HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Southeast Texas is going from sweltering weather to sweater weather this week thanks to s strong cold front that will swing through midweek.
Temperatures Monday will rise up into the upper 90s in the afternoon under full sunshine. The record high temperature for October 14th is 92 degrees, and we are predicting the high to get all the way up to 97! If that verifies, it will also be a new record for that latest 97 degree has been observed in the calendar year. The current record is October 2nd, 1938.
An actual Fall front is expected though as we head into Wednesday morning bringing back cooler temps to SE Texas.
When are we going to break this streak of 90 degree high temperatures?
Temperatures will climb into the mid 90s again Tuesday, likely breaking another record high temperature. Then we get a rush of cooler air dropping in here Wednesday morning, which will bring high temperatures down into the upper 70s through Thursday! The last time Houston recorded a high in the 70s was on a rainy day in late July.
When could we see our next chance of rain?
Rain chances look slim to none over the next 10 days, but there is a small 10% chance of showers on Friday and Saturday.
What are you tracking in the tropics?
A new area in the western Caribbean is one to watch for over the next 7 days. The region near Cancun has a low chance of developing at this moment and poses an even lower threat to the Texas Coast. There’s an area of potential development in the open Atlantic with 60% development odds as it approaches the Bahamas. Head to our daily Tropical Update page for a complete look at what we’re covering in the tropics.
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture has recalled almost 10 million pounds of meat and poultry products due to possible listeria contamination, some of which were on H-E-B shelves.
The video above is from ABC13’s 24/7 livestream.
The recall concerns 75 ready-to-eat meals made between June 19 and Oct. 8 by BrucePac, a company that produces meat for restaurants, food service vendors, and big stores like Walmart, Trader Joe’s, and Aldi.
The list includes three frozen H-E-B meals: The Texas Ranch Style Chicken, Texas Ranch Chicken Casserole, and Chicken Broccoli and Rice Casserole.
The recalled products have the numbers “51205 or P-51205” on the packaging. BrucePac said any affected products should be thrown out.
The USDA said there have been no confirmed reports of negative reactions after eating any of the products. However, eating food contaminated with listeria can lead to symptoms including fever, headache, muscle aches, gastrointestinal issues, and more. In pregnant women, the infection can cause miscarriages, stillbirths, premature delivery, or life-threatening infection of the newborn.
In this courtroom sketch, Sean Combs, center, is flanked by his defense attorney Marc Agnifilo, left, and Teny Garagos, in Manhattan Federal Court, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)
NEW YORK — A new wave of lawsuits filed Monday accuses Sean “Diddy” Combs of raping women, sexually assaulting men and molesting a 16-year-old boy.
At least six lawsuits were filed against the hip-hop mogul in federal court in Manhattan. They were filed anonymously, two by women identified as Jane Does and four by men identified as John Does.
The accusers are part of what their lawyers say is a group of more than 100 alleged victims who are in the process of taking legal action against Combs in the wake of his sex trafficking arrest last month.
One of the John Does, a man living in North Carolina, alleges that Combs fondled his genitals when he was 16 at one of the rapper’s famous white parties in Long Island’s Hamptons in 1998.
The man alleges that during a conversation about possibly breaking into the music industry, Combs abruptly ordered the then-teen to drop his pants.
According to the man’s lawsuit, Combs explained to him that it was a rite of passage to becoming a music star, at one point asking him: “Don’t you want to break into the business?”
The man said he complied out of fear, anxiety and power imbalance he felt with Combs, only realizing later that what had happened was sexual assault.
Until Monday’s lawsuit, Combs had only been accused in civil cases and his criminal indictment of sexual activity with adults.
Combs’ lawyers and other representatives did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. When the planned lawsuits were announced Oct. 1, a lawyer said Combs “cannot address every meritless allegation in what has become a reckless media circus.”
Combs, 54, has pleaded not guilty to racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking charges alleging he coerced and abused women for years with help from a network of associates and employees while silencing victims through blackmail and violence, including kidnapping, arson and physical beatings.
Combs’ lawyers have been trying unsuccessfully to get the Bad Boy Records founder freed on bail. He has been held at a Brooklyn federal jail since his Sept. 16 arrest.
Two judges have concluded that Combs would be a danger to the community if he is released from the Metropolitan Detention Center, a facility that has been plagued by violence and dysfunction for years. At a bail hearing three weeks ago, a judge rejected a proposed $50 million bail package, including home detention and electronic monitoring, after concluding Combs might tamper with witnesses and obstruct a continuing investigation.
