HOUSTON — Houston ISD Superintendent Mike Miles is taking heat over comments he made about canceling school on Tuesday because of weather concerns.
HISD and other local districts canceled classes because of the brutal cold and icy roads across Houston. City leaders urged Houstonians to stay home, if possible, because ice covered so many roadways and there were hundreds of crashes.
Even so, the state's largest district was one of the last to make the call Monday to let parents, students and staff know there would be no school.
In a recording obtained by KHOU 11 News, Miles is heard saying he regrets the decision.
"We made the decision to close schools today. I’m not sure that was the best decision," Miles said during a district advisory council meeting.
A member of the group Community Voices for Public Education was on the call and recorded the video.
"Despite the noise, despite the whining, despite people who are exaggerating saying we’re going to cost people’s lives, I got to ignore that and think about the kids and our core function," Miles said. "That doesn’t mean we’ll go to school when there’s a hurricane."
In the video, the superintendent says educators are essential workers and other essential workers, like first responders, did go to work during the freeze.
"We hit that definition. We provide a public service, the absence of which could cause great harm to the community," Miles said in a news conference Wednesday. "I'm not saying we should never close schools, I'm saying we should be slow to do that."
Miles said drivers could have handled the icy roads by "driving slowly."
He also pointed out that many HISD students are from low-income families and their parents can't take off work.
"When we close schools, parents don't have a choice. They have to leave their children home or get other arrangements," Miles explained.
The superintendent said that means some students had to stay home alone and didn't have hot meals that are normally provided by the schools.
In the recording, the superintendent said this experience taught him a lesson.
"I’m the one to blame. I’m not going to make the same mistake again," Miles said.
The recording quickly sparked backlash. Jackie Anderson with the Houston Federation of Teachers called Miles' comments outrageous.
The fact this recording came out, I hope it’s a wakeup for people to know there is something wrong here with the leader of a district who has no compassion for students or teachers," Anderson said.
Houston Mayor John Whitmire also addressed the remarks during this morning’s city council meeting.
"I was obviously pleased HISD closed. I can’t believe it became a controversy overnight," the mayor said.
Watch the full news conference with Mike Miles