 The grant was awarded partly because Simmons had installed a conflict mediation room for students called the "thinkery room".Simmons also intended to have an on-campus community center funded with the grant money.In October 2017 the HISD administration suspended Simmons, accusing her of disobeying a district directive to suspend school uniforms in the wake of Hurricane Harvey and threatening to issue tickets for non-compliance, as well as threatening students with a baseball bat.