Mendez named

The interim has been erased from Hector Mendez's title as superintendent of the Ector County Independent School District.

The district's board of trustees approved Mendez as the full-time superintendent Friday in a 4-2 vote. Mendez will be paid $200,000 a year on a three-year contract.

Mendez has served as interim superintendent since July.

As part of the motion, trustees also voted to consider adding incentive clauses after Mendez's first year on the contract.

Board president Carol Gregg, board vice president L.V. "Butch" Foreman III, trustee Donna Smith and trustee Fay Batch voted for the contract and approval of Mendez while trustees Ray Beaty and Randy Rives voted against the measure.

Trustee Doyle Woodall didn't attend the meeting because he underwent major abdominal surgery at 12:20 a.m. Thursday morning due to a perforated appendix.

Prior to Friday's board meeting, Woodall asked Mike Atkins, attorney for the Ector County Independent School District, to ask the board to table the superintendent's contract until Tuesday.

Atkins addressed the board with the request. Trustees made no response before proceeding into executive session to discuss Mendez and an employment contract.

When contacted after the vote, Woodall said he was disappointed trustees didn't give consideration to his idea of postponing the meeting for a time when he could attend.

"This is the most important decision a school board makes, and I think it was a reasonable request," Woodall said.

He said he was also disappointed the decision to approve Mendez's contract didn't have any timelines or accountability attached to it.

Woodall said he would have wanted a one-year contract with an incentive clause included.

An incentive-laden contract for Mendez would "ease the burden on taxpayers," Woodall said.

"If he does a good job, he gets $200,000," Woodall said. "If he does a poor job, he gets $200,000, and I don't think that's right.

"I have a problem with it, and I think most of the taxpayers have a problem with it," Woodall said.

Mendez said the board's approval will allow him and his leadership team to move forward with projects.

"What they did was the right thing," he said, noting he and his team will work at building relationships in the community.

Rives, who attended his last meeting as an ECISD trustee Friday, said he voted against the contract and approving Mendez because he would have liked the district to go through a superintendent search.

"In the interest of time, we didn't do that," Rives said. "We should have invested some time into this."

Smith said she voted for Mendez and his contract because she's confident he'll lead the district well.

"The district needs some stability," she said. "I think Hector and his team can provide that stability."

On Tuesday, the Odessa Chamber of Commerce made a proclamation for the ECISD board of trustees to unanimously support Mendez's and his leadership team's strategy for ECISD.

Carolyn Tripp, a former chamber of commerce chairwoman, addressed trustees about a public comment Rives made earlier this week stating, "What does the Chamber of Commerce know about what we need for this district?"

She said the district's Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills test scores are lower than the state's, and the board seems to have a lack of wanting to work together.

She encouraged trustees to "collaborate."

"It is now time to just stabilize the ECISD ship," Tripp said. 

OTHER NEWS

>> A user on The Pantherosa message board posted a comment online recently saying that Steve Brown, ECISD assistant superintendent for secondary operations, planned to limit the number of pep rallies in the fall to five and that band, cheerleaders and other extracurricular teams would be capped on how many games each could attend.

Brown said he wouldn't comment on any issues raised on Internet blogs.

However, he did say the posting, which he hadn't seen personally, was false and the issues discussed were rumors.

>> Alma Guerrero, ECISD assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, submitted her letter of retirement and plans to retire effective June 30, said Gilbert Vasquez, ECISD assistant superintendent for human resources.

Vasquez said other individuals planning to retire include: Travis Magnet Elementary principal Luis Salcido; Burleson Elementary principal Martha Mitchell; Odessa High science department chairman Milton Thompson and Barbara Faubion, lead teacher for the Ector County deaf school program.

>> Also Friday, trustees unanimously approved $339,625 for an annual contract with Dell to provide licensing for all district computers.

>> In addition, trustees approved a recommendation for Burleson Elementary to seek the next step in a program called the Governor's Education Excellence Grant Cycle 3 Award. The school also received a grant in Cycle 1, principal Martha Mitchell said.

>> Trustees also approved out-of-state travel for an Odessa High gymnastics team student to go May 15-18 to the National Gymnastics Championships in Memphis, Tenn.