MIDLAND, Texas — Midland ISD held it’s first school board meeting of 2023, and a new face joined the board of trustees for the first time in her new role.
The board welcomed Dr. Stephanie Howard to her first school board meeting as superintendent of MISD.
An update regarding her first two weeks on the job was one of a few things discussed at Tuesday night's meeting.
“But the one thing that’s really exciting is every campus I’ve been on there are people ready to do the work that we need to do to move the district forward, and that’s not always the case," said Dr. Howard.
With her journey as MISD superintendent still just getting started, Dr. Howard sat alongside the MISD board of trustees in what she called a great first meeting in her return to the district.
She has been on 17 campuses so far, and with January being school board appreciation month, several students spoke and gave thanks for the work the school board puts in.
“You know I think, kind of like Mr. Murry said, it reminds us why we do the work that we do," said Dr. Howard. "And the students are absolutely why we do the work, and so having them come and talk a little bit about what they appreciate from their perspective I think really is a great reminder for all of us.”
The Midland Education Foundation gave it’s annual report after it’s 15th year supporting the district, and their efforts certainly do not go unnoticed.
“They do so much of what we could not do without them, and so having their support, having them encourage and support our teachers and provide resources for them through the Grants for Great Ideas and the Grants for Great Minds, those are just ways that really give back to the classroom and give back to our teachers," said Dr. Howard.
The school board also approved the 2023-2024 school calendar, which will change from intersession to traditional.
“Getting back to that traditional calendar that our community and our employees support I think is a big win for the district tonight," said Dr. Howard. "Also being able to work in professional learning days throughout the year. That was something our teachers definitely asked for.”
Dr. Howard also named Roberto Cedillo as the deputy superintendent and Ashley Osborne as associate superintendent for teaching and learning.
Both Cedillo and Osborne will officially be making their returns to MISD on January 30th.