With the school year well underway, Ector County ISD has had a chance to collect some data on students attending, meals served, bus ridership and technical support among other items.
During his weekly media call Wednesday, Superintendent Scott Muri said as of Tuesday, there are 32,712 students. The district is projecting 33,500 this year.
In 2021-22, there were 32,031 students; 22,373 meals served; 4,306 help desk calls; 70 teacher vacancies; and 1,870 students riding the bus, according to a report given at the Aug. 16 board of trustees meeting.
“We’ve grown quite a bit from last year to this year. We anticipate that growth to continue,” Muri said.
ECISD typically peaks in mid-September, but the numbers will continue to change and “improve” every day, he added.
The first day 27,905 breakfasts and lunches were served. Muri said free breakfasts and lunches are provided to every student each day.
The technology help desk received 2,436 calls or tickets on the first day.
Muri said there were 58 teacher vacancies on the first day, which is “the best it’s been in over a decade.”
He added that they are thrilled with the number of educators who have stayed with ECISD and the more than 400 that have joined them this year.
Buses transported 5,327 students on the first day of school.
“… That number has continued to rise as more and more of our students and families take advantage of our school system,” Muri said.
On a separate item, Muri said ECISD was excited to partner with Acceleration Academies of Ector County to target students 16-21 who have dropped out.
Acceleration Academies held a ribbon cutting Aug. 17.
Muri said Acceleration Academies provides “a very unique and customized learning experience,” providing flexibility for students who need to finish their high school diploma.
“We appreciate the partnership and know it will make a difference in the lives of students,” Muri said.
He added that Acceleration Academies is currently serving 170 students, many of whom were former ECISD students.
Muri said if you are a student or a former ECISD student age 16-21 and not attending school, they are invited to participate in Acceleration Academies. Visit the ECISD website for more information and find out how you can enroll, he added.
In Texas, you cannot drop out before age 16.
“Acceleration Academies focuses totally and completely on students that have dropped out completely or potentially kids that are on the verge of dropping out of school. …,” Muri said.
Students will receive a diploma from the high school for which they were zoned, so if they were attending Odessa High School they will get a diploma from OHS, for example.
“This summer, we had the first group of 16 graduates from the Acceleration Academies that walked with their class this summer during the summer graduation ceremony,” Muri said.
A lot of the students’ work is virtual. They have to be there a minimum of 20 hours with the teachers.
“Most of their content is using electronic format, so they may not be writing with paper-pencil, but they’re typing using their computing devices,” Muri said.
The Acceleration Academies in Odessa is the organization’s first in Texas.
“So they have no experience in Texas, but they have been very successful in other states, specifically Florida (which) is where they started. They were very successful there at bringing students back into the fold,” Muri said.
He added that he thinks it’s important to know that Acceleration Academies targets students who have already dropped out of school, so they were already lost to the district. Those students would not be able to earn a high school diploma unless they returned to school.
“… So every single student that Acceleration Academies brings back into the fold and then receives a high school diploma is a win, first of all for that child and that family because that high school diploma will open doors for them for the rest of their lives and then certainly for the school system itself that will help our individual schools and their graduation rate,” Muri said.
He added that a high school diploma is a “ticket to much success in life.”
