Ector County ISD won two Recognition of Excellence awards Friday from the Mexican American School Board Association (MASBA) for outstanding achievements and best practices as a leader in public education. The awards were announced during MASBA’s annual conference held in San Antonio.
ECISD earned MASBA’s Outstanding Workforce Development Initiative for the creation of a series of talent development pipelines for teachers and principals. Programs like Odessa Pathway to Teaching, Opportunity Culture with its teachers-leaders and paid teacher residencies, Para to Teacher, and Future Teachers of Odessa for high school students, ECISD has reduced teacher vacancies from more than 350 in 2019 to 40 now, and improved the district’s accountability rating from a C to a B.
ECISD also won distinction for Outstanding English Language Learner Initiative for the Global Leadership Academy at Odessa High School. This program is intended to empower, support, and help our Emergent Bilingual Students connect and foster a strong sense of belonging. Students engaged and took ownership of the Global Leadership Academy, establishing a school organization with a student board that acts as advocates for Emergent Bilingual students. The Global Leadership Academy has positively impacted attendance, behavior, graduation rate and post-secondary achievement for those students participating in the organization, a press release said.
Superintendent Dr. Scott Muri and Trustees Chris Stanley, Delma Abalos, and Tammy Hawkins attended. In addition, artwork from ECISD students Genesis Carbajal and Flor Ayala was displayed at the conference. In 2022, ECISD won MASBA’s Outstanding School District award.
“These awards are a testament to the really innovative, effective work being done by the members of Team ECISD,” Muri said in the release. “I am incredibly proud to serve alongside these dedicated educators.”
MASBA is a voluntary, non-profit, statewide education association that has served local Texas school boards since 1970. MASBA is focused on closing achievement gaps in Texas public schools.
