MIDLAND, Texas — Midland ISD school board held a press conference Thursday to officially announce Dr. Stephanie Howard as their lone finalist for district Superintendent.
“We’re super excited to welcome Dr. Howard as our lone finalist at MISD,” said Bryan Murry, Board President.
Just moments after being announced, Dr. Howard said she's ready to serve the students and staff of MISD.
"I want to get out on campuses and see people, and when you’re out with them you find out what’s going on and what we can do to help," Howard said.
She'll be leading a district she is no stranger to.
"This is home for us and it's just the opportunity to come back and give back to a district that meant so much to me for 14 years," said Dr. Howard.
"Last 25 years have been in the Region 18 area, the Permian Basin, and so this has been home. It’s familiar, I know many of the people, I know the community, I know the business partners, the nonprofits. So knowing those key people makes the transition smoother and I also know many of the employees and parents," Howard said.
According to board members, her strong leadership history and Midland ties made it easier for them to choose her.
"She knows our students, she’s worked with the same demographics in our district so she knows our issues and she knows how well tackle those," said Murry.
"For someone that’s been here for 14 years and then come back that speaks volumes to me as well. That that person wants to be here," said Tommy Bishop, board member.
"Every answer she had was directly tied to positively effecting our students' outcomes so I think that’s important that we’re bringing someone in with shared Midland values and it’s gonna support our teachers, the ones doing the hard work," said Brandon Hodges, board member.
Moving forward Dr. Howard said she's focused on safety first, along with reestablishing relationships and providing stability and consistency for students and staff.
"Safety is number one, if our students and staff don’t feel safe they can’t learn and we want people to be in school everyday and enjoy the work they do," she said. "Change is hard so anytime there’s some transition within the district one of my main focuses is reassuring, listening, finding out what their area of concerns are and how I can help them as soon as possible."
"Parents, I ask that you reach out and let us know what we can do better, I ask that you partner with us and if we do this work together we can do some really good thing for the students of Midland ISD," said Dr. Howard
She also spoke on establishing a Superintendent Advisory Council so that she can hear first hand from MISD students on a regular basis.
MISD School Board will hold another special meeting December 28th for Dr. Howard's finalization. Then January 3rd, 2023 will be her start date.