Trustees discuss superintendent's goals
Chiropractor Ray Beaty knows a lot about alignment, but at Tuesday evening’s Ector County Independent School District’s Board of Trustees meeting, he and the rest of the board of trustees weren’t talking about spines.
Aligning courses of action between the superintendent, board of trustees and the school district were items for discussion at Tuesday evening’s special workshop meeting held in Conference Room E on the second floor of the Administration Building.
At the meeting, titled, “Creating Superintendent Goals that Actualize ECISD Core Beliefs and Commitments,” Superintendent Hector Mendez said that because the board of trustees will give direction to the district according to its core beliefs and commitments, they must also consider how the superintendent’s goals should align with those same core beliefs and commitments.
“What do I, as a superintendent, need to be held accountable for? This is one of the first boards to work to connect the superintendent’s goals to the board of trustees’ goals,” Mendez said. “Then, it’s about tying these beliefs to the district’s goals and what goes on at campuses to where the district can get to be world-class.”
After Mendez’s opening statements, Chief of Staff H.T. Sanchez illustrated through a presentation how the “superintendent’s evaluation plan” fills a gap between the “strategic priorities” established previously in 2008 and the “district continuous improvement plan” that requires drafts from campuses of 90-day campus plans. Ninety-day campus plans comprise statements of tasks, responsibilities, due dates, and satisfaction.
“The ‘superintendent’s evaluation plan’ will fill that gap and provide systems alignment where all the pieces go toward improving student performance,” Sanchez said.
Before the board broke into their “two by two” groups, composed of two trustees and two staff members, to further discuss core beliefs and commitments, Trustee Donna Smith said she was more concerned about evaluation.
“We already have the superintendent’s goals. I want to be able to evaluate his effectiveness and progress in keeping the commitments we make,” Smith said.
Superintendent Mendez’s evaluation will be conducted by the board toward the end of the year, Sanchez said.
