Inside Today: City, Reliant partner to open cooling centers Page 5
Covering the Heights, Garden Oaks, Oak Forest & the neighborhoods of North Houston Saturday, June 21, 2025 • Vol. 70 • No. 25
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INSIDE.
Mike Miles gets 5-year contract extension amid praise and protest By STEFANIE THOMAS editor@theleadernews.com On June 12, the Houston ISD Board of Managers unanimously approved a new five-year contract for Superintendent Mike Miles, drawing both praise for academic gains and fierce criticism from public education advocates who decry the lack of transparency and accountability. The contract comes two years into the state’s takeover of the district and follows the
release of 2025 STAAR results showing notable improvements across all tested grade levels and subjects. HISD Board of Managers President Ric Campo cited these academic results as justification for extending Miles’ leadership. “With the recent release of STAAR exam results, it is clear that under his leadership, our schools and students are making extraordinary academic progress,” Campo said. “The five-year term ensures HISD can continue its transformation for the duration of the state in-
tervention while allowing for continuity and a smooth transition when the district returns to local control.”
Contract Details
The extended agreement, which will be posted publicly on the district’s website, includes the following key stipulations: • Term: Five years, from June 2025 to June 2030 • Base Salary: $350,000 annually • Performance Bonus: Up to $50,000 annually, contingent on meeting specific
academic growth and accountability metrics • Evaluation Criteria: Includes student performance, staff retention, and implementation of strategic initiatives • Termination Clause: Either party may terminate with a 90-day notice; HISD may terminate for cause without severance • Retention Incentive: A one-time $50,000 retention bonus if Miles remains superintendent through June 2028
HIDDEN OASIS
Heights Kroger celebrates 70 years with deals, giveaways
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Photos by Stephanie Shirley
Major construction is underway at Little Thicket Park to secure the foundation and effective water and drainage infrastructure below the park’s surface.
Little Thicket Park gets a big makeover The unique refuge will benefit families in ways they never imagined. In 2020 MHRA and HPRD partnered to create a master plan. But first, serious infrastructure issues needed to be addressed. Little Thicket Bayou runs along the west side of the park. A section of the bayou’s banks had failed over time and had to be shored-up and stabilized to mitigate and prevent new erosion. This was accomplished through strategic placement of terraced gabions and planting of native vegetation along the bayou. Every stage of the project has carried its own price tag.
By STEPHANIE SHIRLEY The Leader News Contributor Community Calendar: Find out what’s happening in and around town
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Local housing data by zip code for May
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“The Houston Comeback”: HISD Cites Academic Growth
HISD leadership is celebrating what it’s calling “The Houston Comeback.” In a press release touting the 2025 STAAR results, the See MILES P. 2
Harris County ends Guaranteed Income Program following Texas Supreme Court intervention By STEFANIE THOMAS editor@theleadernews.com
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Pet of the Week: Meet Jelly Bean, the kitty who deserves a third chance
According to HISD officials, the compensation package aligns with superintendent salaries in similarly large Texas districts, including Dallas and Austin ISDs.
Driving past Little Thicket Park from any direction would never provide the slightest indication of what lies within its perimeters. Quietly tucked away amidst the traffic and congestion of nearby Loop 610 North, the park is a 10+ acre tree-covered treasure that leaves residents feeling like they have been transported miles from the city. With W. 24th and 22nd Streets to the north and south and Ella and E. TC Jester to the west and east, the park is only accessible to the public from Ella Blvd. The physical address, and main entrance, is 1831 W. 23rd. The park has been in existence for three quarters of a century. Although modest updates were done back in 2004, the park was in serious need of renovation and became another TIRZ5 Memorial Heights Redevelopment Authority (MHRA) pet project to improve the quality of life in
Discreetly tucked away in the middle of a rare Heights woodland like no other, Little Thicket Park is undergoing a renovation.
Community Voices Shape the Vision
“The master plan was separate, the design was separate and the all the The Heights community. The renova- erosion work that was done previously tions are very timely, especially since was separate,” said TIRZ5 (MHRA) travel and vacation have become more President Sherry Weesner. Now they unaffordable and intangible for many. See PARK P. 2
After months of legal battles and a final halt from the Texas Supreme Court, Harris County Commissioners Court has voted to end its Community Prosperity Program—formerly known as Uplift Harris—a guaranteed income initiative intended to provide monthly assistance to thousands of low-income families. The decision, finalized in a vote on Thursday, reallocates remaining funds to emergency rental assistance, homelessness programs, and food and nutrition services. The now-defunct program was designed to provide $500 monthly payments over 18 months to as many as 1,900 households in the county’s ten highest-poverty ZIP codes. It was created to address economic inequality and help families afford basic needs like food, rent, medicine, and child care. The initiative was championed by Commissioner Rodney Ellis and gained broad attention when more than 59,000 households applied in the first week of its launch in January 2024. “This is not a great day,” Ellis said during a press conference. “Unfortunately, [recipients] will not receive that support.” He emphasized that guaranteed income is not a radical concept, citing historical support from both civil rights leaders and economists. “Voices across the political spectrum—from Dr. Martin Luther King to Milton Friedman—have advocated for guaranteed income as an effective anti-poverty solution.” The program’s downfall, however, came after the Texas Attorney General sued the county, arguing that the payments constituted unconstitutional “gifts” of public money. In June 2024, the Texas Supreme Court granted a motion from the state to prohibit all payments under the program while litigation continued. In its opinion, the Court stated that “serious doubt” had been raised about the constitutionality of Uplift Harris. See INCOME P. 2
Garden Oaks business supports at-risk youth aging out of the foster care system By STEPHANIE SHIRLEY The Leader News Contributor Coming to a Table Near You: Events and special offers for the foodie in you
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The statistics for young people aging out of foster care in Texas are sobering. A local nonprofit is working with many local businesses like Clutch Automotive in Garden Oaks to change that trajectory.
Staggering Statistics Highlight the Need
According to the Texas Workforce Commission, in Fiscal Year 2020, Texas had more than
27,000 children in its foster care system. And per statistics by the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, each year approximately 700 to 900 foster youth reach age 18 and “age out” of eligibility for foster care services. Even worse, kids aging out of the foster care system have little hope for steady employment or a college education. According to the National Foster Youth Institute: • Of the more than 23,000 children that will age out of the US
foster care system every year, after reaching the age of 18, 20 percent will become instantly homeless. • Only 1 out of every 2 foster kids who age out of the system will have some form of gainful employment by the age of 24. • There is less than a 3 percent chance for kids who have aged out of foster care to earn a college degree at any point in their Photo by Stephanie Shirley Petra Cares graduate Kole Grogg has enjoyed the guidance and life. See FOSTER P. 5
support of his team leader Caleb Lastrape at Clutch Automotive in Garden Oaks to ensure success.
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