After years of subpar results, Ector County ISD announced a B rating as a district under Texas Education Agency accountability ratings.
“It’s a new day in ECISD. It’s a new day,” Superintendent Scott Muri told board members, principals and central office staff gathered in the board room for the event.
The ratings measure growth, proficiency measures, gap closure and a variety of other measures, Superintendent Scott Muri said. Previously, the district was a C.
Schools that earned an A, B or C grade will be recorded and published, but Muri said those that did not will be considered unrated. The overall score is an 82 and the growth measure is an 85.
He said some principal adjustments have been made in the last couple of years for schools that were unrated.
“We know the right things are happening and we know that those schools are all headed in the right direction, so we’re not concerned” about those, Muri said.
Muri said the ratings show ECISD has grown to a new level of performance.
“We are now focused on the next step, our journey to excellence,” Muri said in a news release. This continuous improvement journey requires us to be bigger, bolder and better than we have ever been before. Our students deserve our excellence.”
The number of schools earning an A rose from three to seven.
The number of B rated schools doubled from six to 12.
In 2019, 20 schools were rated either D or F. Today, a news release said, 19 schools are either an A or a B.
Five schools grew from an F to a B, the release said.
Board President Steve Brown extended his congratulations to the entire team of 4,200.
“We want to recognize the work that our bus drivers, cafeteria workers, custodial and maintenance staff, along with our paraprofessionals, that provide so much support on a daily basis. Most importantly are the teachers and campus leaders who work tirelessly to deliver quality instruction to our students each day,” Brown said.
Referring to the principals, Brown said, “That’s you.”
“That’s the personnel on your campus and we’re truly appreciative and it doesn’t go unrecognized. The dedicated focus of our teachers is clearly evident in the results we see here today …”
Career and Technical Education, fine arts and athletics also contribute, Brown said.
“The improvement seen over the past three years is not by accident. Dr. Muri and his team embarked on a mission of improving our processes and a deliberate and unwavering expectation of quality instruction for all students. He’s talking about being bold, being courageous and going where we’ve not been before, or at least not in a long time,” Brown added.
The accountability system was different back in the early 2000s, but the last time Brown remembered ECISD being highly rated was 2002 or 2003 when they came within “a hair” of being a recognized district.
He added that there is a satisfaction that what Muri and his team have put in place is working. Brown said the thing he most respects is that they are staying with the process that’s in place and not going with the latest and greatest initiatives or items.
“The challenges have been great over the last three years and the opportunities greater as all of you know. Our country, our state, our school community faced the challenge of an unprecedented pandemic and the challenge of providing the best instruction for all students in a remote environment. The Ector County Independent School District rose to that challenge. This is clearly exemplified in the results seen here today and while this marked improvement and we will all celebrate, there is still work to be done. Our district is in good hands with Dr. Muri and this team of dedicated employees. Most of all, we want to thank our students for their hard work and accomplishments and hope that each one of you convey that to the students in your building, as well as parents,” Brown added.
Muri noted the changes in ECISD since he started.
“We’ve changed the foundation. The floor on which we work is different now. We now provide rigorous curricular resources to students and teachers. The tools that our teachers have to work with today are a at much higher level of rigor,” Muri said.
“We powerfully incorporate the tools of technology, unlike we’ve ever been able to do before. We do that today in ECISD. We provide equity based funding. We drive the dollars and the cents to the kids that need them the most because we know that it costs more money to educate kids of poverty and our fragile children,” he added.
ECISD has invested in the district’s 4,200 employees, providing them with training and compensation incentives.
Muri said they put some of their most effective principals in some of the most challenged schools.
For students, ECISD has incorporated blended learning — when you marry virtual learning with the most effective teachers to provide a new and different learning opportunity.
The district has expanded prekindergarten, they have expanded summer school increasing instructional days from 169 to 180 and adding another 30 days in the summer for elementary students through the Additional Day School Year Program.
“We have changed the way we do business in ECISD. And trustees, we have transformed ourselves. We do not look like the district that we looked like three years ago and because of that we have made history,” Muri said.
STAAR and end of course exam performance increased at every level.
“We’ve seen a seven point increase in our College, Career and Military Readiness indicator in just the last three years. Our graduation rate right now at 85.5 percent is the highest graduation rate we’ve had in over 20 years in ECISD,” Muri said.
San Jacinto Principal Fallon McLane said her campus was a B in 2018-19 so they have been keeping high expectations ever since. She noted that she is building on the success of her predecessor Erin Bueno, who is now an executive director of leadership for ECISD.
The school has 400 students in grades kindergarten through five and a high high percentage are economically disadvantaged. It is now an A school.
“These are students who traditionally and historically have had not the most stable and school is their stability. San Jacinto, for many of them, is their home … so it is very, very important to us that we block out all of those things that are detrimental factors and that we are the ones that want to cultivate this love for learning. …,” McLane said.
A Schools
Reagan Elementary
George H.W. Bush New Tech Odessa
Gale Pond/Alamo elementary
San Jacinto Elementary
Hays elementary
OCTECHS
Odessa Collegiate Academy
B Schools
Buice Elementary
Fly Elementary
Cameron Elementary
Burnet Elementary
Ireland Elementary
Blanton Elementary
Ector College Prep Academy Middle School
Noel Elementary
Pease Elementary
Jordan Elementary
Milam Elementary
Blackshear Elementary
C Schools
Nimitz Middle School
Ross Elementary
Bonham Middle School
Sam Houston Elementary School
Gonzales Elementary School
Permian High School
Goliad Elementary School
Odessa High School
Crockett Middle School
Travis Elementary
Zavala Elementary
West Elementary
Wilson & Young Middle School
Austin Elementary
Not rated: Bowie Middle School, E.K. Downing Elementary, Dowling Elementary, Johnson Elementary, Burleson Elementary, Cavazos Elementary.
Area districts
A: Wink
B: Midland ISD
B: Andrews, Crane, Pecos, Monahans, Kermit, Fort Davis and Alpine
