A potential partnership between Ector County ISD and the University of Texas Permian Basin STEM Academy, congratulations to the winner of a QuestBridge scholarship and school choice were among the topics during Superintendent Scott Muri’s media call Wednesday.
At the ECISD Board of Trustees meeting Dec. 7, Muri said the UTPB STEM Academy leadership team, members of their board and educators from the school shared their story with our board of trustees.
The idea of a partnership first came up in June.
A STEM Task Force consisting of STEM parents, teachers and university leaders was charged with identifying viable options that addressed the goals of maintaining the STEM academic model; maintaining access for teachers, staff and students; and providing a pathway for permanent facilities to meet the long-term needs of the school, a June 30 Odessa American article stated.
The task force had been working for two years to find options for STEM.
“We are working on a potential partnership between ECISD and UTPB STEM that will provide some benefits to both organizations,” Muri said.
The district would be able to provide transportation for UTPB STEM students and athletic and fine arts opportunities currently available to students there.
The STEM Academy could become another school choice option for Ector County students.
“… UTPB STEM does a great job with their students. (They) present an exciting program and would give even more students an opportunity to have those experiences, so it was a great night at the board meeting and we certainly look forward to a potential partnership between ECISD and UTPB STEM Academy,” Muri said.
Asked if the STEM Academy would be included in the proposed bond issue, Muri said the district doesn’t yet have a formal relationship with the STEM Academy.
“… So we will, through the contract negotiation process, begin to talk about facilities and what those potentially may look like in the future. But right now, we don’t have a formal partnership with them in place,” Muri said.
On the scholarship note, Muri extended congratulations to Odessa High School senior Rigoberto Mendoza who earned a QuestBridge national scholarship.
Muri noted that it is an “overwhelming opportunity” for Mendoza because of his “outstanding academic achievement at Odessa High School.”
As a result, he has been matched with Emory University in Atlanta, Ga.
“QuestBridge is a program that matches high-achieving, low-income high school students with, really, the college of their dreams and Rigoberto has been matched with Emory University in the city of Atlanta and has received a $200,000 scholarship that will pay for his tuition; really a full ride for him over the next four years so congratulations to Rigoberto …,” Muri said.
The final bond committee is scheduled for 6 p.m. Dec. 16 at George H.W. Bush New Tech Odessa.
“We had two different opportunities for members of the bond advisory committee to come in and explore all the data. There’s a plethora of data — everything from survey data to facility review study they looked at every building within ECISD, voter trend data,” and a demographic study.
Muri said there was a lot of information for committee members to go through and they had a chance to ask questions.
