R. E. Kirby Middle School - History

History

The district was originally named Northeast Houston Independent School District. The district originated as a single school in Harris County. It was also named the East and Mount Houston Independent School District.

The district originally had a low income rural White population. Schools were segregated until the late 1960s. After desegregation, many White families moved to other communities along U.S. Highway 59 such as Aldine, Humble, and Porter. NHISD was a mostly white district throughout the 1970s. The current NFISD was formed out of Northeast Houston ISD. After White families left, African-American families became the majority and gained political control of NFISD. Area residents stated that they were not annexed by the Houston Independent School District because they wanted to maintain political control over their own schools.

In 1979 NFISD area residents discovered that a company had lied to them about a development; it claimed that houses were being developed on a site, when in reality a landfill was being placed there. The proposed landfill was about 1,400 feet (430 m) from the NFISD administration building, an NFISD high school, the NFISD sports stadium, and an NFISD track field. At the time the NFISD high school did not have air conditioning. Seven NFISD schools were within a 2-mile (3.2 km) radius of the landfill. In 1979 the area residents sued the landfill company in federal court. In 1985 the residents lost the suit in federal court. Due to the political efforts against the landfill, remedies were passed at the state and municipal levels.

In 1981 the NFISD Police Department was established.

As of October 12, 1989, NFISD was the largest school district in the State of Texas managed by African-Americans.

In 1991 voters approved an about $40 million NFISD bond.

In 1997 voters approved a bond in an election, leading to the construction of four schools. On March 1, 1998, the district issued $46.9 million worth of the approved bonds. The district used $5 million to refund older bonds at an interest rate that favored NFISD. The remaining funds were used to construct B. C. Elmore Middle School, East Houston Intermediate School (now Hilliard Elementary School), Keahey Intermediate School (now Marshall Early Childhood Center), and Shadydale Elementary School. In 1999 voters approved another about $40 million NFISD bond.

In June 2001 Tropical Storm Allison hit Houston, damaging six NFISD schools. Forest Brook High School sustained heavy damage after the storm; Forest Brook, Lakewood Elementary School, and the NFISD district administration building were closed due to storm damages. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) said that it would pay 75% of the damage costs sustained as a result of Allison. FEMA planned to give NFISD $1.4 million as its first installment of payments in November 2001.

On March 18, 2003 it had a budget of $65 million during that year; about $50 million came from the state and the rest came from property taxes.

On July 20, 2007, some teenagers vandalized Forest Brook High School with a water hose. Students at Forest Brook began the 2007-2008 school year at nearby M. B. Smiley High School. Forest Brook re-opened in the spring. After the vandalism of Forest Brook High School, North Forest ISD decided to merge Forest Brook's population into Smiley until Forest Brook is repaired. Some parents and observers criticized the decision, fearing territorial rivalries would cause tension between Forest Brook and Smiley students. School officials states that the repair would take at least four months.

In March 2008 North Forest ISD announced that it would consolidate its two high schools and close Tidwell Elementary School, merging it into Hilliard. Pupils formerly zoned to Tidwell started being a part of the Hilliard zone in August 2008.