On Friday, an appeals court judge denied Combs’ immediate release from jail while a three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals weighs his bail request.
Other lawsuits filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan include allegations of rape, forced oral sex and drugging to incapacitate victims.
One of the Jane Does suing Combs alleges he raped her in a locked hotel room in 2004 after he invited her and a friend there for a party, gave them drinks and told them to snort cocaine.
The woman, then a college freshman, alleges Combs also forced her friend to perform oral sex on him and said he would have them both killed if they didn’t comply with his demands.
The other Jane Doe alleges Combs violently attacked and raped her in a bathroom in 2005 at a party for the late rapper Biggie Smalls’ music video, “One More Chance.”
According to the woman, Combs brought her into the bathroom to talk privately and then started kissing her unexpectedly. When she tried to pull away, she alleges, he slammed her head against the wall, causing her to fall to the floor. The woman said she tried to escape, but Combs hit her again and raped her.
Afterward, according to the woman, Combs nonchalantly adjusted his clothing and told her: “You better not tell anyone about this, or you will disappear.”
In another John Doe lawsuit, a man working as a security guard at Combs’ Hamptons white party in 2006 alleges the star gave him an alcoholic beverage he came to believe was laced with a drug that made him feel extremely ill. The man alleges Combs then pushed him into a van, held him down and sexually assaulted him.
In the other lawsuits filed Monday, Combs is accused of forcing a man to perform oral sex on him in the stockroom of Macy’s flagship store in Manhattan’s Herald Square in 2008 and sexually assaulting a man at a party in October 2021. The latter man, who suspects a drugged beverage left him unable to fight back, recalls multiple men assaulting him and distinctly recalls seeing Combs above him, naked, at one point during the assault, his lawsuit said.
Approximately 17,579 whooping cough cases, with the highest number in the Middle Atlantic states, have been reported as of the week ending on Oct. 5, the most recent data available. This time last year, there were only about about 3,962 cases, an increase of over fivefold since October 2023.
Here’s what parents should know about this common disease amid the latest outbreak.
What is whooping cough?
“This is a very contagious, bacterial respiratory infection,” explained ABC News medical correspondent Dr. Darien Sutton on “Good Morning America” Monday.
Whooping cough spreads through coughing or sneezing and impacts the body’s cilia, causing swelling in the airway.
The CDC also notes that babies under 1 year of age and anyone with a compromised immune system or moderate to severe medically treated asthma have the highest risk of developing whooping cough and severe complications from the infection.
What are the symptoms of whooping cough?
“It can often start as symptoms of a cold – low grade fever, runny nose, a mild cough for maybe one to two weeks,” Sutton said. “Then, that progresses into the second stage, and that’s the most concerning. That includes these violent coughing attacks that often leave people gasping for air, which is where the whooping cough comes from.”
In babies under 1, the symptoms may vary. “It might not come with any coughing at all,” Sutton added. “It might come with periods of apnea or when they stop breathing, which is why it’s so important to pay attention.”
What is the treatment for whooping cough?
Whooping cough is often treated with antibiotics and is best treated early.
“To give you a picture of what it looks like when a patient comes into the emergency room, we often start with gathering the history, whether or not you’re updated on your vaccines. Do you have a risk of exposure?” Sutton explained. “Also, certain blood tests and imaging can help confirm if you have other types of respiratory infections and then it’s confirmed with a swab and that helps us to confirm the diagnosis.”
How can you prevent whooping cough?
The most effective way to prevent whooping cough is through vaccination, according to the CDC. The agency recommends everyone from young kids to adults get vaccinated.
“This is a part of the routine vaccinations for children and this is about five vaccines between the ages of two months, kindergarten and, once again, around fifth or sixth grade,” Sutton said of the DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus, acellular pertussis) vaccination series.
“For adults, we should get updated every 10 years,” Sutton added about adult Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria, acellular pertussis) vaccinations. “And then most important for pregnant women, they encourage that you get this vaccine at the end of your pregnancy, during the third trimester, and the goal of this is to help protect again, the most vulnerable.”
