{"id":181834,"date":"2026-02-26T21:13:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T21:13:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/181834\/"},"modified":"2026-02-26T21:13:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T21:13:07","slug":"superintendent-mike-miles-explains-why","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/181834\/","title":{"rendered":"Superintendent Mike Miles explains why"},"content":{"rendered":"

HOUSTON \u2013 Houston Independent School District (HISD) <\/a>Superintendent Mike Miles says closing schools is not something he wanted to do but believes the district has reached a point where it can no longer delay the decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are hard decisions all the time,\u201d Miles said. \u201cI don\u2019t like closing schools because a community should have a community school.\u201d<\/p>\n

BACKGROUND: HISD superintendent announces closing 12 schools<\/a><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what he said when questioned about the closures:<\/p>\n

Q: What do you say to families who feel blindsided?<\/p>\n

Miles: \u201cThere\u2019s no good opportunity or no date that\u2019s best to announce it. At some point, you have to announce.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said the district has been evaluating potential closures for two years and noted previous leadership also discussed the possibility.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not a total surprise that we announced it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Q: In November, you said there were no plans to recommend closing schools at the end of this academic year. What changed?<\/p>\n

Miles: \u201cWe looked at our enrollment \u2014 PEIMS data that\u2019s official at the end of October \u2014 and [there was a] larger than expected decline in enrollment for various reasons.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also mentioned structural problems that surfaced in recent months and worsening facility conditions.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, I wish we didn\u2019t have to, but now\u2019s the time. I can\u2019t delay it any longer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Q: If the bond had passed, would this decision have happened?<\/p>\n

Miles: \u201cIf the bond had passed, yeah \u2014 any bond would help a school district.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, he said some schools would still have faced closure due to low enrollment, and bonds are typically used to replace deteriorating facilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of the schools would still be small and we still would have to be closed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Q: How can you say students are moving to better learning environments if some receiving schools have lower TEA ratings?<\/p>\n

Miles: \u201cWe\u2019re talking about A and B schools \u2014 so a B school or an A school going to a B school \u2014 and the numbers are really close.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t have any F schools. And we don\u2019t have a handful of D schools. No child is going to a D- or F-school in this.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that there may be \u201cone or two\u201d cases of students moving to a C-rated or low-B campus.<\/p>\n

Q: Other districts, including Fort Bend ISD, involved parents for months before voting on closures. Why didn\u2019t HISD take a similar approach?<\/p>\n

Miles: \u201cEvery community is a little bit different and every community does it differently.\u201d <\/p>\n

He noted the district has delayed closures for three years and previously published Facility Condition Index (FCI) data outlining building conditions.<\/p>\n

Over the next couple of months, he said parents will be able to visit new campuses and receive more details about transitions, transportation, and school choice options.<\/p>\n

Q: Why close Fleming Middle School if it\u2019s been highlighted as a successful model campus?<\/p>\n

Miles: \u201cThe instructional model is not the issue.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said the school\u2019s facility condition and low utilization rate were key factors. The campus building is decades old and has significant maintenance needs.<\/p>\n

\u201cEspecially because they\u2019re doing well instructionally and academically, they deserve a facility that matches their progress.\u201d<\/p>\n

Q: What happens to teachers? And will other campuses become overcrowded?<\/p>\n

Miles: \u201cClosures does not equal cutting teachers.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said employees who would have been retained will continue to have jobs within the district, though they may be reassigned.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: HISD to notify teachers at potentially closing schools of job placements by April 17<\/a><\/p>\n

As for student capacity: \u201cWe\u2019re not worried about overcrowding.\u201d<\/p>\n

Q: What happens to the school buildings?<\/p>\n

Miles: \u201cBefore the end of this year, [we\u2019ll have] a clear idea of what that property is going to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Miles said a special committee will meet with each affected school community to gather ideas for future use of the properties.<\/p>\n

Ideas could include selling buildings, converting them into social service centers, or repurposing them for other community needs.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: As HISD considers closing 12 schools, what could happen to the buildings<\/a><\/p>\n

HISD says students will be placed at nearby campuses with access to courses, extracurriculars, and student services.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HOUSTON \u2013 Houston Independent School District (HISD) Superintendent Mike Miles says closing schools is not something he wanted…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":181835,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[14573,163,2038,4045,56,58,14259,1686,57,988,66,2824,223,4663,2360,4119,1049,25209],"class_list":{"0":"post-181834","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-houston","8":"tag-district","9":"tag-education","10":"tag-families","11":"tag-hisd","12":"tag-houston","13":"tag-houston-headlines","14":"tag-houston-independent-school-district","15":"tag-houston-isd","16":"tag-houston-news","17":"tag-kids","18":"tag-local","19":"tag-mike-miles","20":"tag-news","21":"tag-parents","22":"tag-school","23":"tag-schools","24":"tag-students","25":"tag-teens"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181834","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=181834"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181834\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/181835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=181834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=181834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=181834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}