As a mother of two children in Houston ISD schools, I have a stake in the future of our school district and have been following the moves of its Board of Education for several years. I have attended almost every school board meeting for the last few years—including regular meetings, board workshops and agenda review meetings. I am familiar with the players, the politics and the issues with which the school board is dealing.

However, this past week’s events shocked even me, a veteran observer of the board’s happenings.

In March, Richard Carranza resigned as HISD Superintendent, and in April, the board promoted then Chief Academic Officer, Dr. Grenita Lathan, to interim superintendent while they planned for their second superintendent search in the same number of years.

But for the past five months, there has been a behind the scenes struggle by a faction of board members to make Interim Superintendent Dr. Grenita Lathan the permanent superintendent. The board is split, and currently, Dr. Lathan does not have the five votes necessary to be selected despite strong lobbying by some board members, powerful elected officials and influential business people.

As part of her bid to secure the top job, Dr. Lathan has welcomed a longtime activist and critic of the district’s administration, Gerry Monroe, into her circle.