Universities across the country have transformed at the command of anti-diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) legislation. At the University of Texas-Austin, the legislation led to resource cancellations, office closures, and staff firings — pushing some students to create alternatives to their school’s defunct diversity programs.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed SB 17 into law in 2023, barring public institutions of higher education from having diversity, equity, and inclusion offices, as well as programs, activities, and training conducted by those offices. The law also restricts training or hiring policies based on race, gender identity or sexual orientation.
His office told ABC News in a recent statement that the legislation was intended to ensure people “advance based on talent and merit at public colleges and universities in Texas.”
Abbott’s office criticized universities for using DEI offices to “advance political agendas and exclude conservative viewpoints on college campuses. These efforts adversely affect our students, limit exposure to diverse thought, and destroy our education system,” read the statement from Abbott’s press secretary Andrew Mahaleris.
ABC News spoke to UT Austin students and a terminated faculty member about the compounding impact the loss of diversity programs has had on campus.
The Monarch Program
The long list of potential college life logistics – like how to pay for school, open an independent bank account or get a job – is even longer for undocumented students and those with temporary status.
These students are not eligible for federal student aid, federal work-study, are limited in their access to grants and scholarships and, in some cases, cannot accept paying jobs while in school.
With limited guidance and limited options, Arely, a student at UT Austin who asked to be referenced by only her first name out of privacy concerns, said her status created many unknowns and uncertainties for her future when applying to colleges. As a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipient, Arely told ABC News she worked hard to be at the top of her high school class so she could get into a good school.
DACA is a U.S. government policy allowing some undocumented immigrants to temporarily remain in the United States and work. Recipients must have entered the United States illegally before their 16th birthday and be younger than 31 years old on June 15, 2012, according to the U.S. Citizens and Immigration Services website.
“It was always kind of told to me, like, your education is going to be the only way you’re going to be able to kind of push forward and build something out for yourself – it’s through your education,” said Arely.
At UT Austin, students like Arely had a place to turn to for answers. Monarch, an on-campus student program for undocumented and temporary status students, hosted workshops on those logistical concerns, mental health resources at little to no cost, career fairs specifically geared toward undocumented students, panel discussions with undocumented grads, and a donor-based scholarship.
“Those are the things that I would help students navigate,” said Alicia Moreno, the former Monarch Student Program Coordinator. “Like working with campus partners to create resources and help students understand what their options were because many students that I heard – before they ran into Monarch – they believed their options were really slim.”
Monarch was a way for the university to ensure students could succeed despite the barriers they face due to their status, Moreno said.
“A lot of my college experience would have definitely been way more different had Monarch not been there,” said Arely. “I can’t imagine in what situation I would have been had I not had that support system.”
Arely, who worked at the center, said the Monarch team would also get requests from faculty and staff asking to hold trainings regarding undocumented students’ challenges.
“A lot of these students had gone their whole college career having access to these resources, and now they were suddenly taken away and ripped out of their hands,” said Arely. “Especially for, like, incoming freshmen who had maybe specifically applied to UT Austin because of this program, and now they’re going to get to the UT campus and they’re going to realize that program that was supposed to support them and acknowledge them is no longer there.”
Moreno was one of about 60 people whose positions were terminated following the closure of DEI offices and related initiatives, according to a joint letter from the Texas NAACP & Texas Conference of American Association of University Professors.
The university initially stated that some programs would be shifted to other divisions or renamed to complement ongoing operations. Monarch, according to students and former staff, was also initially not targeted by SB 17 since it does not specifically refer to any race or ethnicity.
However, university officials later stated that the law changed the scope of some programs, making them broader and creating overlap between existing programs.
The terminations came shortly after state Sen. Brandon Creighton, who introduced the legislation, warned universities against simply renaming their DEI programs, threatening to freeze funding.
“I was getting ready to prepare for the next year. My office was just painted. I had just gotten that Exemplary Service Award, and then – boom! – we were all terminated,” Moreno said.
Students say they have been left to pick up the pieces without the dedicated resources to support them. Victoria Uriostegui-Garcia, a member of a student-run group called Rooted, said her organization has become a substitute for the services once provided by Monarch. It is one of several student-run organizations to take on the responsibilities of the now-shuttered offices.
“It falls on students again to provide their own resources, which is a very heavy burden,” said Uriostegui-Garcia. “We’re going to try our best.”
Students lead the charge
Among the centers and programs shut down by UT Austin were Multicultural Engagement Center, the Gender and Sexuality Center, and the Fearless Leadership Institute – a professional development program for African American & Hispanic women.
