HISD Superintendent Millard House II has announced his Strategic Five Year Plan, an ambitious new agenda that aims to bring new programs, facilities, and competitive teacher salaries to all district schools. According to the new plan, all schools are required to have certain staff members, including counselors, librarians, and staff for fine arts and extracurricular activities. 

The plan, which aims to create a “world class” learning environment within the district, came after plans for a more central budget, different from the PUA model used in previous years, was met with negative reactions, and the district returned to the decentralized PUA model. Under the new agenda, more magnet programs will also be established to address areas that previously lacked those programs.  

HISD has stated that all current teachers will receive pay raises, and new teachers will get incentives to sign on. These decisions came in the wake of HISD’s desire to make the district more competitive compared to other school districts.

Transportation is also going to be addressed, with the district using funds to purchase regular buses, special education buses, and express vehicles. 

For Carnegie Vanguard, this may mean more classes, including an already planned AP Music Theory Class, as well as new teachers and increased funding. 

The five-year plan has made it a requirement that all schools have counselors, social workers, librarians, nurses, fine arts programs, extra-curricular activities, and athletics.

In recent news, it has also become apparent that HISD has reserved funds in excess of $300 million dollars over the past few years, and these funds could be used for new educational programs. 

However, both models that HISD has proposed have downsides, chief of which are that in the PUA model, schools with better attendance rates are privileged and can get more funding, while schools in underserved areas that do not have high attendance rates are penalized. The chief concern over the centralized model seems to be that individual schools have less control over their own budgets and programs.

Exactly how the plan will be implemented is not yet clear.