With new early education center coming soon, Trustees look to adjust PK boundaries

The Ector County ISD Board of Trustees held its March Workshop on the 18th. A recap of the agenda is below.

 

1.      Roll Call.

 

2.      Verification of compliance with open meetings requirements.

 

3.      In her opening comments, Superintendent Dr. Keeley Boyer called attention to two ECISD leaders, Bowie Middle School Principal Amy Russell and Director of Digital Learning Lauren Tavarez, who spent two days at the State Capitol in Austin, either visiting legislators or testifying for the House Committee on Education, in support of public education.     

 

4.      There was no public comment.  

 

5.      Board Policy – Trustees discussed revisions to Local Board Policy BAA (Local): Board Legal Status: Powers and Duties. The revision is necessary due to recent guidance issued by the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights regarding compliance with civil rights laws and the use of race in educational decision-making. The administration examined the written guidance from the U.S. Department of Education with a Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) policy consultant and legal counsel, reviewed all local board policies and regulations to ensure ECISD’s compliance, and identified one instance for revision is page 2 of BAA (Local). The initial suggested revision can be seen at this link – https://meetings.boardbook.org/Public/Agenda/1406?meeting=675556. This was discussion only, and Trustees asked for further revisions. There was no action taken on this item.

 

6.      Report/Discussion Items

 

A.      Trustees received an update on the redesign of Burleson’s campus to an early education center (EEC). In February 2024, the school board approved a plan to close Burleson Elementary School and repurpose it into a PreK center for 3-and-4-year-olds. A diverse district team is leading this redesign effort. The need for high quality prekindergarten remains high in this region. ECISD offers it through the Odessa YMCA partnership, Carver EEC, Lamar EEC and on 13 elementary campuses. Preliminary data show 65% of students who attend ECISD’s PreK are kindergarten ready. Of ECISD’s PreK students, 72% qualify for free PreK (by meeting the state’s requirements). The design team has established aggressive academic targets, received teacher input for classroom furniture and other resources, is renovating flooring, plumbing, paint, and playground equipment, and has selected the roadrunner as the school mascot and chosen Dynamic Blue and Daisy (yellow) as the school colors. The plan for year one is to enroll up to 300 students following ECISD’s existing model of a ½-day for three-year-olds and a full day for four-year-olds. Special Education Services and Bilingual Services will be available. Communication to the community will be published through a broad spectrum of platforms and events.

 

B.      Trustees then reviewed proposed prekindergarten boundaries for 2025-26. The District has been working with Zonda Education on a demographic study that will help develop the new boundary lines for prekindergarten programs. The firm walked Trustees through the processes it uses for identifying young families and where they live in order to project the number of students who live inside any proposed boundaries. Regarding PK-3, Burleson EEC will have an attendance zone as will the Odessa YMCA Family Learning Center. Austin Montessori’s PK-3 Choice program will not change, and Carver EEC and Lamar EEC will continue to offer three-year-old special education programs. The alignment for PK-4 is a more involved task as Burleson will join Carver EEC, Lamar EEC and 13 other elementary schools (some Choice campuses, some not) that offer a PK-4 program. In the initial proposal, children who live in the attendance zones for Burleson, EK Downing, Goliad, San Jacinto and West elementary schools would be zoned for PK-4 at Burleson (of course, all four-year-old students may apply for a Choice PK campus regardless of PK attendance zone). Trustees did not take action on this item but will approve new prekindergarten boundaries that include the new Burleson campus soon.

 

 

7.      Public Hearing – Trustees held a public hearing on the annual district performance report. This also served as the public hearing for the District Continuous Improvement Team (DCIT). School districts are required to hold a public hearing to discuss this annual report which includes academic performance data, financial report, accreditation status, campus performance objectives, information on violent or criminal incidents, and performance in post-secondary institutions. The information in this report is for the 2023-2024 school year. This presentation can be found at the same link in Item #5 above. You will find the annual district performance report, which includes the Texas Academic Performance Report (TAPR) on our website within two weeks of this report, as required.

 

8.      There was no closed session.

 

9.      There were no closing remarks.

 

10.  The meeting adjourned at 7:24 p.m.