Since starting as superintendent of Midland ISD in January, Stephanie Howard has hired nine Ector County ISD people as upper-level administrators.
Teachers and support staff have also come over to work from Odessa, so what’s the secret?
“I think the secret to hiring in West Texas just goes back to relationships,” Howard said.
Having been in the region for going on 29 years, Howard said she knows a lot of people.
Historically, people have always gone back and forth between ECISD and MISD, including Howard herself. She worked at ECISD and MISD twice.
The ECISD Board of Trustees on Tuesday approved hiring a couple of MISD people.
“I’m always thinking ahead about if this position were to open up, who’s out there that can do that job well,” Howard said.
She added that even if someone is happy where they are and doesn’t want to move, they may know someone who does.
Sometimes it’s the job, the money, and people who don’t want to make the drive between the two cities.
“But then other times, it really is just about opportunities. It’s about being part of a team. I think the people that came over that have worked with me before, they know how I like to do business. They clearly like to do business that way … I’m a true believer in hiring quality people and then letting them do their job, holding them to high expectations, but then give them the tools they need to reach those high expectations,” Howard said.
She added that along with the high-level administrators, she’s hired quite a few teachers. Some may have a connection to a principal they’ve worked with before. One example is Juan Dominguez, who came back as the Alamo Junior High principal.
Jessica Redman, principal at Wilson & Young in Odessa, was hired as executive director of school leadership after 16 years at ECISD.
MISD recently increased its starting teacher salary to $60,500 a year. ECISD will vote Tuesday on increasing their starting pay to $60,600.
“Our values will be $47 billion next year. With that being said, we’re a property wealthy districts so every time the values go up, that means we send more back to the state and get less from the state. All districts are kind of in a hold harmless position, if you will. Not going to get more; or lose more. You’re … basically going to have about the same amount to operate on. Depending on what happens with formula transition grant in another year, that could look very different for us. But you know, right now we’ve run a lot of vacancies and when you have vacancies, you have unused payroll money, so rather than just carrying positions on the books year in and year out that aren’t going to be filled, looking at different ways to utilize that money. That was a priority for the board. They always want to be able to compensate in a competitive way where we can,” Howard said.
MISD has been under a formula transition grant money since 2019. Anytime the finance system changes there are going to be districts that get more money and others that get less. In 2019, MISD was going to have about a $50 million impact.
“We’ve been receiving formula transition grant money to keep us whole, if you will, to keep us from having … about a $50 million deficit, or loss, if you will. Now there’s also two sides to that, one of which is because we are receiving the formula transition grant, we don’t get other monies that would flow to us … When that goes away you have other funding sources that can come in. But it’s really just about looking at our priorities, looking at how we’re spending our money and then making that decision to be competitive with pay,” Howard said.
MISD underwent a Texas Association of School Boards study for the first time since 2017 that looked at all the district’s positions and how they compared to the market.
“I think everybody out here is having to get more creative on how to try to recruit people in a market where they can get a job anywhere they turn and look for ways to be competitive and then to keep those people in positions when we have them,” Howard said.
There has been a Facebook post asking those who have left MISD to come back. Howard said they are also offering part-time positions.
There are districts that have no choice but to pay the minimum salary of under $40,000 to teachers because they don’t have the tax base or any help from the state.
Ashley Osborne, who was executive director of talent development at ECISD, is now associate superintendent of teaching and learning at MISD. She had worked for Howard a couple of times.
“The appeal for me was to utilize my skill set, both talent and curriculum and instruction, to work for Dr. Howard again. I’ve worked for her in a couple of different positions over the years and I really enjoy her leadership style and I grow as a professional under her supervision … so that was a huge appeal for me. And then, just the opportunity to work with the people of Midland ISD. This is where I started my career, so hopefully this will be where I end my career …,” Osborne said.
“We have a lot of positive momentum right now and so being a part of that and making a difference in the lives of students and just that broader impact is really appealing,” she added.
Robert Cedillo, who was at ECISD for a little more than four years, is now deputy superintendent at MISD. He was born and raised in Midland. He has worked for Howard for about eight years total of his 18-year career.
At MISD, he was a teacher, coach, assistant principal, principal and human resources director. Moving back to MISD in his new role presented an opportunity to serve his community and district in a different capacity.
“I went through the grow your own program in MISD as a high school student, and after college I came back and started teaching. I coached, went into administration and then from assistant principal, then associate principal, head principal at Midland Freshman, went to go do some leadership consulting for Region 18 (Education Services Center), then came back to Midland in the role of HR director. From there, I went to ECISD as an executive director and was in ECISD for a little over four years. It’s been good,” Cedillo said.
In his June 14 media call, ECISD Superintendent Scott Muri said he is excited to see people seek new opportunities.
“We don’t necessarily recruit from another district or another location. We’re looking for talent wherever that talent may happen to reside whether it’s in Texas or some other place. What we want our students to have access to is talent and so wherever we find talented people, we’re happy to do that. And then for our own people as we develop and cultivate great leaders and great teachers, if they have opportunities for promotion we’re excited about that for them. It’s a lot of fun to watch people that you have developed continue to grow and move into positions that allow them to spread their wings a little bit more, so those are exciting times,” Muri said.
