A special presentation was made to Deputy Superintendent Dr. Stephanie Howard to recognize her acceptance into the National Superintendents Academy.

In his opening remarks, Dr. Muri praised the 4,200 employees of ECISD who are working in a way they have never worked before. He pointed out they are working long hours to totally switch the way we deliver instruction, in a situation that is changing daily, if not hourly. He congratulated them for doing this work, and asked the Board and the community to acknowledge their efforts, too.

This agreement will allow ECISD’s School Nutrition Department to donate leftover/excess food items to the West Texas Food Bank during the school year.

This action suspends normal purchasing policies and authorizes the superintendent to make emergency purchases reasonably necessary to respond to specific needs related to COVID-19 issues. The Board amended this to require that they be notified if any purchase exceeds $50,000. This resolution is in effect for a maximum of 60 business days, unless the Board takes additional action.

The Consent Agenda is a group of routine or previously reviewed items that are approved all together. This month’s Consent Agenda included minutes of previous meetings; bills for payment; special calendars for Gale Pond Alamo STEAM Academy, OCTECHS and the Odessa Collegiate Academy for the 2020-21 school year; and an updated list of T-TESS appraisers.

The Preliminary SAT (PSAT) is a practice version of the SAT exam. Many students take it during their sophomore and junior years of high school.  A high score as a junior can lead to scholarship money through the National Merit Scholarship program. The PSAT is offered every year in October. This past October, more than 3,000 ECISD sophomores and juniors took the PSAT. The number of ECISD students who met benchmarks in English/Reading/Writing and Math trailed the state and national averages. The District is enhancing how it communicates the importance of the PSAT to parents and students, and will offer support classes for sophomores who score well on the exam, so they have the chance to excel when taking it as a junior.

He reminded the Board that the District redesigned school in just seven days. He said our teachers have a wide range of experience, and comfort, using technology to teach this way. He added some families have little or no internet access, and some parents work full-time and are not able to be with their kids, working on lessons, throughout the day. He said we must figure out the best way to help these kids and these families, and said he expects adjustments and improvements to be made every day.
He let Trustees know, digital resources are available on our website and paper resources are available through our schools. ECISD Technology is working on plans to expand internet access, and provide devices for students.

Dr. Muri said School Nutrition continues to serve thousands of meals each day, and, in a new announcement, soon, ECISD will establish a child care center at Zavala Elementary School for the medical community, in order for doctors, nurses and others to be at work while schools remain closed. Initially, it will be open to employees of Odessa Regional Medical Center and Medical Center Hospital, for children ages birth to 10, and a maximum of 140 kids. As this child care center becomes operational, it potentially could be expanded to serve more students, for expanded hours, and for other critical community providers as identified by City and County leaders.