HOUSTON — Under the shroud of secrecy, Mike Miles was officially sworn in as the new HISD superintendent Thursday as the Texas Education Agency takes control of the state's largest school district.
In his first television interview, Miles told KHOU 11 News that no HISD schools are on the chopping block --at least not yet.
"I don't think it would be prudent to close any schools," Miles said. "We're going to look at schools closely though over the year and see if there's any schools that need to be closed.
Miles said he's laser-focused on the mission at hand.
“Look, the job is to make sure we have effective schools, the best schools for our kids – and that’s what we’re going to be focused on this year," he said. "And if I can’t get the job done, can’t get the outcomes, then I’d need to be fired.
Miles is under a 21-day interim contract until he can be formally sworn in by the new board of managers, which was also appointed by the TEA.
Miles and the board of managers were sworn in during a private meeting.
In a statement, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner criticized the move by TEA.
"This process has been flawed and anti-democratic from the very beginning. There has been minimal community engagement and very little transparency," Turner said. "The named Superintendent and Board of Managers were chosen behind closed doors by the state with little or no input from parents, teachers, or local community leaders. (Scroll down for full statement.)
In mid-May, Turner said Miles had been chosen but TEA refuted those claims, saying no one had been selected yet.
Mike Miles' background
Miles was previously listed as the CEO of an education company based in Colorado called Third Future Schools. According to the company's website, it specializes in turning around "chronically failing schools." The company has worked with multiple Texas school districts, including Midland ISD, Ector County ISD, Austin ISD and Beaumont ISD.
Miles previously served as DISD's superintendent from 2012 until he resigned in June 2015.
According to a 2015 report from DISD, Miles resigned to spend more time with his family. They said he led the district through a "positive transition" during his time as superintendent.
Miles said at the time that no other district had accomplished as much as DISD in the same period of time.
However, according to a 2015 report from our sister station WFAA, his tenure was surrounded by controversy.
But there were violations of school district policies, questionable hires and apparent attempts to hinder internal investigations during his time with DISD, according to WFAA.
Some parents at the time told WFAA Miles made improvements to the district while others said he threw DISD into more chaos.
According to a 2012 report from the Texas Tribune, prior to taking on the role of superintendent at DISD, Miles had served as a teacher, principal and later superintendent in a Colorado Springs, Colorado school district. He had also served as a diplomat in Poland.
His hiring by DISD was approved by the board in an 8-1 vote.
Mayor Turner's full statement:
"I have been very straightforward in my position that the state takeover of HISD is not in the best interest of the students and staff of HISD. Even with the announcement of a Superintendent and Board of Managers, most of whom I do not know, my position has not changed.
This process has been flawed and anti-democratic from the very beginning. There has been minimal community engagement and very little transparency. The named Superintendent and Board of Managers were chosen behind closed doors by the state with little or no input from parents, teachers, or local community leaders.
I do not question the desire of those persons to do their very best on behalf of HISD. Still, they are being asked to address deficiencies and budgetary shortfalls without any additional resources coming from the state. In fact, the student population has steadily declined amidst all of this talk of a takeover by the state, which equates to a further loss of state financial support, not to mention the alarming exodus of tenured and experienced executive staff from HISD as a result of the incoming Administration, which will also have a detrimental impact on the students and remaining staff of HISD.
General Colin Powel told President Bush that if you invade Iraq, you will own it. The state has chosen to take over HISD, the largest school district in Texas, and it now owns it and has the responsibility of seeing that every one of the 274 schools is academically performing and given the resources needed to meet the needs of every student.
Anything less only adds to the distrust that already exists between the state and local units of government."