Intersession was a topic during last week’s League of Women Voters’ school board candidate forum.
There were candidates for, some against and one who noted there isn’t the data available to know if the weeks made available to provide intervention to struggling students were effective.
Elections for three of the seven Midland ISD school board seats will take place Nov. 8. Early voting will start Oct. 24.
Brandon Hodges, a candidate for the District 5 seat, almost ended the debate before it started, noting “I haven’t seen any data come from Midland ISD that says whether intersession helped.” It was a point that other candidates couldn’t debate. Last year was the first at Midland ISD that weeks in the fall and spring were allotted for intersession.
Hodges did say that he thought the district would have been better off investing dollars in reading specialists but was willing to let the data help make up his mind.
Hodges’ opponent in the District 5 (generally north and northeast Midland) is current representative John Trischitti III. He said he is for “any opportunity for continued remediation.” Trischitti also said the data he needed to see was the Texas Education Agency’s “B” grade. He also said intersession provided opportunities for enrichment like SAT prep.
In District 3, current representative Tommy Bishop is running for re-election. He said he supported the intersession calendar but noted there is not enough data to know if it was a reason for the district’s academy gains.
His opponent in the southwest Midland district, Reagan Hignojos, said continuing intersession provides an opportunity for the district to “follow through” on a concept. He said teachers have told him that they wanted to stop seeing programs done for a year and then processes change. He said he supported the intersession calendar.
In District 6, which includes parts of western and northwest Midland, Sara Burleson said she believes intersession provides a better option than after school when students and teachers are “tired.”
Carie McNeil said she was not a big fan of the intersession schedule that she said was disruptive to low-income families, those needing a mental health break and families that need time together.
Editor’s Note: The Reporter-Telegram already provided a report for the League of Women Voters’ forum about candidates’ comments on school safety and discipline. Candidates’ opinions on choice schools, including in-district charters, how to approach bonds and tax elections and governance of a district growing academically are available at
mrt.com.
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