 2026-27 school years, and, according to the application, she must be certified within three years of her April 29 start date.
The TEA also approved a waiver for Fort Worth ISD’s new leader, Peter Licata, for the 2025-26, 2026-27 and 2027-28 school years. The North Texas district did not list what Licata needed to be certified and indicated he was not enrolled in a preparation program.
“The district will monitor the certification progress of the individual through a structured documentation and tracking process,” Licata’s application states. “This will include maintaining records of all required certification steps, such as coursework completion, testing status, and program milestones. The district will regularly review progress reports provided by the certification program, educator preparation provider, or state certification system (as applicable).”
Marcey Sorensen, who is leading the takeover of La Joya ISD in the Rio Grande Valley, had served as deputy superintendent for the Virginia Department of Education. She earned her Texas certification in May, according to the TEA.
The other five districts seeking waivers for their superintendents detailed the circumstances for their hires, including mid-year hires and a remote location near the U.S.-Mexico border that made recruiting a challenge.