Parents say district lacks transparency as HISD pushes to fund HISD Now and cut misinformation

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- As Houston ISD seeks to improve the district, leaders propose spending $2 million on HISD Now in the 2025-26 district improvement plan. That's the district's in-house communication project that creates content produced by district employees.

The district frames HISD Now as a way to cut back on misinformation, but parents and school advocates say it has not improved communication with stakeholders, and they feel left in the dark on major decisions.

"No, it actually came out of nowhere; it was really unexpected," Port Houston Elementary mom, Deysy Arellano, said.

When HISD announced Port Houston Elementary school was one of 12 schools potentially closing for consolidation, Arellano said she was blindsided.

"A lot of mixed emotions were brought up," Arellano said.

Arellano said she hoped to get answers at Monday night's informational meeting hosted by district managers, but once again, she was disappointed.

"They were trying to keep us (from) not talking at all. The moment I stood up and I told her, 'No, this is what we are feeling. This is our idea.' They were trying to tell us, 'OK, let's go ahead and calm down. Go ahead and write it on a piece of paper,' they had on the chairs," Arellano said.

Arellano said it was a quick 20-minute meeting with little transparency. It's a frustration, as the district's 2025-26 improvement plan lays out a desire to communicate with the public through HISD Now.

The improvement plan states that it wants HISD Now prioritized in the communication budget, to hire a news crew who can cover breaking news live, and they want to market the platform outside of the district.

The plan reads, "Our efforts to persuade and inform in this type of media environment have suffered from the immediacy of misinformation and entertaining social content."

Arellano said she hasn't found the district more transparent this school year, and Houston Federation of Teachers Union Chief of Staff Corian Ortiz agrees.

"If there would have been actual true transparency, they would have brought in all those stakeholders, you would have brought in the community, you would have brought in the parent, you would have brought in the union," Ortiz said.

The improvement plans read that the approximate cost of HISD Now is $2 million, with philanthropic funds being used for additional costs.

The approved 2025-26 school budget notes that the district allots nearly 6 and a half million dollars for media services.

ABC13 reached out to the district with a number of questions. They responded, saying the document was drafted before HISD Now launched and that department goals can change. The district also said the $2 million total accounts for how much the platform could cost over multiple years.

ABC13 requested an on-camera interview with someone from the district, but that request was ignored.

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