ECTOR COUNTY, Texas — Ever since Dr. Scott Muri announced his plans to retire as Ector County ISD (ECISD) superintendent back in August, ECISD has been hard at work trying to find his permanent replacement.
On Thursday, they took one step closer to that goal by hearing out four search firms at a special agenda meeting.
The search firms - HYA Corporation, JG Consulting, the Texas Association of School Boards and Walsh Gallegos - each presented their case to the ECISD board while answering questions from board members as to why they should be the ones the district should partner with.
“We were kind of bad, but now we are good. Now we need to get to good to better and better to best. That’s going to be with a new kind of superintendent," ECISD Board President Christopher Stanley said. "These search firms are going to be tasked with going out and finding that person, that agent of change to come to Ector County and help us.”
While each of them have similar backgrounds, each bring different experiences to the table.
“I think if you look at some of the firms that came to talk to us tonight, they have experience with places like Brownsville, where the demographics and the student population is very similar to ours and I think that’s exciting," Stanley said. "We want somebody who understands the needs of a large school district.”
As far as what ECISD is looking for in a search firm, they desire a partner who will be willing to cast a wide net and doggedly search for the right person for the job.
ECISD is willing to look internally for the prime candidate, but they are not afraid to look outside the county for the right person.
They are hoping their search firm will be willing to look in the same direction.
“I want to find someone who is going to hunt and find the best, because that is what I want to bring to the children of our district, is the best possible superintendent," Stanley said.
At the end of the day, however, all of this searching and studying is for the benefit of the students who will be sitting in the classroom.
“These kids are going to be alive in the 22nd century and we need to prepare for 22nd century learning," Stanley said. "Their children will live in the 22nd century, our children will be their teachers and their children will be community leaders, so we need to have someone who can prepare for that.”
The ECISD board members will discuss this and will make a decision regarding the winning search firm by Tuesday night.