Ahead of any bond issue that might be called, there is already opposition on social media encouraging people not to vote for whatever package is proposed.
“Our opportunity is, as we think about a bond program, is first to understand the needs; what are the specific academic and facility needs that exist in ECISD,” Superintendent Scott Muri said during his media call Wednesday.
The district is currently conducting audits that will help it determine the needs; a bond committee is being formed that will study the needs of ECISD and make a recommendation with the board of trustees ultimately calling an election.
“The purpose of a bond is so that our community can take care of the needs of the … children that live within that community,” Muri said. “Every community in the state of Texas has an opportunity to support their children through the bond program.”
ECISD is a growing district, he said.
“Our schools are getting more and more overcrowded because of the number of people that are moving to our community. We have aging facilities. Right now, the oldest facility we have is 85 years of age and so as they age, many times they age out and they need to be replaced. Our students need access to modern facilities. … Then our career and technical education program, we turn kids away right now every single year because we simply do not have the capacity to serve all of the students that we have in career and technical education. At the end of the day, it is up to the bond committee to make a recommendation and then ultimately the board of trustees to call that election and determine the final elements of that bond package,” Muri said.
He added that a bond is the community’s investment in its children.
“If this community believes that its children are worthy of investment, then our community will go to the polls and support a bond referendum,” Muri said.
Speaking as a community resident and superintendent, Muri said he sees the needs every day.
“… I know that we have to have this. We’re growing; we’re aging; and our kids have academic needs that are not met today because we do not have the facilities to meet those needs. … The needs are very clear. But it’s up to us to make sure that we articulate clearly those needs to our community so that they understand the need to support a bond referendum,” he added.
On the continuing threats in ECISD, Muri said the solution needs to start with conversations between students and their parents or guardians about appropriate words to use in school.
“Sometimes our kids can be frivolous in their use of words and say things that they don’t mean. We just need to remind our kids that what you (could) say just a few years ago is not acceptable. Our society has changed … On the ECISD website, we have tools for parents that if you need to know how to talk to your child about these types of situations we provide access to our parents to some tools to equip moms and dads with the type of conversations and the words to use,” Muri said.
“… I would encourage our parents if a child is feeling threatened, or bullied, or angry, remind your children about how to handle situations like that. Violence is not the way we solve problems. At ECISD, we do not teach our kids to use violence to solve their problems. We teach them to use healthy words to solve their problems. We teach them to reach out to an adult to help them solve their problems and those are things that we will continue to teach,” he added.
As part of the daily curriculum, teachers can provide students with tools to use should they become frustrated, angered or saddened by a situation at school.
“There’s always more we can do, absolutely. But I think we must continue to educate our kids both at home and at school with how to handle difficult situations which affect all of us,” Muri said.
He added that he thinks the Uvalde school shooting has driven a lot of the consequences we’re seeing today. A few years ago when an adult heard a child making a threat about a gun or a weapon, they might just talk to the child and tell them not to say or do that again.
“Today, we handle that situation differently. We now notify the administrative team and we notify law enforcement and so there are very different consequences today for literally words that … kids and adults would say just a few years ago,” Muri said.
“… We don’t want violence to occur in our schools. Schools are not a place for violence at all. Both our students and our staff members take that very seriously and we have many more instances today of adults and kids reporting to law enforcement entities things that other students are saying; words they are using. Certainly there are consequences today for inappropriate words.”
Anger management is part of the social-emotional learning provided to students.
“We also have some opportunities for parents. Our social workers provide some parenting opportunities. We can equip our parents, not only with written resources in English and in Spanish, but we also have some classes that we provide for moms and dads that may just want information on how they can support their kids at home. We’re, again, happy to provide written information but we also have opportunities for moms and dads to come together and to learn from some experts some strategies that may be helpful in the home environment,”Muri said.
Asked whether the level of offense can be raised from a misdemeanor to a felony through advocates like lawmakers, Muri said that is the law enforcement and judicial side of things.
“Our opportunity is to equip kids with tools and resources and words that they can use; things that they can say to avoid situations like that. But once a child makes an unfortunate choice and law enforcement is involved, that’s out of our hands. We don’t make a determination if it’s a misdemeanor or a felony. That’s the legal process that has to work through that.
But I’ll remind everybody that we serve children from the age of 3 all the way to 18 and sometimes children make mistakes that an hour later, a day later, a week later they wish they hadn’t made. I think we always have to mindful of that and remember that our responsibility is to educate our kids (and) inform our kids so they don’t make those mistakes. I think sometimes the difference between a misdemeanor and a felony is remembering the type of individual that you’re working with. When it’s a 10 year old kid that makes an inappropriate comment is that really a felony or is it a misdemeanor … so our job as educators is to help them not make those choices. But when they do, once again, that is out of our hands,” he said.
Muri added that students have to learn that this is not a game.
“… This is life. This is real. We have to do the same thing as teachers and administrators constantly remind our kids that what they say and what they do have consequences whether it’s a positive thing you say and there are positive consequences, or a negative thing and negative consequences. At the end of the day, I’m confident with what our judicial system is doing right now; our police officers; our district attorneys; our judges … We’re all working through this together, but we’ve got to solve this on the front end. Our kids are screaming for help right now. There’s a reason that they’re saying these things and doing these things,” Muri said.
He added that a significant increase in mental health situations is being seen at every level and with adults.
“… Punishment is not how you solve a mental health problem. It is support. It is therapy. It is counseling … and the list goes on. There are proactive things that we can do to address an individual, to support and help an individual when they’re struggling with a mental health issue. Jail does not solve the mental health challenge that individual may face. We might use jail to help keep the individual and society safe, but that is not going to solve the problem for that individual. We’ve got to make sure they get the help that they need,” he said.
On other topics, Muri said:
>> During this week’s board meeting, the financial auditors said ECISD had a clean financial audit once again.
“They commended ECISD on our work and the way that we are managing our finances in the organization.
That coupled why the fact that for the third year in a row, we received a perfect score from the audit by the Texas Education Agency. So two really good pieces of information about the financial situation in ECISD. Congratulations to our board of trustees that oversee the financial condition of ECISD. Congratulations to Deborah Ottmers, our chief financial officer, and her team of individuals that ensure that our books are in alignment and our money is spent according to the way our state agencies have determined,” Muri said.
>> It was announced this week that the district has received the District of Distinction award from the Texas Art Educator Association.
“This is the second year in a row that ECISD has received this prestigious award. There are 1,200 school districts in Texas and a little over 50 of the school districts received the honor this year,” Muri said.
It signifies the “incredible opportunities” that ECISD students have in the fine and performing arts at the elementary, middle and high school levels.
>> Muri also reminded parents that the district is closed next week in observance of Thanksgiving.
