This new decision is a part of the reform program for the school district called New Education System that Miles created and is rolling out ahead of the new school year, Click2Houston.com reported. Out of the 276 school campuses within HISD, 85 schools have agreed to participate in his program, which resulted in 28 schools removing their librarians. Although these employees can transfer to new roles within the district, all library staff in the 57 other schools will be determined individually.

This new library model has been discussed for the last several years as the previous superintendent, Millard House II, fought to keep librarians as he deemed them necessary for schools, according to retired HISD Teacher in Charge of Library Lisa Robinson.

“My heart is just broken for these children that are in the NES schools that are losing their librarians,” Robinson told Click2Houston. “The mandate for librarians had been put back in place. With one swipe of a pen that has been destroyed.”

Miles himself said the reading proficiency levels of students up to fourth grade aren’t meeting the required standards for success as they’re dragging behind not only in the state of Texas but the entire nation.

With the alarming news that students are behind, former HISD librarian and library services manager Janice Newsum thinks the decision can only add to the current reading problem the teachers and students are facing.

“When students engage in reading as an activity of choice, they are not only building that reading muscle, but they are also developing their vocabulary they are understanding a bit about the world that exists outside their block radius,” she said.

The outlet reported Mayor Sylvester Turner is another person who opposes the superintendent’s new direction, especially since most schools removing librarians are in underdeveloped communities where Black and brown families are the majority.

“You don’t close libraries in some of the schools in your most underserved communities, and you’re keeping libraries open in other schools,” Turner said.

Now that students won’t use the schools’ library spaces for research, reading, or supplementing teachers’ lessons with support, among other functions, the open spaces will now become “team centers,” where students can work collectively or solo during the day while simultaneously being used as an additional in-school detention area where students in trouble can learn virtually.

On Thursday, Miles shared his vision for the NES program and took questions from attendees to address the many concerns during a community meeting. He said he’s transforming the traditional library and focusing on teaching students how to read.

“It’s about where are you going to put your priorities,” he said. “How are you going to work in a different way to get our kids what they need?”