HOUSTON (KIAH) — About 28 schools in Houston will be starting the next school year with something missing: their librarians.

Mike Miles, the new state-appointed superintendent of the Houston Independent School District (HISD), recently announced that certain schools in the district will repurpose their libraries as disciplinary centers, Nexstar’s KIAH previously reported. Librarian roles within those schools have also been eliminated.

The program is also reportedly targeting underperforming schools primarily located in low- and middle-income areas, NewsNation reported.

News of the change was denounced by dozens of leaders in the Houston area, including elected officials and religious leaders, according to the office of Mayor Sylvester Turner.

In a press conference Monday, Turner address community concerns.

“We can all agree that grades and academic achievement must improve at all of our schools and there are students who need remedial help to improve their reading, their writing, their math skills, and we stand ready to assist any person, superintendent, board of managers, teachers or anyone else to improve the quality of education in all of our schools, but you cannot do that by closing libraries on some campuses,” Turner said.

Turner also mentioned that Miles was invited to the conference but instead sent a statement. The statement included an invitation from Miles to visit the campuses of the affected schools to learn more about the program, which he said was “designed to provide the most support to Houston’s most disadvantaged children.”

The program, part of the HISD’s “New Education System” reform project, aims to turn the schools’ libraries into “team centers” where teachers can send misbehaving students for virtual learning or disciplinary purposes. Books will remain on the shelves with students still able to check them out based on an honor system, according to the district.

Another 57 schools have reportedly opted into the program but are awaiting approval, NewsNation reported.

The new superintendent’s plan also comes in direct opposition to previous Superintendent Millard House II, who had hoped to put a librarian in every HISD school.