and worked as an educator for more than 65 years, spending all of but 10 of those years in HISD. In February 2012, because the school population was at a historic low of 823, several members of the Independence Heights community, led by Sylvester Turner, a Texas Legislature representative, advocated for reinvestment in the school. They advocated for making Washington competitive with Reagan High School and Waltrip High School. The leaders argue that HISD had neglected the school. Turner and Washington High School officials established a donation campaign. As of January 19, 2012, the campaign raised $135,000. Kroger donated $10,000 of the funds. Around 2012, each year 400 students from Booker T. Washington transferred to Reagan and Waltrip. By 2015, the district purchased several houses around the high school as part of its program to rebuild the high school. After criminals began taking parts from the houses, residents argued that the way the houses were acquired could attract criminality. Using funds from the Houston ISD 2012 bond, the district constructed a new building for the school, which opened at the beginning of the 2018–2019 school year. Academics In 2011 the Texas Education Agency (TEA) gave the overall school an "unacceptable" rating. 51% of the school's 9th grade students passed the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills mathematics portion. In 2012 Houston Community College established an auto mechanic program at Booker T. Washington. The previous auto mechanic program closed around 1997. Before 2012 the auto shop had been filled with waste. The Houston Independent School District paid $300,000 to restore the auto shop. In 2012 Texas A&M University and Booker T. Washington partnered to give university scholarships to some engineering students. In 2019 the TEA gave the school an overall rating of 'C', with grades of 'D' and 'C' in Student Achievement and School Progress respectively. Campus Sylvester Turner advocated for the replacement of the gymnasium floors; they were replaced in the northern hemisphere fall of 2011. Turner said in February 2012 that the campus needed an overhaul greater than the $3.8 million that the district allotted to the school as a result of the previous bond election. Attendance zone One Houston Housing Authority (HHA) subsidized housing complex, Lincoln Park, is zoned to the school. Transportation Houston ISD provides school bus transportation to students who live more than two miles away from the school. Students zoned to the school and students