Muri talks diversity, early voting
Apr. 27—Early voting for the May 6 school board election continues 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday and Friday and from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday and Tuesday at the Ector County Courthouse Annex, 1010 E. Eighth St. Room 104.
Ector County ISD has two contested positions in Position 3 and Position 7.
Position 3 is currently held by Donna Smith. Wayne Woodall is running against her.
Dennis Jones, in Position 7, faces Bob Thayer and John Dietz Rabenaldt.
"We encourage all voters that live in districts 3 and 7 to take advantage of that opportunity to let your voice be heard at the ballot box," Superintendent Scott Muri said during his Wednesday media call.
"We would also encourage everyone to check their home in relation to your voting district. Because of the recent census, some districts have changed so you may want to double check your current address to see if you indeed live in district 3 or 7 because those boundaries have recently changed based upon the recent census," he added.
The sixth meeting of the ECISD bond committee is at 6 p.m. today at the George H.W. Bush New Tech Odessa cafeteria.
"The bond committee has been very busy over the past several months refining their final bond recommendation for the board of trustees. The committee has been looking at a voluminous amount of data that talks about the overcrowded conditions in many of our schools, the age of many of our schools, and then what remedies we could put in place to address those solutions; so again, hard at work. This meeting No. 6, they will continue to refine their decisions, and by the last and final meeting No. 7, they'll be able to create that recommendation for the board of trustees," Muri said.
On a separate topic, the state legislative session is in its final month of deliberation.
The House and Senate will spend time through May talking about legislation that has been a part of some pretty intense conversations over the last several months. "The board of trustees of Ector County Independent School District, along with myself as well as numerous staff members in ECISD, have visited Austin. Many of us have testified before either the House or the Senate and shared with our legislators the important information that they need to hear so they can best reflect the needs of the students and families that we serve in our own community," Muri said.
"Areas of interest to us have been, of course, school safety; making sure that the legislation not only captures some of the safety enhancements that we need to add to our schools, but also that funding is a part of any new expectations in the area of safety," he added.
They have also been advocating hard for the funding of teacher pipelines, full-time paid teacher residencies and anything else that can be done to attract, recruit and retain the most effective teachers, Muri said. He said a lot of time has been spent on school funding.
"In fact, today our state legislature has been very busy, especially on the House side, talking about school funding. Some of the early numbers that we've seen really do not indicate that ECISD, nor any school district in Texas, would have the type of funding that we need to continue to invest in our kids; in our staff members. Our local delegation, as well as representatives from across the state, have been very busy seeing what they can do to increase the amount of funding that schools across Texas would receive. We appreciate not only our local delegation, but all of our elected officials on both the House and the Senate side that are paying attention to the needs of public education and providing as much financial investment as they possibly can," Muri said.
Economist Ray Perryman has said for every dollar invested in the education of children that there is $56.76 in return.
Muri spoke during a Black Chamber of Commerce town hall meeting Tuesday night. He shared some of the progress ECISD has made.
One of the questions he got was about the history of African Americans and what ECISD teaches.
"We will continue to maintain truth in the way that we address history," Muri said. "The state standards in Texas are created by our legislative body, as well as the state board of education and so we follow those standards that are created," Muri said.
"Over the last several years, those standards have not changed. We will continue to teach what the state of Texas tells us to teach and that is truth. We want to make sure that every child that attends school pre-k through 12th grade in ECISD receives the truth about our history. That's important so that our children and families can receive that truth and then interpret that truth in a way that's appropriate," he added.
There is conversation at the state level about revisiting those standards, Muri said.
Senate Bill 1515 would require every classroom to display the 10 Commandments. It was passed by the Senate.
"That bill has now transitioned to the House, so we'll just have to watch and see what happens to that bill. Many times when a bill is adopted by one House, it doesn't successfully make it through the other side, if you will, so bills stall or amendments are added. We've seen a lot of that today on the school finance side. They have released a bill that addresses school finance, but many amendments are being added to that, that create change in the original bill. So at this point, we just wait and see. The end of May will bring the end of the legislative session, and once bills make it across the finish line then of course they have to go to the governor's desk for signature. Once he signs bills into law, that's when we can really interpret the law and determine what that means for schools in ECISD. But right now, that particular bill is sitting in the House and waiting for discussion," Muri said.
He added that he thinks everyone has to keep in mind, not only as a community but as a nation, to embrace diversity — diversity of thought; diversity of ideas; diversity of religion; diversity of race; diversity in general.
"We are better because of the diversity that we have as a nation. That makes us very strong, and in fact, the most powerful nation in the world because of the diversity that we have in our own country," Muri said.
"Anything that would limit that diversity would present some challenges not only in our schools, but in our society in general so we'll watch and see what happens to that particular piece of legislation."
Asked about conflicts between Cubans, Mexicans and whites at the schools, Muri said he was not familiar with the incident the reporter cited at Permian High School where the reporter said the conflict spilled out into a nearby park.
Muri said he would go back to his statement on diversity.
"We are fortunate to live in a country, in a state, in a community that embraces diversity. Our opportunity as adults is to help our children understand the value in (diversity) whether it's attending school, or going to church, or walking down the road with people that are different from us. That's a good thing. ... We as teachers, as educators, as parents, have to help our children understand the great fortune that we have to live in a society that is diverse, and so obviously I'm not familiar with the incident you're speaking of. But if our children are behaving like that, as adults we have to do a better job of making sure that all of our children understand the importance and the opportunity we have to live in a diverse society. We have work to do if indeed that's what's going on," Muri said.
Early Voting
Early voting continues 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday and Friday at the Ector County Courthouse Annex, 1010 E. Eighth St. Room 104.
Early voting is also scheduled 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday and Tuesday at the annex.
Questions? Visit tinyurl.com/bde48u23