However, UT Austin is not the only school facing these restrictions. Schools across the state — and across the country — have seen similar mass closures and firings following the implementation of anti-DEI legislation.
At least nine states have legislation restricting DEI: Alabama, Florida, Idaho, lowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and Utah.
Supporters of anti-DEI legislation, like Creighton, have applauded the changes made by SB 17. Creighton argued that it returned the university to “a merit-based operational framework, ensuring that every student, faculty, and staff member is afforded equal opportunities and not silenced by DEI-oriented policies,” he said in a March 2024 statement.
UT Austin states that it remains vigilant in ongoing efforts to ensure the university’s compliance with the state law, defining DEI offices as any office that implements programs or training with reference to race, ethnicity, gender identity, or sexual orientation, “influences hiring or employment practices” with respect to those identities or promotes “differential treatment of or providing special benefits to individuals” on the basis of identity.
“I recognize that strong feelings have surrounded SB 17 from the beginning and will shape many Longhorns’ perceptions of these measures,” said university president Jay Hartzell. “It is important that we respect the perspectives and experiences of our fellow Longhorns as the changes we are announcing today take effect. It is also important that this continues to be a welcoming, supportive community for all.”
UT Austin did not respond to ABC News’ requests for further comment.
Alex and Sophia, members of Texas Students for DEI who asked to be referenced by only their first names out of privacy concerns, say the services were targeted toward specific groups who have historically faced discrimination or barriers to success but were open to all students.
Alex noted, for example, that a closet of free clothes located in the gender center was open to all: “If it meant that you got kicked out of the home, or if it meant that you needed clothes for a job — hey, there’s clothes available, no questions asked.”
Alex and Sophia say many students they have spoken to did not know about SB 17 until it passed and they started seeing their centers close on campus.
Student organizations have stepped up to the plate, hoping to foster community in a time when university-backed resources have shrunk. They say schools across the state have “over-complied” with the law, leading to a chilling effect on classroom curriculum and discussion concerning race, gender, and sexual orientation.
“Even now, if you read some of the syllabi for some classes, they’ll have a disclaimer at the end saying no material in this class is pertaining to SB 17 or falls under the guidelines of SB 17,” said Sophia, despite the UT Austin website stating explicitly that academic instruction and research is not to be impacted by the law. “They’re expecting to be censored. They’re expecting the state to want to do things against them, and so they’re, they feel less comfortable talking about these topics openly, which ultimately affects our education.”
She continued, “We are a university, we’re a place of learning, and learning requires people to be open about information in a way that isn’t censored, and when a state tries to censor that, they ultimately harm themselves.”
With SB 17 passed, students are worried the state will continue to embrace other anti-DEI initiatives. They hope to safeguard from further efforts by educating the college community about what DEI is and what it means.
“It isn’t just one university. It’s all of us. And silence isn’t really the way out,” said Alex.
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — The death of a woman found unresponsive in her Greater Heights area home on Monday left officers puzzled. Now, officials have charged her husband with capital murder, according to court records.
A capital murder charge has been filed against 38-year-old Lee Mongerson Gilley in connection with the death of his wife, Christa Gilley.
The Houston Police Department responded to a call Monday around 11:30 p.m. at the couple’s Greater Heights home on Allston St. near West 9th St.
Court documents stated an adult family member, now identified as Lee, called 911 and said he found his wife unresponsive in bed and tried to perform CPR. Initially, Lee said that it was a suicide attempt from an overdose, according to prosecutors.
The woman was taken to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead, but doctors determined the trauma to her face and body she suffered was inconsistent with CPR. Christa reportedly had bruising and apparent trauma to her face.
According to the documents, both the doctor and medical examiner declared the injuries were consistent with strangulation. Prosecutors said Gilley’s wife was eight weeks pregnant at the time of her death, which was ruled as a homicide.
Lee later admitted to investigators that the victim wasn’t suicidal or a drug user, according to court documents. It was also revealed that there were two children inside the home at the time.
On Friday, Oct. 11, officials arrested Lee without incident and booked him into the Harris County Jail, police said. The next day, he made his first probable cause court appearance.
Lee told investigators that he and Christa argued that night before she went to bed, and found her three hours later, court documents said.
Gilley asked the hearing officer if he would receive a bond; however, it was not granted. The hearing officer said Gilley will remain in custody in Harris County.
WASHINGTON — The United States will send a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery to Israel, along with the troops needed to operate it, the Pentagon said Sunday, even as Iran warned Washington to keep American military forces out of Israel.
Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, Pentagon spokesman, said in a statement that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin authorized the deployment of the THAAD battery at the direction of President Joe Biden. He said the system will help bolster Israel’s air defenses following Iran’s ballistic missile attacks on Israel in April and October.
The delivery of the sophisticated missile defense system risks further inflaming the conflict in the Middle East despite widespread diplomatic efforts to avoid an all-out war. The Iranian warning came in a post on the social platform X long associated with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who noted the earlier reports that the U.S. was considering the deployment.
Israeli forces and Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon have been clashing since Oct. 8, 2023, when the Lebanese militant group began firing rockets over the border in support of its ally Hamas in Gaza. Late last month, Israel launched a ground invasion into Lebanon.
Israel is widely believed to be preparing a military response to Iran’s Oct. 1 attack when it fired roughly 180 missiles into Israel.
In a brief exchange with reporters before leaving Florida on Sunday, Biden said he agreed to deploy the THAAD battery “to defend Israel.” Biden spoke at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa after making a quick visit to to see the damage caused by Hurricane Milton and meet with first responders, residents and local leaders.
Ryder, in his statement, said the deployment “underscores the United States’ ironclad commitment to the defense of Israel, and to defend Americans in Israel, from any further ballistic missile attacks by Iran.”
It was not immediately clear where the THAAD battery was coming from or when it will arrive. Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, an Israeli army spokesman, declined to provide any timeline for its arrival, but thanked the U.S. for its support.
The U.S. deployed one of the batteries to the Middle East along with additional Patriot battalions to bolster protections for U.S. forces in the region late last year after the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas militants. Ryder also said that the U.S. sent a THAAD battery to Israel in 2019 for training.
It also is not unusual for the U.S. to have a limited number of troops in Israel, which the U.S. considers a key regional ally. There generally has been a small number of forces there consistently as well as routine rotational deployments for training and exercises.
According to an April report by the Congressional Research Service, the Army has seven THAAD batteries. Generally each consists of six truck-mounted launchers, 48 interceptors, radio and radar equipment and requires 95 soldiers to operate.
The THAAD is considered a complementary system to the Patriot, but it can defend a wider area. It can hit targets at ranges of 150 to 200 kilometers (93 to 124 miles).
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Hot-tober continues this weekend and into next week with near record or even record-breaking high temperatures possible over the next few days.
It’s all sunshine and warm weather today with highs climbing into the mid 90s after starting in the mid to upper 60s. The record high temperature for October 13th is 95 degrees.
When are we going to break this streak of 90 degree high temperatures?
Temperatures will climb into the mid 90s Monday and Tuesday, likely breaking daily temp records both days. We do get a cool front to drop in on Wednesday, which, at the very least will break out 90s streak, and could push highs in to the upper 70s on Thursday.
When could we see our next chance of rain?
Rain chances remain slim through the work, but we could see some scattered showers and isolated storms next weekend.
What are you tracking in the tropics?
No threats to the gulf at the moment. There’s an area of potential development in the open Atlantic with 20% development odds, but it does not currently look like a threat to the US. Head to our daily Tropical Update page for a look at what else we’re covering in the tropics.
LONDON — Climbers believe they have found the partial remains of a British mountaineer who might – or might not – have been one of the first two people to climb Mount Everest, a century after their attempt on the world’s highest peak, according to an expedition led by National Geographic.
Ahead of the release of a documentary film, the television channel said Friday that the expedition found a foot encased in a sock embroidered with “AC Irvine” and a boot that could be that of Andrew “Sandy” Irvine, who disappeared at the age of 22 along with his co-climber, the legendary George Mallory, near Everest’s peak on June 8, 1924.
From left to right: Andrew Comyn “Sandy” Irvine and a sock embroidered with “A.C. Irvine” that was discovered on the Central Rongbuk Gl…Show morePhoto by Mount Everest Foundation/Royal Geographical Society via Getty Images/Jimmy Chin
The pair, who were seeking to become the first people to conquer Everest, were last seen around 800 feet (245 meters) from the summit. Their fate has been debated by climbers and historians alike, with some postulating that they had stood atop of the world before disappearing on the way down.
In his final letter to his wife, Ruth, before he vanished on Mount Everest a century ago, the 37-year-old Mallory, who once famously said he wanted to conquer Everest “because it’s there,” tried to ease her worries even as he said his chances of reaching the world’s highest peak were “50 to 1 against us.”
