▲ Students in Sunray Collegiate ISD participate in a culinary arts CTE program.
SUNRAY COLLEGIATE ISD
Preparing rural students for the jobs of the future by James Golsan
E
lections and voting rights are at the center of the American political discourse in 2021. There is more controversy around the subject than at any other time in our lives, and while those engaged in the debate have adopted a wide range of opinions on the subject, something all sides agree on is that voting is hugely important. If you ever doubt that, look no further than Sunray Collegiate ISD, where a single vote on a local bond changed the course of education in the district, and perhaps the course of the entire community as well. “Sunray ISD is a small, rural school district up here in the Panhandle,” says Superintendent Marshall Harrison. “When I got here, enrollment was declining, and the town itself was declining too.” The decline was not something the SCISD school board was willing to take lightly. Harrison, who
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BRAGGING RIGHTS 2021-2022 Texas School Business
Sunray Collegiate ISD County: Moore ESC region: 16 Superintendent: Marshall Harrison 2020 enrollment: 559
had experience working in larger districts prior to his time at Sunray, says the board’s willingness to look at innovative ways to improve the educational offerings in their district “blew him away.” “In the summer of 2017, there was a workshop conducted, and the board asked, ‘Why can’t we be a premier district in all areas?’ As an experienced superintendent, I saw an opportunity to make hay,” Harrison says with a laugh. He credits that workshop with the start of a major culture shift in SCISD. Following the 86th Texas Legislature’s passing of HB 3, a major education overhaul with an emphasis on (among other things) improving Career and Technical Education (CTE) access in the state, Harrison and the board decided it was time for SCISD to become a leading district in the CTE space.
Number of schools: 3
