HISD – Miles – uses MAGA strategy, do it first and then say sorry.
January 14, 2025
He blames the people he has hired or kept for not knowing the policy for nearly a billion dollars in contracts without board approval, like the typical MAGA. It makes you wonder if he knew. My opinion is that he knew and is only saying it would be corrected. If it had not been discovered, would they still be doing it?
Mike Miles is the person responsible for ensuring those contracts are approved, not some nameless HISD employee. Miles is the top administrator, and the buck stops with him.
While I appreciate efforts to address the issue retroactively, I’m not satisfied because these mistakes make it harder for parents and the community to trust that things are being handled the right way,” Rivon, a member of the district’s Audit Committee, said in a statement.
Houston ISD board member Adam Rivon, center, addresses the community gathered June 27, 2023, at Forest Brook Middle School in northeast Houston. (Douglas Sweet Jr. for Houston Landing)
The district’s internal auditor reviewed each unapproved purchase agreement and found no violations of the law, Miles said. Similar audits will be conducted quarterly going forward, he said. No HISD employees have been disciplined over the mistake, Miles said.
In a press conference held several hours after the release of the video, Miles said he didn’t know why the value of the purchase agreements in question had nearly doubled over the past 16 months.
HISD failed to bring ‘astronomical’ purchases for board approval
Houston ISD failed to follow its internal procurement policies, state-appointed Superintendent Mike Miles revealed Monday, by not getting board approval for contracts that one elected trustee characterized as being worth an “astronomical” amount of money.
Elected HISD trustee Dani Hernandez called the agenda item “troubling and confusing” that purchases from August 2023 were now making it to the agenda, “and not even for approval.”
“The money has already been allocated,” Hernandez said in the December board meeting. “This amount of money is astronomical. I completely understand that HISD has to spend money, but as an elected trustee, I always received the information beforehand and in a timely manner. And the cooperative agreements… were not as big. There are multiple contracts with the same vendor for over a million dollars, and the policy is very clear. Financial responsibility is the board’s responsibility.”
