Houston Board Member ISD reveals a breach of procurement policy in unauthorized expenses

Houston, Texas -The largest school district of Texas, Houston ICD, came under a fire after the chief appointed by the state, Mike Miles acknowledged that the district had violated its procurement policy by spending hundreds of millions without approval of the school council.

On January 13, Miles conducted a press conference concerning what he called “a conscientious mistake in the process of inspection of the procurement of the district, which was discovered in December. According to Miles, the team responsible for viewing district projects made purchases without approval of the Board, believing that approval is not required for purchases related to what Miles called “the procurement of cooperatives”.

As a result, Miles stated that the results were not submitted to the Council. Miles stated that no laws had been violated, and the internal auditor determined that the purchases were agreed with the amount of budgeting approved on board.

“I think it was a bona fide mistake, but it was still a mistake, and it should be corrected,” Miles said.

KPRC 2 received a copy Audit on two pagesWhat showed that from August 1, 2023 to November 30, 2024, 10 purchases were made in violation of the procurement policy. In the final audit, which was conducted on January 10, it was confirmed that all reviewed purchases that adhere to standard approval processes were levied on reasonable points of the budget line and were accurately recorded according to the public memorandum.

On Monday, starting at 6am on KPRC 2, Mario Diaz is investigating, deepening his HISD costs, focusing on the deployment of his mass bonds for $ 4 billion to voters.

What is the Purchase of HISD?

The Purchase process of HISD is the process of purchasing goods and services that you need to work with HISD. This process includes the definition of needs, suppliers’ research and payment for goods and services.

KPRC 2 investigations spoke with the former HISD board member and President Lulak Sergio Lera, who called the situation “rather alarm” and explained the process of procurement of the district in the simplest form and how it affects taxpayers.

Lira has given the following example of how the procurement process works: if every five years the area is obliged to accept new educational materials, such as textbooks for mathematics and science. This process will start from the area that sends a request for proposals (RFP) to the publishers’ books. These publishers will then submit their proposals, which are viewed by the Committee, which has chosen the best option based on quality and cost -effectiveness.

“The area sends a request for proposals to book publishers,” Lira said. “Different companies send their RFP, and the purchase committee chooses the best to ensure that the lowest bidder receives a contract at the lowest price.”

Once the proposal is selected, it is undergoing a legal review to ensure compliance and lack of conflict of interest. The Board or Managers then inspects and approves the proposal during their monthly meetings. Lira said that this is how the procurement process was being carried out, providing transparency with the public.

In a recent event, when the area stated that they made a “bona fide mistake”, Lira said it was not just a case, but a failure in the procurement process.

“They just approved a lot of expenses that worked very quickly with the new administration,” Lira explained. “The advice of managers was to catch it when you spend more than $ 850 million. They created a policy and they had to catch it.

Lira called the Board of Managers “inexperienced with the educational jargon”.

“These people almost approved and handed them all they told them because they get a wonderful fire hydrant of information, and if they do not understand educational documents, language and jargon, they would go,” well, that’s good. ‘They do not really dive into what is happening.

Lira emphasized that it was a huge failure in the legal department of the area.

“These are our taxpayers’ dollars, so we need to know exactly where every dollar goes,” Lira said.

In smaller school areas, Lira said they have simpler and more transparent processes that can serve as a model for large areas such as Houston ICD.

So how can the area restore public confidence? Lira stands for independent audit and greater transparency in financial agreements.

“Before you even ask for an increase in tax, clean up corruption and waste,” he advised, remembering that KPRC 2’s Denced Resign and how Amy Davis exposed Houston’s water department and helped to eliminate corruption.

“These are our taxpayer dollars who pay for everything that consumes it … be it state or local taxes,” Lira said. “Before you even ask for an increase in tax … You ask for a bond, about $ 4 billion, without pre -cleaning corruption and waste and get it off, as well as Houston Mayor. I think HISD should follow the mayor of Vitmir for cleaning waste before they ask the public to hold any bond referendum. “

KPRC 2 appealed to HISD to prevent procurement violations in the future and the district sent the following answer:

The administration and the Board of Managers have consulted and take the following steps, moving forward:

• The HISD provides additional legal services to support the internalization of board changes.

• Promoting the Agency for Changes in the Board Policy by increasing access to legal services.

• Continuing the audit of procurement procedures, which was already planned by the Milza administration.