HOUSTON – In February, 2 Investigates reported that the Houston Independent School District allocated $2 million in taxpayer dollars for “Key Action 2” in the district’s 2024-2025 Adopted Budget Book.
These public funds were earmarked to “support” the district’s efforts to “ask voters for a bond election in November 2024.” The action item outlined the costs associated with developing the plan and hiring a consulting group.
Legal experts raised concerns about whether the district was engaging in electioneering. 2 Investigates Mario Diaz later learned that Attorney General Ken Paxton also expressed concerns about electioneering in the days leading up to early voting last October.
Since then, we have continued our investigation, and now a whistleblower has revealed a secret focus group funded by you the taxpayer.
“I don’t want my children or my children’s schools to face any repercussions for the fact that I am speaking out,” the whistleblower, a parent in the district, said to 2 Investigates.
We disguised the whistleblower’s voice and identity, as she said allows her to feel safe talking about HISD and the $4.4 billion bond package that voters shot down last November.
“The information that we were shown was very clearly part of a bond campaign,” said the whistleblower we call Ellen.
She said that seven months before the election, she took part in what she described as a secret focus group, and it required her to sign a “confidentiality agreement.”
“I feel what happened in...
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