North Forest Independent School District
"[27] John Sawyer, the head of the Harris County Department of Education, also compared North Forest to Wilmer-Hutchins, another predominantly black school district, which the state had closed.
In a 2006 article Todd Spivak of the Houston Chronicle described NFISD as "a prime example of how inconsistency can wreak havoc on schools".
Dr. Robert Sanborn, the president and CEO of the organization Children at Risk, described the state of affairs as "inexcusable", with both district high schools posting poor state test scores considered to be poor and the lowest SAT scores in the Houston area.
[30] Also in 2006 Dan Feldstein of the Houston Chronicle wrote: "By many measures, North Forest ... is a troubled district.
Not only is it last in Harris County in SAT scores and passing rates on the TAKS test, but it ranks among the worst in the state.
[24] A February 2007 report by the Texas Education Agency, based on data from 2005 derived mainly from the testimony of school officials, said that Forest Brook High School had no cheating; however, a statistical analysis of two years of Forest Brook TAKS test scores by The Dallas Morning News in June 2007 which examined two years of scores from Forest Brook revealed patterns that the newspaper considered suspicious.
[20] In March that year, the Northeast Education First community group asked for the state to fire the school board;[41] Governor Rick Perry denied the request.
[44] On July 31, 2008, Wayne Dolcefino of ABC 13 KTRK in Houston reported on a several months' investigation of the school district for malfeasance.
[45] From 2008 to 2011, North Forest ISD was consistently ranked "academically unacceptable" by the Texas Education Agency.
[46] It was placed on probation in June 2008,[47] and on July 31 the TEA dismissed the school board,[48] which was approved by the state on October 15.
[51] Senfronia Thompson, a Texas House of Representatives member serving portions of the NFISD area, pointed out in 2013 that in the early 2000s state laws had been changed, making it easier for the state to close poorly performing school districts, such as Wilmer-Hutchins and the Kendleton Independent School District.
Chris Tritico, a lawyer representing North Forest, accused the state of only trying to annex black-populated school districts.
[54] Paul Bettencourt, the Harris County tax assessor-collector and later a member of the Texas State Senate, said that a handover to HISD would be beneficial for the NFISD students.
[3] As the new school year began, Ivory Mayhorn, the head of a group campaigning for the salvation of the district, accused the TEA of discriminating against North Forest.
[62] In February 2013, Texas Education Commissioner Michael Williams said that the one-year reprieve was over and ordered the closure of North Forest ISD and recommended its annexation by Houston Independent School District by July 1, 2013.
[1] Jackson Lee voiced approval, while Senfronia Thompson, the House representative, and Rodney Ellis and John Whitmire, members of the Texas Senate, expressed reservations.
"[1] On April 29, 2013, the North Forest ISD school board defied a TEA order to fire its teachers in anticipation of its absorption by HISD.
[67] In May 2013, as a preliminary to making its decision, the Justice Department asked HISD for information on how it would integrate NFISD into its school board boundaries.
The following day, U.S. District Judge David Hittner rejected a claim that allowing the closure of NFISD would violate the legal rights of voters from racial and ethnic minority groups.
[71] On June 28 the Texas Supreme Court declined to stop the merger, ending the district's final appeal against closure.
Senfronia Thompson said that the assets included a high school and athletic facility scheduled to be built with $80 million in state funds.
Debbie Ratcliffe, a TEA spokesperson, said that state officials would ensure that HISD did not have too high of a burden placed on it.
Isa Dadoush, the former HISD general construction manager, said that the poor condition of the NFISD campuses was proof that the takeover was the best outcome.
Dianna Wray of the Houston Press wrote that "the voters of North Forest have gone from having an entire board elected directly by them to a situation in which they won't have any say in who represents them for the next three years.
[citation needed] The area is about 20 miles (32 km) from Downtown Houston,[6] and south of George Bush Intercontinental Airport.
[96] Jan Jarboe wrote in 1986 in Texas Monthly that the district "clings to isolation" despite its proximity to Downtown.
[5] In 2006 the area within NFISD had the lowest property value per student ratio in Harris County, and less than half the average in the state.
[31] In 2007, of the school districts in urban areas in Texas NFISD had the highest concentration of ex-prison inmates.
[101] It was damaged in Tropical Storm Allison in 2001;[5] the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts stated that the 12,000-square-foot (1,100 m2) facility was destroyed as a result of the flood.
[121] The district had a fleet of fifty school buses that made 111 runs daily and served about 3,300 students.
