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Dr. Archie Blanson honored at dedication ceremony

October 23, 2018
Dr. Archie Blanson and his wife Beverly pose with Aldine ISD Superintendent Dr. LaTonya M. Goffney and members of the Aldine ISD Board of Trustees following a dedication ceremony to officially open the Dr. Archie L. Blanson Career and Technical High School. The ceremony was held on Sunday, Oct. 14.

Hundreds of family members, friends, and colleagues gathered to honor Dr. Archie Blanson for the dedication ceremony of the Dr. Archie L. Blanson Career and Technical High School on Sunday, Oct. 14.

Dr. Blanson devoted 39 years to Aldine ISD serving as a teacher, assistant director of buildings and properties, director of buildings and properties, executive director of buildings and properties, director of human resources, assistant superintendent of human resources and completed his Aldine career at the district’s deputy superintendent. In that role, Dr. Blanson oversaw AISD’s operations department.

Dr. Blanson thanked the many family members who made the trip to Houston to share in this special day and his immediate family.

“I want to recognize my wife Beverly, who has been my biggest supporter,” he said. “And I want to recognize my children, Christina, Daniel and Eric. They are my proudest accomplishment in life.”

He thanked his parents Lula and Nathan for instilling a strong ethic in he and his siblings, many of whom attended the dedication ceremony.

Dr. Blanson said education always played an important role in his life and he is glad he chose to have a career in education.

“As the son of sharecroppers, who missed a lot of school in the early years because I had to work, I had every reason not to succeed in life or in education,” Dr. Blanson said. “But instead of feeling defeated, I developed a strong thirst for education.

“Although going to college was not presented to me as an option when I was in high school, I made it an option for myself because I had very little marketable skills. So, with the help of my family I attended college. I just wanted to have options on deciding what I was going to be in life.”

He challenged the students at Blanson CTE to take advantage of the opportunities they have before them.

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Interim Superintendent Grenita Lathan to remain at the helm of HISD

October 23, 2018
Grenita Lathan remains as HISD Interim Superintendent.

Oct. 15, 2018 – The Houston Independent School District Board of Education announced today that Dr. Grenita Lathan will remain as the interim superintendent of HISD, the largest school district in Texas.

During a press conference at the Hattie Mae White Educational Support Center, trustees announced that they have mutually agreed to consider the reinstatement of Dr. Lathan as interim superintendent and the rescinding of Thursday night’s vote to appoint Dr. Abelardo Saavedra to the position.

“We are committed to working together as a board for the benefit of our students, and we are unified in our efforts to build a better governance structure for our children,” HISD Board President Rhonda Skillern-Jones said. “We are confident that Dr. Lathan is the right person to lead the seventh largest school district in the nation as our interim, and we thank the public for their encouragement and support.”

“We, the Board of Trustees of the Houston Independent School District, would like to apologize to Dr. Grenita Lathan, our students, the community at large, the parents and families, all HISD employees, and our business and community partners,” Trustee Diana Davila said.

“We will work to improve our behavior as adults, treat each other with respect, and embark on the right focus of doing all we can to improve academic achievement for all our students,” Trustee Jolanda Jones said.

Dr. Lathan will remain as interim superintendent of HISD while the executive search firm Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates conducts a national search for a permanent superintendent. Dr. Lathan will have the opportunity to apply for the permanent superintendent position.

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Houston ISD votes for Leadership Change

October 16, 2018
Former superintendent Abelardo Saavedra, right has been voted in to replace Grenita Lathan, left, as the search continues for a permanent superintendent. SEE UPDATE. SAAVEDRA WITHDRAWS.

BULLETIN: Saavedra withdraws; HISD Board to reconsider plans

The Houston Independent School District is bringing in a new interim superintendent. It’s the third leadership change this year for Texas’ largest school district.

At a contentious meeting last Thursday night, the school board voted 5-4 to replace Interim Superintendent Grenita Lathan with former superintendent Abelardo Saavedra, while they are searching for a permanent one.

Former Superintendent Abelardo Saavedra will serve as Interim Superintendent for six months during the search for a permanent superintendent. Saavedra was HISD’s superintendent from 2004 to 2009, and has recently served as superintendent of South San Antonio ISD. He will reportedly not pursue the permanent superintendent position.

“It is nothing that has anything against Dr. Lathan, and the work that she does, and the work that she’s done up to this point,” HISD Trustee Diana Davila told News 88.7. “We just want this to be a fair process for all candidates that are interested in coming down to Houston ISD.” Davila said she welcomes Lathan to apply for the position.

Grenita Lathan was chosen as Interim Superintendent, after the departure of Superintendent Richard Carranza.

Lathan will resume her previous role of Chief Academic Officer on Monday.

The motion to replace Lathan was met with backlash from several board members.

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School districts deal with threats, including Aldine

May 29, 2018
Alleged Threat to Aldine HS student Warnesha Crawford. (Image courtesy KRIV)

HARRIS COUNTY – Following the school shooting in Santa Fe last week, authorities report that there has been an increase in threats recorded across many schools in the county.

At least seven school districts in the area have had to deal with threats, by searching for senders, sending additional police, and hardening security features. Districts with problems included Clear Creek and Huffman, where students had guns, Cleveland where a student had a gun replica, and YES Prep West, Crosby, La Marque, and Aldine where threats were recorded.

The Harris County District Attorney’s office has reported that they filed charges against 24 students since last week’s shooting at Santa Fe. Most of these were against kids whose ages were from 12 to 16, but some were as young as 10.

John Jordan of the DA’s office said that it was imperative that these cases be filed, to protect other teachers and students. If a potential problem is seen, it must be reported and investigated, he said, “because you never know who the next shooter is going to be.” In Aldine, channel 26 Fox new’s Randy Wallace reported that a student, Warnesha Crawford, had received a threatening text from a fellow student that she claimed had been bullying her. She identified the student to school authorities, but her mother claimed they did not take the appropriate action, and the sender was still in school.

