Humble ISD Board Approved $1.2M in Consulting Fees to Firm Run by Trustee’s Business Partner

The Humble Independent School District paid $1.2 million in consulting fees between 2023 and 2025 to an educational services firm whose managing partner has a documented business relationship with a sitting HISD school board trustee, according to records reviewed by Corruption Watch – TX.

The firm, Strategic Academic Partners LLC, was first contracted by the district in 2022 to provide “curriculum alignment” and “instructional coaching” services. The contract was renewed twice by board vote — once in 2023 and again in 2024. Board meeting minutes show the trustee voted in favor of both renewals. No conflict-of-interest disclosure appears in the meeting records for either vote.

Texas Education Code requires school board members to disclose any financial interest — direct or indirect — in contracts before a vote is taken. Failure to do so can constitute a Class A misdemeanor under state ethics law.

Corporate filings obtained from the Texas Secretary of State show that the trustee and the managing partner of Strategic Academic Partners share a registered agent address for a separate LLC formed in 2021, roughly a year before the first HISD contract was awarded. The trustee also appears as a signatory on that LLC’s original formation documents.

The trustee did not respond to two phone calls and an email seeking comment. Strategic Academic Partners did not respond to a written request for an interview.

Humble ISD’s communications director said in a statement that the district “follows all applicable ethics and procurement rules” and that the contracts in question “went through standard approval processes.”

Corruption Watch – TX has requested all communications between district staff and Strategic Academic Partners from 2021 to present. That request is currently being contested by the district.

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