A clean audit and updates from the Academics & Accountability division lead the workshop agenda

The Ector County ISD Board of Trustees held its November Workshop on the 11th. A recap of the agenda is below.

1.      Roll Call. Dawn Miller was absent.

2.      Verification of compliance with open meetings requirements.

3.      In opening comments, Superintendent Dr. Keeley Boyer reminded Trustees of the groundbreaking ceremony for the Transition Learning Center on Thursday morning.

4.      There was no public comment.  

5.      Board Policy

A.      Trustees discussed Update 126 from the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB). This is a lengthy list of 27 policy recommendations from TASB all made to bring current local board policies into alignment with changes in legal policy from the most recent legislative session. Twenty-three are revisions to existing policies and four are new policies. You can view all of them at this link - https://meetings.boardbook.org/Public/Agenda/1406?meeting=714526

 

6.      Reports

A.      Trustees discussed the annual financial report. Every school district is required to prepare annual financial statements, have them audited by an external public accounting firm, and submit them to the state. The auditor, Whitley Penn, will issue a Clean/Unmodified Opinion meaning a report with no internal control findings related to the financial report and no findings related to compliance. This item was information only this week, the report will be on next week’s agenda for board approval.

 

B.      Trustees received an update from the Academics & Accountability Department. The department is implementing five (5) strategic priorities:

1.      Embedded Framework: AVID WICOR (Writing, Inquiry, Collaboration, Organization, Reading). These are the teaching strategies to be used in ECISD classrooms.

2.      Curriculum Resources – the department revamped the resources center, now calling it EduHub, where teachers can find planning documents, minutes allotments, approved High Quality Instructional Materials, Pacing Calendars, and more for their subject areas and grade levels. These are the right tools to do the job.

3.      Instructional Alignment – materials and teaching line up with state standards.

4.      Strategic PLCs (Professional Learning Communities) – these are regular team meetings to analyze data, review checkpoint results, and refine instruction for students moving forward. It is professional development building the capacity of teachers.

5.      Data Tours – intentional use of data at key points throughout the year. Members of ECISD’s Accountability office go to campuses and walk through data with principals.

Using iPads, Trustees took time to travel through the EduHub site to see how staff members can access and use the scope and sequence, materials, and resources available. Teachers are able to offer comments/suggestions on all of the documents and as it has been rolled out this year the response have been positive.   

 

C.      Trustees received an update on Results Driven Accountability (RDA) results for 2025. RDA monitors three groups of students – Emergent Bilingual, Other Special Populations (such as McKinney-Vento students experiencing homelessness, foster care and military connected), and Special Education. Under RDA, a lower score is better, and the goal for each performance level is to earn a 0 and determination level is a 1 (meets requirements). The performance levels contribute to the final determination level. The Other Special Populations improved to a determination level of 3, while Emergent Bilingual and Special Education remained the same each with a determination level of 3. Improvements are seen within each category: Emergent Bilingual improved (with lower performance levels) in three STAAR passing rate areas and in annual dropout rate; Other Special Populations improved in two STAAR pass rate areas and in graduation rate; and Special Education improved in two STAAR passing rate areas, graduation rate, and annual dropout rate. These RDA indicators are scheduled to become part of the A-F Accountability system in the 2027-28 school year.

 

7.      There was no closed session.

8.      In closing remarks, Dr. Boyer recognized Veterans Day and thanked them for their service to our country.

9.      The meeting adjourned at 7:52 p.m.