Board hears safety, security presentation

Safety and security initiatives in Ector County ISD were highlighted during the Board of Trustees workshop Tuesday.

Todd Hiner, district police chief, has 29 licensed officers and four K-9 officers.

Many years ago, ECISD adopted the Standard Response Protocols that has been adopted by the Texas School Safety Center.

There is a School Safety and Security Committee. Each school has a threat management team and a police officer is provided for that campus, Hiner said. He added that this was implemented sometime last year.

Visitors must check in and wear visitor badge at all times and staff must wear IDs at all times.

“We’re also heavily involved in See Something, Say Something through Student Crime Stoppers,” Hiner said.

All officers trained undergo ALERRT training, the Texas School Safety Center training for active shooter response.

Officers provide local active shooter training for other agencies, as well. The ECISD Police also coordinate emergency management plans with the city and county agencies. The Odessa Police Department, Ector County Sheriff’s Office, Texas Department of Public Safety, University of Texas Permian Basin and Odessa College police also work together.

“There’s just a lot of response in our own community to the schools that we serve,” Superintendent Scott Muri said.

Standard Response Protocol is the training and drills for students and staff for lockdown procedures and it is used statewide.

Students and all staff are given training.

Muri said students are required to use clear or mesh backpacks. There is controlled access entrances, 1,500 video cameras across the district monitored by the police department, and nearly 1,000 portable radios purchased over the last couple of years to make direct contact with police and 911.

Door Bearacades are installed on every door capable classroom and school office door and weekly safety audits.

Every school is fully alarmed, Muri added.

“Sometimes we forget that we have a lot in place today to keep our kids safe,” he added. “There are lots of conversations across the state of what should we do as we think about moving forward.”

Starting Tuesday, all classroom doors are to remain locked all day, every day. That is a statewide requirement, Muri said.

A state-required test was done by the first day of school, Muri said.

“We have checked every exterior door in the entire system … Any issues they found were passed on to the maintenance department,” Muri said.

Principals were required to conduct audits as well.

Muri said an intruder audit will be conducted in September by the Region 18 Education Service Center. They will attempt to access every campus to test doors and make sure they can’t be accessed.

The ECISD Police Department will conduct weekly safety checks.

Muri said there were some “unusual doors” and they are working with the maintenance department to think through what their options may be.

Board member Carol Gregg said part of her concern is getting this information out to parents as there is a fine balance between getting parents involved and keeping them away.

“A great many of our parents don’t have picture IDs. It’s a fairly big deal among a fairly large portion of our community. I think we need to work on figuring out how to make our space more welcoming,” Gregg said.

She suggested creating an ID just for ECISD that would make it easier to get into campuses if they don’t have IDs.

Muri said many of the parents understood the measures in place today.

“There is a balance between creating a welcoming environment and keeping kids safe,” Muri said.

He added that they are going to lose some of the welcoming environment.

Gregg said ECISD needs to make this information available so people know what the district is doing and why.

“I fully expect more restrictions coming from our state, especially after the legislative session,” Muri said. “I think we need to be prepared for additional restrictions coming our way.”

Hiner said social-emotional training comes with the mandated campus training.

“It’s to identify some of those keys and dangerous types of personality traits. That’s why it’s based on teams and the collaborative effort of the team on that campus,” Hiner said.

Muri said people can make use of Crime Stoppers.

“Secondly, we have our own anonymous reporting system over and above Crime Stoppers. Tonight is really about the preventative steps that we’re taking to keep someone out of our organization,” Muri said.

Board member Tammy Hawkins said as a parent hearing that she would feel safe.

“We want them to feel safe taking their kids to school,” Hawkins said.

Also at the meeting, there was a presentation and discussion of the ECISD bullying reporting and investigation process; a quarterly update on the strategic plan; and human capital presentation.

In other business:

>> Trustees heard the quarterly update on three elements of the district’s strategic plan. First was an update on talent pipelines being developed. A pipeline is a proactive approach to filling future vacancies, particularly for high-skilled, hard-to-staff positions. ECISD has created four teacher pipelines with about 130 teachers who have completed or are currently in those pipelines plus another 90 high school students in Future Teachers of Odessa track, the board recap said.

In addition, 29 future principals are being trained for campus leadership through three separate pipelines, and partnerships have been formed with three universities to develop counselors and diagnosticians.

Second, was an update on high-impact tutoring. Principals chose three virtual tutoring companies to serve students by providing 1-to-1 attention in Reading and Math to help students recover the learning lost due to COVID. Students working with these virtual tutors showed tremendous growth during the year through what amounted to 84,000 hours of additional academic support (that did not fall on the school’s teachers).

A substantial investment of about $6 million in federal ESSER funds, the tutoring companies selected worked through outcomes-based contracts in which they earned more money if the students achieved higher results.

Third, was the Smart Badge initiative which would use radio frequency ID badges to enhance safety, security and efficiency for students. Bus riders at five schools will pilot these Smart Badges this year as they scan getting on and getting off of the bus. Smart Badges can also be used for library books and at lunch, among other uses.

>> Trustees saw a presentation on bullying reporting, the investigation process, and supports offered at schools. This presentation used a fictitious family walking through the process of how bullying is defined, how it is reported and then investigated, and prevention efforts that include school counselors providing support resources for all of those involved. This support can include guidance lessons, conflict resolution, and referrals to outside agencies. In the 2021-22 school year, 238 allegations of bullying were reported, the recap said.

Upon investigation, the majority of those resulted in Code of Conduct violations and appropriate disciplinary action; 37 of them were substantiated and confirmed as cases of bullying. Again, appropriate disciplinary action was taken and counseling supports put in place as needed. New this year, all school staff are being trained in bullying recognition response through SafeSchools. More information is available on the ECISD website.

>> ECISD’s Human Capital Department gave Trustees a look at ways the district is investing in employees in order to recruit talent and encourage them to reach their full potential. Much of the department’s work over the last two years has been focused on addressing a shortage of teachers. That has been done through recruiting efforts, creation of teacher certification pipeline programs, strategic staffing, increased pay for teachers, and opportunities to earn additional compensation through efforts like Opportunity Culture and Teacher Incentive Allotment. At the start of the 2019-20 school year ECISD faced 351 teacher vacancies; currently, there are 58 (29 elementary, 29 secondary) teacher vacancies in ECISD. More than 400 teachers have been hired for this school year, the recap said.

New Trustee Dennis Jones took his oath of offie. In June, the school board appointed Jones to fill the vacant seat in Position 7 previously held by Nelson Minyard.

Over the past 17 years Jones, a private practice attorney, worked as a prosecutor and a judge and was actively involved in the city’s truancy program. He also has previous teaching experience at Angelina College and Odessa College. The Honorable Judge Brooke Hendricks administered the oath of office.