The Houston Board of Education made a flurry of decisions related to personnel and land owned by the district during the closed session of Friday’s monthly meeting.
The meeting was rescheduled twice – once for academic awards and again for the high school softball team’s quarterfinal state playoff game. Board president Jennifer Scheets was absent from the 42-minute session.
Land price significantly lowered
Board members unanimously lowered the asking price of its property on Honeysuckle Lane, in Meadowbrook Estates, to $60,000. The minimum purchase price for the 3.61-acre property was set at $100,000 last July.
The land belongs to the Building Trades program and was declared last year as surplus property.
MS teacher among three resignations
Kirsten Romines, middle school career/technology teacher, resigned effective the end of the 2025-26 school year. She was also middle school student council sponsor.
Two internal district positions – Marrie Moore as district homeless liaison and Brett Rawlings as English language learners liaision – received resignations with no board action.
Science teacher, paraprofessionals among hires
Krista Cockrum was hired as middle school science teacher for the 2026-27 school year. Also extended contacts for the next school year were:
- Conaley Aaron, paraprofessional.
- Amaya Silas, paraprofessional.
- Connor McKinney, custodian.
- Sarah Lewis, Exceptional Child Cooperative speech language pathalogist.
- Emma Southards, ECC speech language pathalogist.
Summer school staff, salary schedules
Along with approving the staff list for summer school, which began Tuesday, members OK’d a handful of salary schedules for employees:
- Caroline Lurie’s employment was amended to Step 4 recognizing three years of experience as an occupational therapist.
- Christine Gregory’s employment was amended to Step 25 recognizing 24 years of experience on the Master +24.
- Jacob Bolden’s placement on the custodial/shuttle lane was amended to Step 4 recognizing 10 years of custodial experience.
Safety manual reviewed, legal matter heard
Also during the meeting, board members received the 2026-27 Safety Crisis Manual for review only. No action was needed. A legal matter with no discussion was also part of the meeting.