HISD Confirms They Spent $350,000 On Billboards
Houston has no shortage of billboards, but now when you drive around the city, you might spot one of the 18 new HISD billboards shouting out the district’s improving academics
and it’s also encouraging families to enroll students.
“This is a catch-22 for a school district,” University of Houston education professor Duncan Klussmann said.
Klussmann says HISD is between a rock and a hard place with this one. The district confirms it spent $350,000 installing 18 billboards across the metro, advertising what it said are recent academic gains and encouraging people to enroll students.
District records show that the $350,000 price tag totals up to about four high school teacher salaries at new education systems schools. The cost has received pushback from some parent and teacher groups as the district has spent the past several years saying they need money to do basic upgrades in schools to make sure things like HVAC systems are work. But on the other hand, Eyewitness News has previously reported the district has lost 30,000 students over the last ten years.
HISD sent ABC13 a statement saying the billboards are designed to “celebrate the incredible hard work and academic gains of our students and educators, while also inviting more families to learn about and enroll in our schools.”
This added expense also comes as HISD announced that Superintendent Mike Miles recently received a $173,660 bonus on top of his $462,000 salary, bringing his total compensation for the year to over half a million dollars. Klussmann said if someone meets the requirements for a promised bonus, they should get it, but the base salaries are always worth considering. Like most I’m sure you think this money could be used else where.