Mallory’s body was found in 1999 but there was no evidence that could point to the two having reached Everest’s summit at 29,032 feet.
There is still no such evidence, though the apparent discovery of Irvine’s remains could narrow the search for a Kodak Vest Pocket camera lent to the climbers by expedition member Howard Somervell. For mountaineers, it’s the equivalent of the Holy Grail – the possibility of photographic proof that the two did reach the summit, almost three decades before New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Nepalese Sherpa Tenzing Norgay got there on May, 29, 1953.
The sock and boot were found at a lower altitude than Mallory’s remains, on the Central Rongbuk Glacier below the North Face of Mount Everest.
A sock embroidered with “A.C. Irvine,” along with a boot, has been discovered on the Central Rongbuk Glacier below the North Face of Mount…Show moreJimmy Chin
“This was a monumental and emotional moment for us and our entire team on the ground, and we just hope this can finally bring peace of mind to his relatives and the climbing world at large,” said climb team member and National Geographic explorer Jimmy Chin.
Chin did not say exactly where the remains were found because he wants to discourage trophy hunters. But he’s confident that other items – and maybe even the camera – are nearby.
“It certainly reduces the search area,” he told National Geographic.
The Irvine family has volunteered to compare DNA test results with the remains to confirm his identity.
His great-niece and biographer, Julie Summers, said she reacted emotionally when she found out about the discovery.
A sock embroidered with “A.C. Irvine”, along with a boot, has been discovered on the Central Rongbuk Glacier below the North Face of Mount…Show more
“I have lived with this story since I was a 7-year-old when my father told us about the mystery of Uncle Sandy on Everest,” she said. “When Jimmy told me that he saw the name AC Irvine on the label on the sock inside the boot, I found myself moved to tears. It was and will remain an extraordinary and poignant moment.”
The find, made by Chin along with climbers and filmmakers Erich Roepke and Mark Fisher, was reported to the London-based Royal Geographical Society, which jointly organized Mallory and Irvine’s expedition along with the Alpine Club.
“As joint organizer of the 1924 Everest expedition, the society deeply appreciates the respect Jimmy Chin’s team has shown Sandy Irvine’s remains and their sensitivity toward Sandy’s family members and others connected to that expedition,” said Joe Smith, director of the society.
The partial remains are now in the possession of the China Tibet Mountaineering Association, which is responsible for climbing permits on Everest’s northern side.
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Burbank Middle School on Houston’s north side is bursting at the seams. To give students some elbow room, temporary buildings known as T-buildings were brought in. But after years of use, they don’t seem so temporary.
“Out here is the 7th grade. There are approximately 478 7th grade students, and the vast majority of them are in T-buildings, over 300 of them,” principal David Knittle said.
Burbank is one of the HISD schools that would receive money if the district’s $4.4 billion bond passes. It would receive almost $54 million to expand the campus, renovate, and improve safety.
The school bond will appear on voters’ November ballots as two propositions. Proposition A costs around $4 billion and designates money for construction and building upgrades. Proposition B is for around $400 million, designating money for technology.
HISD Superintendent Mike Miles said the district’s total need is far higher, closer to $10 billion. Here’s why he says the district is only asking for $4.4 billion.
“It’s a cost that we could give to the public without raising taxes. We’ve had five different companies and financial institutions look at that, and somewhere around 5 billion is where we can go without raising taxes,” Miles said.
How are they funding public education but not raising taxes?
According to HISD’s budget, the district’s debt obligation will be almost zero by 2043 if the district takes on no additional debt. This could even lower taxes. If the bond passes, the district would maintain the current tax rate.
“This is parsing the sentence,” Ruth Kravets told ABC13.
Kravetz leads the pro-public education and anti-TEA takeover group Community Voices for Public Education. She said this kind of avoiding the details adds to people’s lack of trust in the district.
Many also feel there needs to be true transparency. The TEA appointed Miles, the board of managers was appointed by Miles, and the board approved the bond oversight committee.
Kravetz said she is in favor of funding public education, but the district needs to be more detailed in its plans and put the power back in the hands of the voters.
“If we don’t do this bond, what happens?” Kravetz asked. “We need local control, but barring that, we need this appointed board and the state leadership to recognize they need to build a better bond, a better bond for our children, a better bond for families, a better bond for teachers.”
