HOUSTON — Dozens of parents attended a Houston ISD information session Tuesday to discuss the district’s plan to close several on-campus magnet programs across 10 high schools.
The district first proposed the closures in December, citing a study showing that some career and technical education (CTE) programs do not lead to high-wage jobs. Programs affected include graphic design, entrepreneurship, and automotive courses, which would be moved to the Barbara Jordan Career Center over a three-year period. Current high school students would not be impacted immediately.
Parents raised concerns about the logistics of bussing students to the career center, potential loss of instructional time, and the effect on enrollment at affected schools. “Families are going to utilize the resources that they have when they don’t have to have their children bussed every day,” said Christina Witney, a Heights High School parent.
HISD officials, including Executive Director of Career and Technical Education Gillian Quinn and Deputy Chief Daniel Gray, said the move aims to align programs with high-demand, high-paying jobs in healthcare, IT, trades, engineering, and business. The Barbara Jordan Career Center is expanding to serve nine schools, offering programs in areas such as diagnostics, pharmacy, automotive, construction management, cybersecurity, and robotics.
Parents, including Heights High School PTO President Latrice Ferguson, criticized the district for limited community input. “This plan has not had any community input and this meeting was only added when we made an uproar,” Ferguson said.
HISD postponed a board vote on the closures until Jan. 15 and plans additional community sessions this week. The district will respond to questions submitted by parents by next Monday.
