A directive by Gov. Greg Abbott involving availability of pornographic material in schools, helping students on their postsecondary journey and early release days were all discussed during Superintendent Scott Muri’s media call.
Muri said Wednesday that Ector County ISD follows state standards when choosing print and digital materials for students. This was in response to a question about Abbott sending a letter to Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath Nov. 10 directing the agency to “investigate any criminal activity in public schools involving the availability of pornographic material that serves no educational purpose,” Abbott’s website stated.
Muri said ECISD does not want to expose students to any pornographic material.
“We would not as a school system want to expose our students, elementary, middle school or high school, to pornographic material …,” Muri said. “… We do everything within our power to make sure the materials that we provide for our students are age appropriate and that they’re aligned with the curriculum and the standards that we are required to teach in the state of Texas.
In choosing books and materials, the district has a set of standards it follows called Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills, or TEKS.
Basically, Muri said it’s a set of standards that define what a kindergartner should know and be able to do; a fifth grader should know; and be able to do.
“And the resources that we purchase in ECISD, the printed materials that we purchase, the digital resources that we purchase, are all designed to help our students master those standards that they are held accountable to in Texas. … We really use our standards to help us make informed decisions about the variety of printed and digital resources that we provide for our students,” Muri said.
He added that the U.S. is a country that allows a certain level of freedom.
“And our educators, being the experts in providing learning for our children, we’ve got to expose our children to multiple sides of the issues that we experience as a society and as a country. Our kids need to be exposed to the world in which they live and great literature is one very profound way that we can educate and inform our children and then also help them develop their own content and knowledge,” Muri said.
“We hope that our parents are also on a regular basis engaging in deep and meaningful conversations with their children about what they’re learning in school. Those conversations should occur in elementary, middle school and high school. If any parent is concerned with any material that a child reads, there are options for children. For decades, parents have expressed concern over one book or another book, or a piece of literature. We’ve always for many decades in education given parents and children choices and options,” he said.
Sometimes a book is selected by a teacher that a parent might find objectionable, so the district provides other options for any child or family “that objects to specific material,” Muri said.
“This has gone on in public education for years and we will continue to allow our parents to make the best choice for their children; choices that they feel are appropriate for their own children,” he added.
Muri also discussed early release days and their purpose. The afternoons are used for staff to enhance their learning.
“In particular, we pay a lot of attention to our teachers during these early release days and we do a variety of different things.
ECISD has introduced what we call personalized professional learning. We recognize that just like our students, our teachers are not all the same human beings. While they may have the same job title, their needs are very different and we are transitioning our learning environment into one that is much more personalized for each of the different types of teachers that we have within our system,” Muri said.
“So on a typical Wednesday, afternoon you might find some of our teachers developing their skills so they can become National Board Certified teachers. You might find other teachers that are working with their mentors as a part of the Opportunity Culture program. They’re being coached and supported by their mentors.
“You might find another group of teachers engaged in technology. They want to enhance the type of technology tools and resources that they use to support their children. Other groups of teachers might be engaged in conversations around student data and information. Perhaps they conducted a student assessment and they work together in their own little group of teachers to talk about students and how they’re progressing and … what they can do as educators to more effectively meet their needs. So a variety of things happen on these … these early release days to allow our teachers to grow and develop their skills so that ultimately we can all become better educators and more effectively serve the needs of our students,” Muri added.
The To and Through Department was also mentioned. In public education, Muri said, they know a student in kindergarten through 12th grade that no longer attends school.
“At the college and university level, however, they call it a stop out. It is an individual that has started the college process, but for one reason or another they end their college journey at the end of a semester, or perhaps at the end of a year,” Muri said. “They simply do not return. We in ECISD send about 51 percent of our students into that postsecondary world to gain their college degree, perhaps a technical certification, a two-year degree or a four-year degree. We are aware that some of our students are not finishing. They are added to that list of stop outs. Because of the addition of our To and Through Department, a new department that we have in ECISD, our colleges and universities are now communicating a list of of stop outs,” Muri said.
“This tells the district that these students that were your students now attend their universities and for one reason or another they have not returned, so they have been labeled stop outs,” Muri added.
This allows the district to contact those students and families to find out why they stopped and if there is something ECISD can do to support them.
Muri said the reason many of students stop is because they run out of money.
“They simply don’t have the financial resources to continue and we can help fill that gap. We can introduce them to some financial opportunities, scholarship opportunities, federal assistance that could be available to them that would allow them to continue their journey. Or perhaps they had a difficult semester and we need to provide some level of support to them; maybe help them develop a support system that will allow them to be more successful in their college journey,” he said.
Muri added that if a student chooses not to attend because they don’t want to anymore, that’s fine.
“But it’s really for our kids that are struggling and maybe there’s something we can do organizationally, or as a community to help that student continue their journey then we want to be a part of that solution for the child that’s why those names are so important,” Muri said.
