Students at Northside High School say Houston ISD denied two members of the school’s culinary club the chance to participate in a statewide competition due to a conflict with STAAR testing. Students, parents and advocates have called out a pattern.
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A Houston high school culinary club was “ecstatic” when two members qualified for a state competition. But that excitement quickly faded after the Houston Independent School District reportedly denied them the chance to attend—something that students, parents and advocates say reflects an ongoing pattern.
Emily Yanez—a junior at Northside High School and president of the school’s culinary club—told Chron students won a regional competition in wedding cake design and qualified to advance to the SkillsUSA Culinary Arts statewide competition in Corpus Christi earlier this month.
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Unfortunately, while the students were assured they’d be able to compete, they never got the opportunity.
HISD denied transportation and approval two days before the competition, citing a conflict with a State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) exam, which Yanez said could’ve been rescheduled.
Yanez told Chron the denial sends the message to students that “they really don’t care about anything other than test scores,” adding that the decision felt particularly dismissive of the arts.
HISD did not respond to Chron’s repeated requests for comment by the time of publication. All HISD STAAR tests have a dedicated make-up window, according to the 2025-26 assessment calendar.
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The Northside High junior said such competitions are one of the few ways culinary arts students have a shot at earning necessary scholarships.
“The freshman and the junior could receive scholarship money and full tuition scholarship money…to the Culinary Institute of America,” Yanez told Chron.
The president of the culinary club said she was shocked upon learning that the students wouldn’t be able to compete. She called for transparency from the district, adding that their decision didn’t provide a “full reason” as to why the trip was denied.
“It is cruel to let every student compete and practice for something they would later be told was a waste of their time,” Yanez said in a TikTok video posted by Community Voices for Public Education (CVPE) on Monday. “Ironically, the district promotes the idea of student success while actively denying us an opportunity to win a full tuition scholarship.”
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Students across the district have lost the opportunity to attend competitions during STAAR testing. In other years, students have allowed to attend regional and state competitions during STAAR and take the exam on a make up day. which can give students scholarships and opportunity. Emily Yanez shares her story, where students were told they could not compete just 2 days before the trip. “Ironically, the district promotes the idea of student success while actively denying us an opportunity to win a full tuition scholarship.”
Parents and students say pattern is growing
Other families have been hit with the same disappointment. Among them is Briana Mohan, a mother of two HISD students, who said her son’s sixth-grade field trip last year was abruptly cut short after students attending a performance of The Lightning Thief were told to leave at intermission due to a bus funding issue.
“They were there for the first half, and then the whole grade had to leave at intermission because they found out that the bus funding had not been approved for the whole period that had been requested,” Mohan said. “They all went back to school because the buses otherwise would not have been able to take them back.”
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HISD Superintendent Mike Miles has come under fire for the cancellation of school trips.
Karen Warren/Staff photographer
Mohan said her son was angry, upset and disappointed, just like the rest of his classmates.
“I feel really strongly that it’s like those kinds of experiences that are happening more and more in their school experience makes them…not ever trust that…good things are going to happen,” Mohan said. “It’s like telling them this is not something that is actually important.”
Relatively new to Houston, Mohan said her children had one year in HISD schools before the state takeover. She described the current system as “complete chaos masquerading as progress.”
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“That whole like completeness of an experience…HISD leadership couldn’t care less,” Mohan said, touching briefly on curriculum reforms that call for students to read excerpts rather than full novels. “My kid and all these other kids are denied (an) opportunity that people have fought so hard for.”
District faces broader scrutiny over student trips
The incidents add to a growing list of disrupted student trips across HISD.
Earlier this month, HISD cancelled a Milby High School trip to a state cosmetology competition while the buses were outside waiting to pick up students, as reported by the Houston Chronicle. HISD told the Chronicle the approval process “did not unfold as it should have.”
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In December, East Early High School’s robotics team was initially denied permission to travel to Dallas for a state championship, with their principal citing issues with funding and approval timelines. HISD later told Chron the incident was a “procedural misunderstanding” at the campus level, and students were ultimately able to attend.
In 2024, HISD initially banned Waltrip High School’s Roaring Red Ram Band from playing at the 2025 Sugar Bowl on the basis of safety, even after they had fundraised thousands of dollars. After Mayor John Whitmire stepped in to arrange a personal police escort for the students, the band went on to perform—and scored first place in the field show competition.
The Waltrip High School Band marches in the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Parade on Saturday, Feb. 24, 2018, in Houston. ( Brett Coomer / Houston Chronicle )
Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle
Ruth Kravetz, executive director of CVPE, told Chron the ongoing pattern of trip delays and denials is preventing real student learning.
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“Whether it’s academic, artistic, or athletic, these competitions help students grow as human beings,” Kravetz said.
She said what the district may view as taking away from in-classroom time are crucial experiences that shape a well-rounded education with real-world application.
“At the end of the day, we are educating students so they can grow up to be successful in and at life,” Kravetz said. “That’s part of what field trips are: a way to connect what you experience in the classroom to what is happening in the world.”
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