💲 Making bank with OT

Plus: Public school demographics and children left in the dark.

View in browser By Cat DeLaura Good morning, Houston!   ☀️ More pleasant weather on the books today. Highs in the mid 80s.    Now here's Thursday's news. BEST OF THE BAYOU Overtime payouts Godofredo A. Vásquez, / Houston Chronicle If you read one thing: A review of city payroll data shows nearly 140 employees more than doubled their salaries with overtime pay.    How much did employees make in overtime? There were 13 employees who made more than $100,000 in overtime last year.    The highest overtime earner was a Houston police officer who worked 2070 hours of overtime, or more than $155,000 in overtime pay.   Why are employees making so much in overtime? A city spokeswoman said overtime is needed during labor shortages, noting that the city's staffing challenges "are not unique," and reflect national trends and the toll of attrition.    What departments had the highest overtime expenditures? The Houston Police Department and Houston Fire Department led, followed by the Public Works and Solid Waste departments.    Public Works and Solid Waste have struggled to keep up staffing levels, even while demand for their services increased significantly during the pandemic. The department is running nearly double its overtime budget for the year.    Similarly, HFD has about 500 fewer employees than it had a decade ago, even as its call volume has essentially doubled.    How has the city paid for all this? The city can use federal CARES and ARPA funding to pay for salary and overtime of first responders, but there are concerns about what the city will do when that money dries up.  Last thoughts: "We're struggling to get by right now when we are flush with cash," said Chris Brown, city Controller. "When we burn off that cash, we're going to have some big challenges ahead." DATA OF THE DAY Texas public school demographics While the majority of Texas public school students are Latino, most teachers and principals in the state are white. White students account for 26 percent of the student population, but white teachers account for 56 percent of teachers and 57 percent of principals.    Why does this matter? Research shows teacher and administrator diversity benefits all students, particularly students of color, and many advocates say educators should more closely reflect the cultural and racial demographics of students.  TEXAS TIES A mess for children Mercedes Cordero / Midland Reporter-Telegram If you read one thing: Hundred of migrant children and teens went weeks without updates on when they would be reunited with their families or sponsors, contributing to emotional distress and even self-harm among them, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.   What happened? The report found that about 700 migrant children held at an emergency shelter at Fort Bliss went 60 days without hearing from their case managers.    In addition, case managers, who had caseloads of up to 35, were not trained on best practices for reuniting children and teens with their sponsors.    On top of that, the report also outlined reports of retaliation against whistleblowers on staff at Fort Bliss who came forward with the initial complaints about the facility.    What is the emergency shelter at Fort Bliss? The emergency intake site at Fort Bliss was opened in march 2021 to deal with the spike in migrant children and teens arrive at the U.S.-Mexico border without a sponsor.    The shelter employed 300 case managers, though many were inexperienced and lacked knowledge of child welfare.  What happens next? In response to the findings, the Office of Inspector General recommended setting up a plan to hire qualified case managers quickly when there is an influx of arrivals, train them efficiently, and create emergency protocols among other things.  STAY IN THE LOOP Susan Barber / Houston Chronicle 🏫 School shootings: An "unfounded" school shooting threat at Paetow High School in Katy ISD caused mass panic yesterday morning. Rumors of a school began circulating on social media Tuesday night, according to parents. (Houston Chronicle)   🏗️ HOA fights: Lawyers for Tanglewood Homes Association are fighting the newly announced 33-story "tower of mansions." They say they want to preserve Tanglewood as it is today, without a high-rise casting a shadow directly onto their homes. (Houston Chronicle)    🚮 Bayou-vac: A custom-made boat found only in Houston floats the Buffalo Bayou vacuuming up mountains of litter. The work is smelly and messy, but without this work the plastics in the bayou would end up in the Gulf, compounding a growing problem of plastics in the oceans. (Houston Chronicle)   🗳️ Lone vote: U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz cast the lone vote against a bipartisan bill that would make it harder for members of Congress to object to presidential election results — like Cruz did after the election of President Joe Biden — as a Senate committee advanced the legislation Tuesday. (Houston Chronicle)  🪧 Protest: A Katy ISD board member attended a "peaceful," "prayerful" protest of a Katy church's drag bingo event on Sept. 18. He clarified that he was not in attendance at another later protest of the same event, which drew more than 100 people. (Houston Chronicle) GET TO KNOW YOUR CITY Susan Barber / Houston Chronicle 🌱 Get Outside: Learn to plant a container or raised bed garden with transplants or seeds at Beauty's Community Garden. It's always a good day to learn how to grow your own food.  When:  10 - 11 a.m. Saturday, October 1 Where: Beauty's Community Garden, 3201 Airline Dr.  R.S.V.P. here   👻 Get Your Kids: Celebrate fall with all things pumpkin and a spooktacular Scary-Go-Round at the opening night of Zoo Boo. Costumes are strongly encouraged.  When: 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Saturday, October 1 Where: Houston Zoo, 6200 Hermann Park Dr.    🇱🇧 Get Festive: The Houston Lebanese Festival, considered the largest in North America, will showcase Lebanese heritage with live music, traditional dancing, authentic food and a host of other activities.  When: 11 a.m. - 9 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 1; 12 - 8 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 2 Where: Constellation Field, 1 Stadium Dr., Sugar Land Cost: $35   🥣 Get Local: Celebrate the cool(er) weather with duck and smoked sausage gumbo at The Tipping Point's Soul Food Sunday Pop-up. When: 12 - 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 2 Where: The Tipping Point, 214 Travis St.    Do you know of anything happening in Houston next weekend? Send us your events for a chance to be featured in next week's newsletter.  This Texas Monthly story about the Texas State professor who just launched a class about Harry Styles attending the Harry's House shows in Austin this week is providing me endless entertainment...and also making me truly wonder at the things we humans will do to get near our idols.   Cat DeLaura cat.delaura@chron.com Do you love The 713?  Subscribe to the Houston Chronicle to support this newsletter and get other perks.    Know someone else who would like The 713? Send them here to sign up. Unsubscribe  |  Manage Preferences  |  Privacy Notice Houston Chronicle 4747 Southwest Freeway, Houston, TX 77027 © 2022 Hearst Communications