MIDLAND, TX (KWES) - Midland I.S.D is still trying to find ways to improve schools and the district as a whole. They've come up with a plan called "Midland on a Move," which targets 4 categories.
The newest is the call for quality schools, the district is taking suggestions from different entities that might lead to a possible partnership. M.I.S.D. is asking for help defining what a good school is.
Dr. Elise Kail is one of the many asking for partnership ideas from people, companies, businesses and institutions of higher education.
"We are looking for either total whole school models, where an entity comes in and says they have the background and the skill to put a new school on the ground and create an entire new school," said Kail. "We're also looking for program models, that's where someone has an idea that they can come in and enhance learning opportunities for students and we're also looking for talent in how can an entity come in and possibly provide talent opportunities, either through recruitment and retention of teachers and leaders for the schools."
The call for quality schools is funded by the Texas Education Agency. The application has 4 different parts including applicants to describe the models and justify operational costs.
"We're really searching for a high quality involvement here. It's something where someone has something that became an idea but we're not going to grab it and run with it and it may be something that next year we expand on further," said Kail.
The call for quality schools is looking for organizations that meet the needs of M.I.S.D.'s rubric, their students and the community. It's something the district wants to take time to develop and is excited for the improvements.
"It's very fast paced, it's very aggressive, we're getting comments from the TEA, we're getting comments from external individuals who are saying 'wow I can't believe y'all are doing all this work in such a short amount of time,'" said Kail. "We're just taking it and running with it and having positive attitudes toward what we can do for kids, our kids deserve it in this community."
Applications for the call for quality schools opened up this week. On Friday, there is a webinar to answer any questions about the applications. The applications are due Nov. 17. Interviews start in December and run until Jan. 15, 2018. Negotiations start in February and the board is set to vote on April 9, 2018. There is no timeline on when the changes would be implemented if any partnerships are selected.
