Facility upkeep and hopes for the legislative session were the main topics of Ector County ISD Superintendent Scott Muri’s media call Wednesday.
The ECISD Board of Trustees on Dec. 6 received a report from the Facilities Department focusing on maintenance and facility operations that the district provides to the 40 campuses and 19 ancillary buildings.
A list of projects that are ongoing in ECISD was also talked about, along with district needs.
“It proved to be a fascinating discussion. The first element of this report last night to our board of trustees talked about some outside organizations that have provided a look at the facility and operations of ECISD and both of those reports really commended the work of our maintenance department and our facilities department in the maintenance and upkeep of our existing buildings,” Muri said.
He was referring to PBK Architects and the Texas Association of School Business Officials.
“We have buildings as old as 85 years of age, and as our buildings continue to get older, they require more maintenance. Both of these external (organizations) commended our team and the work they’re doing to ensure that our kids and our staff members have adequate facilities to support them,” Muri said.
The district has 4.9 million square feet of space and 433 acres of property.
“… Our maintenance team monitors that to ensure that our property is well maintained and safe for, again, our kids and staff,” he added.
“… When buildings begin to age, the maintenance needs become more significant and so we had an in-depth conversation last night (Dec. 6) about our buildings and at what point does it become more cost effective to replace a building” or continue to repair aging facilities …,” Muri said.
“… As we engaged in that conversation, the more we realized the importance of a bond referendum. Some of our buildings are becoming so old and antiquated that it would be much more cost effective for us to replace the buildings than it would be to continue to repair their aging infrastructure, aging pipelines, aging water lines and electricity,” Muri said. “The energy needs in our schools continue to evolve and so (as) we looked at the infrastructure of these aging facilities it became very apparent that some of our facilities are in need not just of repair, but it’s time to replace some of these aging facilities. And once again, we have that opportunity as we begin to form a bond package during the upcoming months.”
The board and leadership team also has been very busy talking about the district’s legislative agenda.
“The board is very passionate about some very particular items on the legislative agenda. We know that this upcoming legislative session we have some real opportunities to move forward in education across our state, specifically in the area of school finance. Our board of trustees is advocating strongly for continued funding in a variety of areas public school funding … The State of Texas is woefully behind the funding that is received in other states. We want to make sure that we have adequate funding to do the work that we do in ECISD. We are also are advocating for a lot of human capital investment — investing in our teachers to make sure that our teachers are” the best paid in the nation, Muri said.
They also want to ensure that teachers have professional learning opportunities, that they are developing pipelines for those who want to become teachers and to make sure that ECISD is able to recruit and retain the best instructors and help them become the best they can be.
“We’re advocating a close look at our ESSER (Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief) funding. Many people are aware the federal government provided some significant dollars to school districts across the country as we recover from the pandemic. Because of those investments, we’ve been able to make some really wise choices in how we used that money in ECISD,” Muri said.
“We’re asking our state legislature to look at some of the investments that we’ve made, the lessons that we’ve learned, then how can those investments continue to be funded through our state legislature. We’ve learned a lot of good things, made some wise investments and have some great results and we want to make sure that those investments continue,” he added.
Muri said ECISD is in a very different position this year than it has been in many years regarding funding.
“Normally we sit and wait for the legislature to make decisions and then we’re just the recipients of whatever decisions they make. This year, it’s just the opposite. ECISD is invited to the table. In fact, last week we met for two hours with Sen. (Brandon) Creighton. (He) is the chairman of the Senate Public Education Committee …We shared our work with him; the investments we’re making locally and the effect of those investments on everything from our teacher workforce and human capital to academics,” Muri said.
“On Monday of this week, we shared with the governor’s office, the lieutenant governor’s office, and then members of the House and the Senate, specifically, our human capital work; all the teacher pipelines that we’ve developed; the teacher incentive allotment that we’re using; our educator preparation program, the Odessa Pathway to Teaching, so all of our human capital work we shared with multiple members of the House and Senate. We’re invited to these. We’re not going on our own. We actually are asked to come and present because of the success that we’re having. It’s a very different place. We have an opportunity because of good work and good results to actually be an influencer in our state legislature this year,” he added.
Part of the Dec. 6 board meeting also included a presentation of Targeted Improvement Plans.
Edward K. Downing Principal Lindsey Lumpkin said she had 14 first and second year teachers at her West Odessa campus.
Muri has previously said the most effective and experienced teachers should go to the highest need campuses.
“… If you remember, the State of Texas provides a financial incentive for teachers that are the most effective teachers and that dollar amount is driven by the amount of poverty that you have within your school environment. The higher the poverty level, the more money teachers make. I call that a pull strategy . Rather than forcing people to take those opportunities, we use dollars to pull people into those high-need schools. The Teacher Incentive Allotment is one way (to) incentivize teachers to move from a low-poverty school to a much higher poverty school. It affects their bottom line; their bank account, if you will,” Muri said.
Asked if it works, Muri said this is the second year of the Teacher Incentive Allotment for ECISD.
“We’re starting to see it work, but this is the second year of implementation. … We had 130 teachers last year that received the Teacher Incentive Allotment. The strategy will work, but it just takes time for teachers to realize what they’re making today and then the opportunity they would have if they worked in a higher poverty school. But to your point, we want our most effective teachers to serve our most fragile children that is the goal. Yes.”
