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The Montgomery ISD Board of Trustees met for their monthly board meeting on Tuesday, September 21. You can view the meeting here and read the recap below.
This school year, during each regularly scheduled board meeting, Montgomery ISD district departments will give an update on their department improvement plan and share their progress of their objectives and strategies that are in line with the district's Pathway to Premier Strategic Plan. At the September meeting, the Technology Department, under the leadership of Director Amanda Davis-Summerville, was the first to present to the board.
September 21 is also National IT Professional's Day. The Technology Department was highlighted and recognized for the role they play in our district. The video below was shown during the meeting and the technology team was praised for the work they have done to enhance the district’s technological capabilities.
During the meeting, Montgomery ISD's Benefits and Employee Relations Coordinator Teresa Tipton presented the district's new Culture of Respect Initiative: Be ONE Team Montgomery.
The Be ONE Team Montgomery initiative aligns with district goal four: Human Capital. To lead this work, a task force committee has been formed consisting of 3-4 members of each department and campus to assure that all employee groups will be well represented. This committee will define what “culture of respect” means for Montgomery ISD.
The Culture of Respect task force committee will hold campus meetings to complete a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis, giving all MISD employees the opportunity to be a part of this initiative. The information collected at these meetings, will identify areas of strength and growth as it relates to our district workplace culture, helping the committee create our district’s first Culture of Respect Policy and Procedures Handbook.
The expectation will be set for all Montgomery ISD employees to feel respected and appreciated in their role in our district, and procedures will be put in place to give all employees a safe way to share any concerns without fear of retribution. Montgomery ISD wants to recruit and retain the best employees and this initiative will build our district culture to one that provides security and focuses on the amazing work our employees do, and the way they are made to feel while doing it.
The Montgomery ISD Communications department also gave an update this evening, sharing that third-party district-wide surveys were sent to all district employees, parents and secondary students earlier today. The district has partnered with the national education firm K-12 Insight to conduct the survey and ensure confidentiality of responses in an effort to gather the most authentic and genuine data from its staff and district families.
Many of the results from the survey will serve as baseline data for several of the key performance indicators in tracking the district’s Pathway to Premier strategic plan progress. In order to know what we are doing well and have an understanding of areas in which we can grow, it was a priority to the district to give our students, families and staff a safe way to report their honest feedback. A second survey to track the district’s progress will be issued in May 2022.
The Communications department has also implemented the district's first two-way communication platform for students, parents, staff and community members to reach district-level employees with questions, suggestions, comments and concerns. The Let's Talk platform went live on Tuesday, September 7 with the roll-out of the district's new website and has already answered over 70 customers with an average approval rating of 9.7 out of a possible 10. We hope that this communication platform creates an atmosphere of accessibility and gives our district community one place to get their questions answered and share their insights freely.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has impacted schools across Texas and the nation, each school district and campus in the state would receive a letter rating (A-F) from the state of Texas under the state’s accountability system. For the 2020-2021 school year, all districts were not-rated due to a declared state of disaster. Montgomery ISD Assistant Superintendent of Secondary Education Duane McFadden reported Montgomery ISD’s STAAR results to the board, explaining and charting what is called the “COVID Slide,” which is defined as the anticipated drop in STAAR scores from the 2018-2019 (pre-COVID) school year to the “post-COVID” scores in the 2020-2021 school year. McFadden presented data showing that MISD students outperformed the state in every category for the 2020-2021 school year and experienced minimal decreases in academic achievement when compared to the rest of the state. Montgomery ISD scored within 3 points of our district’s own pre-COVID scores in 15 of the 22 categories, and even surpassed our pre-COVID scores in 2 categories.
Finally, the MISD Board of Trustees authorized compensation for district staff for work missed due to the districtwide closure on September 14 because of Hurricane Nicholas. Students will not need to make up the school day.