Aldine ISD officials issued a statement saying they were aware of the situation and were handling it according to the “student code of conduct.” (more…)

HISD Board of Education approves plan to rebuild four Harvey-damaged schools

January 2, 2018
Scarborough Elementary school, one of the 4 four Houston ISD most damaged schools by Harvey to be rebuilt.

Dec. 14, 2017 – The Houston Independent School District Board of Education during its December meeting on Thursday approved a plan to rebuild four elementary schools that sustained the most severe flood damage as a result of Hurricane Harvey.

Facilities assessments of the four elementary schools — Braeburn, Scarborough, Kolter, and Mitchell — found significant property damage, as well as a strong need to raise the elevation of the buildings to prevent potential future flood damage.

The cost to replace the four schools is estimated at $126 million, which will be funded by a combination of Operations reserves and Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone (TIRZ) funds.

“The damage to these four buildings was catastrophic,” Superintendent Richard Carranza said. “Our Chief Operating Officer and his team looked at them and believed it would be the most effective use of HISD resources to tear down and rebuild. We look forward to getting these students back into their home campuses that will be better equipped to sustain major storms in the future.”

The proposal trustees approved calls for the four schools to be demolished and rebuilt at their current sites. The plan requires the students and staff to remain in their current temporary locations until new facilities can be reconstructed at their original location. Those new facilities could be completed and open to students in 2020.

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Dr. Bamberg Region 4 Superintendent Of the Year

June 21, 2011

During the June 13 Aldine ISD Trustees meeting, President Rose Avalos announced that Dr. Wanda Bamberg had been named the Region 4 Superintendent of the Year.
Aldine ISD’s Trustees nominated Dr. Bamberg for this prestigious award.
Dr. Bamberg competed against other superintendents from throughout Region 4, which includes 54 schools districts from the greater Houston area.
All of the superintendents who were nominated had to submit applications that focused on a number of areas including administration and school climate, school board-superintendent relations, school improvement, fiscal management, facilities management, instructional management, student management, personnel management, and school-community relations.
“Our board of trustees nominated Wanda knowing confidently that she would be an excellent choice due to her reputation not only in the Houston area but around the state,” said Aldine ISD Trustee President Rose Avalos. “She leads a large and successful school district through collaborative decisions that are best for the children of Aldine. She is willing to make those difficult decisions when it comes to the best interest of Aldine students and employees. We are very proud of her selection and are confident that she will be successful at the state level of competition.”
By being named Region 4’s Superintendent of the Year, Dr. Bamberg is now in line to compete for Superintendent of the Year of the State of Texas. The overall state winner will be announced at the Texas Association of School
Administrators (TASA)/Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) annual convention, scheduled Sept. 30-Oct. 2, at the Austin Convention Center. The announcement will be made during the Second General Session, set for Saturday, Oct. 1 at 10:30 a.m.
Dr. Bamberg is currently serving her fourth year as superintendent and will enter her fifth year as superintendent when the 2011-12 school year begins on Aug. 22.
Dr. Bamberg is the third Aldine ISD superintendent to be named Region 4 Superintendent of the Year. Former Superintendent Nadine Kujawa earned the honor in 2006 and former Superintendent M.B. “Sonny” Donaldson earned the honor in 1994 and 1995.

Mac Arthur students receive scholarships

May 24, 2011

By JULIETA PAITA
At a recognition ceremony at Hinojosa E/CPK Center on Wednesday, May 18, 2011, six graduates from Hinojosa EC/PK Center, now young ladies studying at MacArthur high school, received scholarships.
Each student received $500 scholarship that will help them pay part of their expenses at the university they plan to attend.
These scholarships are part of a program that Hinojosa Center has: within the program, teachers from Hinojosa keep track of their students all the way to high school. “All year long teachers check on them to make sure they made it through,” said Sandra Arredondo, principal at Hinojosa EC/PK Center. “All these ladies went to Hinojosa 14 years ago, and now they are seniors at MacArthur.”
For next year, 190 students have been identified already who will be seniors at MacArthur. “This year, we helped 150 Hinojosa bears that were at MacArthur,” said Arredondo. “We want them to accomplish their dreams, go to the university and come back to this community to do wonderful things.”
At the ceremony, Hinojosa center also recognized community partners who had help them in some way or other in the past and the present.
One of the partners to be recognized was East Aldine Managment District for the improvements to the community such as side walks and a water fountain outside the school.
Northeast News was also recognized for covering schools news.

Blackwell, Stubblefield named Aldine ISD’s top principals

March 8, 2011

MacArthur Senior High School principal Nancy Blackwell and Stephens Elementary School principal Raymond Stubblefield were recently named Aldine ISD’s top principals by their peers.
Blackwell was named the district’s Secondary Principal of the Year, while Stubblefield was named AISD’s Elementary/Intermediate Principal of the Year. The two were voted as the district’s top two principals in balloting by other principals across the district.
Blackwell has been an educator for 36 years. She began her career as a teacher at Orange Grove Elementary School. During her tenure in Aldine, she has served as principal at Worsham Elementary School (four years), and Hambrick Middle School (nine years) before being named the principal at MacArthur Senior High School six years ago.


Stubblefield has been an educator for 21 years. He began his career as a middle school/intermediate social studies teacher before serving as an assistant principal at Johnson Elementary School, Parker Intermediate School and MacArthur Ninth Grade School. He also served a program director for three years before being named the principal at Mendel Elementary School. Six years ago he was named the principal of Stephens Elementary School.
Blackwell and Stubblefield will be honored at the Employee Awards Banquet in May.