Community member asks Sheldon ISD and neighbors to join East Harris County secondary literacy blueprint

Jennifer Lewich, a community literacy organizer, asked the Sheldon ISD board and local residents to join an East Harris County blueprint to improve secondary literacy.

Speaking during public comment, Lewich said the blueprint is an action plan to strengthen financial, health, environmental, digital, workforce, academic and college literacy across districts. She said nearly half of current eighth graders in the area left third grade without grade‑level reading skills and called for volunteers from the public and from board members to serve on expert panels or general‑public panels. She requested about 90 minutes of time on a Monday or Tuesday evening during the school year from volunteers.

Lewich said the final plan will be presented to local school boards and San Jacinto College’s board of trustees, the media and local elected officials. She provided contact information through the district staff member who manages public comment follow‑up and invited anyone interested to reach out for details.

Quotes from the public comment period were limited to Lewich’s remarks; trustees did not respond during the public comment period, in keeping with open‑meetings rules announced at the start of the meeting.